{"id":2114,"date":"2025-05-09T18:42:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elamystampere.fi\/no-flights-just-rails-from-tampere-to-le-mans\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T18:49:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:49:20","slug":"no-flights-just-rails-from-tampere-to-le-mans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajanmies.fi\/en\/no-flights-just-rails-from-tampere-to-le-mans\/","title":{"rendered":"From The Manse to Le Mans by road"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had been planning a research trip to the historical archives of the French national railway company (SNCF) even before the pandemic hit\u2014but then, as with so many things, COVID reshuffled all plans. Now, however, my Interrail-themed PhD project has reached the point where the journey became necessary. For the dissertation summary, I needed a few documents stored in the archive in Le Mans. And really, it felt almost sinful to fly to a railway company’s archive\u2014especially since I’m increasingly critical of flying these days\u2014so I decided to make the trip by train. I also want to take this chance to thank the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tampere University for the travel grant I received specifically for overland travel. Much appreciated. Below is a short mood video from the trip, followed by some reflections on what it\u2019s like to travel Europe without leaving the ground. <\/p>\n