The CF de Provence is the last mainline narrow gauge railway in France. It runs daily from Nice to Digne leaving at 9am and arriving just in time for a memorable lunch in the station buffet at Digne.

Don't worry about missing the train back, the driver is in there too! It gets back to Nice at 5pm. The scenery is spectacular and the trains and stations enchanting. It's cheap and if you're over 55 or a student (or une famille nombreuse) you will get a big discount.

Go in February when you can leave a spring-like Nice and be in the depths of winter in 30 minutes with giant icicles and snow fields. August is lavender festival time.

The new neat station is in the rue Alfred Binet in Nice, just behind the original (now abandoned) art nouveau station which is being converted into a new town hall for Nice, but judging by how long they are taking to finish the trams, don't hold your breath.

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Visit the Roman arena in Cimiez in spring and see the wild orchids growing among the remains of a villa.

Take the "train des merveilles" to Tende passing across perilous viaducts and through helicoidal tunnels, and visit this very unspoilt village way up in the mountains near the Italian border.

Avoid going to Nice before 2008 - all the main street (Avenue Jean Medecin) and the Place Masséna are in chaos - works for the future tramway - with dust everywhere, traffic problems, uneven footpaths etc.

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