At the medieval town of Bayeux, Michael Portillo heads for the Bayeux Tapestry Museum to admire the striking 70-metre-long work of art commissioned to record William the Conqueror’s claim to the English throne and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.\n\nOn the Normandy coastline, from which William launched his invasion, Michael recalls the D-Day landings of 1944. Crossing Gold Beach in a 1943 Willys Jeep, Michael hears how the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare unfolded. He is moved to visit the beautifully kept Bayeux War Cemetery, where 4,600 of the dead are buried.\n\nClose to Argentan, Michael reaches the Versailles of horses, France’s 300-year-old national stud, the Haras du Pin. He tours the magnificent estate in a splendid carriage pulled by a pair of Normandy’s emblematic Percheron horses, before enjoying a taste of competitive carriage driving at the World Championships.
Source: BBC 2
Series 8: 19. Bayeux To Argentan
At the medieval town of Bayeux, Michael Portillo heads for the Bayeux Tapestry Museum to admire the striking 70-metre-long work of art commissioned to record William the Conquer ...
03-04-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 18. Rennes To Mont Saint-michel
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure reaches Rennes, capital of Brittany. At the Lycee Emile Zola, he hears how, in 1899, the school was used as a military court for the s ...
02-04-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 17. Brest To St Brieuc
Michael Portillo’s railway journey reaches the naval port of Brest, home to France’s oceanographic fleet. Aboard the pride of the fleet, the 107-metre-long Pourquoi ...
01-04-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 16. Nantes To Lorient
Michael Portillo’s rail travels take him to the north west corner of France, where he explores the beautiful and historic regions of Brittany and Normandy and learns of th ...
31-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 15. Zweisimmen To Lausanne
Aboard the Golden Pass Express, Michael Portillo wends his way in style down steep mountainsides from Interlaken to the Swiss Riviera.\n\nIn Lausanne, he contends with a knife-w ...
28-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 14. Rotkreuz To Brienz
Michael Portillo scales the Swiss Alps on one of the steepest cog railways in the world and marvels at the Pilatus Railway’s unique track design, which defies an astonishi ...
27-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 13. Zurich
In Zurich, Michael Portillo has a brush with the absurd in the anarchic paintings and artistic haunts of the Dadaists, a group of artists who found refuge in the city during the ...
26-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 12. Sedrun To Schwyz
Michael Portillo ventures into the bowels of an immense hydroelectric dam to learn how the Swiss use their mountainous environment to power the country.\n\nHe winds his way by r ...
25-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 11. Maienfeld To The Rhine Gorge
Michael Portillo is transported 150 years back in time to the tiny Alpine village home of Switzerland’s most famous child, Heidi. In Davos, he follows in the footsteps of ...
24-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 10. Roskilde To Copenhagen
Michael Portillo concludes his epic rail journey across southern Norway, the Jutland Peninsula and the Danish archipelago. He crosses one of Europe’s epic rail engineering ...
21-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 2
Michael continues his rail journey through Spain with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide. At the Museo Reina Sofia, Michael hears how the bombing of a small town in the Basque reg ...
24-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 8: 13. Zurich
In Zurich, Michael Portillo has a brush with the absurd in the anarchic paintings and artistic haunts of the Dadaists, a group of artists who found refuge in the city during the ...
26-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 8. Larvik To Holstebro
Michael Portillo’s saga through Norway and Denmark resumes in Larvik on Norway’s southern coast, where he investigates the city’s prized natural resource, a di ...
19-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 15. Zweisimmen To Lausanne
Aboard the Golden Pass Express, Michael Portillo wends his way in style down steep mountainsides from Interlaken to the Swiss Riviera.\n\nIn Lausanne, he contends with a knife-w ...
28-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 10. Roskilde To Copenhagen
Michael Portillo concludes his epic rail journey across southern Norway, the Jutland Peninsula and the Danish archipelago. He crosses one of Europe’s epic rail engineering ...
21-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 11. Maienfeld To The Rhine Gorge
Michael Portillo is transported 150 years back in time to the tiny Alpine village home of Switzerland’s most famous child, Heidi. In Davos, he follows in the footsteps of ...
24-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 16. Nantes To Lorient
Michael Portillo’s rail travels take him to the north west corner of France, where he explores the beautiful and historic regions of Brittany and Normandy and learns of th ...
31-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 14. Rotkreuz To Brienz
Michael Portillo scales the Swiss Alps on one of the steepest cog railways in the world and marvels at the Pilatus Railway’s unique track design, which defies an astonishi ...
27-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 2. Buzet To Pag
Ably assisted by Lila, an expert labrador, Michael Portillo hunts for truffles in the Istrian countryside near the hilltop town of Buzet. His railway adventure through the Balka ...
11-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 12. Sedrun To Schwyz
Michael Portillo ventures into the bowels of an immense hydroelectric dam to learn how the Swiss use their mountainous environment to power the country.\n\nHe winds his way by r ...
25-03-2025
BBC 2