Born in Brussels, and often going back to Europe...
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Until 1992, I was working for PanAm, was based JFK... but when OFF, was with my mother in Brussels quasi at all times. Often had to get on a flight to head back to JFK... out of BRU, but sometimes FRA, or AMS, or CDG. Never used the airlines to go to these places, always used the trains. I still do the same when visiting BRU, the TGV high speed train (150 mph) takes 1 hour 20 minutes from the heart of Paris to the center of BRU... Further, TGV high speed train exists between Brussels, Paris and London...
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Compare this... Flying from AMS to BRU, or train AMS to BRU... Train takes 2 hours center city to center city. Show up at train station 20 minutes before departure... If you fly, better show at airport 90 minutes or more before departure, check bags, go through security... The flight will be 35 minutes in the air, but it takes 15 minutes to taxi-out, and 10 minutes to taxi-in on arrival. Waiting for your bags will take 40 minutes... Then train anyway to get to the center of city (25 minutes)... So, with the airplane, takes you much longer...
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In the train, get yourself a seat in the restaurant car, enjoy a glass of wine or a beer, and a decent meal, and enjoy the scenery (in the plane you might get a sandwich). Another thing, trains run on time. You make a "time hack" on your wristwatch with European trains... if 2 minutes late, they announce the delay on the PA with thousands of excuses... Deutsche Bundesbahn or SNCF is not AmTrak...
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I always enjoyed the trains in Europe. Not too long ago, I took one from Rome to Paris, not a high speed train (that one only clocked 100 mph), left Rome at 9pm, arrived Paris around 8am, I enjoyed a bunk bed after dinner in the restaurant car, and slept quite well...
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For Paris to St Tropez, you have the TGV that takes you in 2:30 hrs time to Marseille, connect there with other train (running along the pretty coastline of French Riviera), an hour later, you are in St Tropez... How about the next day, continue on that line, towards Cannes and Nice, or Monaco... And all that at half the rates of what most airlines charge... and in comfort, not with 28 inch pitch between seats...
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Other lovely train routes are from Frankfurt to Cologne (along the Rhein... with views on a few Medieval castles, and the river winding between hills)...
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Funny is, I often "positioned" as pilot, with my crew from A to B within Europe on trains when we could. All my colleagues loved each opportunity to travel in trains with me. Gosh...! How nice, how fast and easy, let's do it again next time (is what they always told me). First class tickets are unnecessary, unless you do travel on local trains crowded for peak hours. Most lines operate trains from 6:00am until close to midnight... a departure every hour...
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Sorry, this is an aviation forum, but in this case, here, the choochoo trains beat the hell out of the airlines as far as intra-European travel.
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Happy contrails, or shall I say happy tracks...?