Trains: Fast, easy day trips

A new high-speed train line that runs northeast from Paris begins commercial service June 10 to Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine and Alsace; Luxembourg; Munich and Frankfort, Germany, and the Swiss cities of Basel and Zurich.

The train will make it much faster and easier to plan day trips from Paris to places like the cathedral in Reims and the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay, where you’ll find Champagne-makers like Moet et Chandon and Perrier Jouet. Tickets, reservations and timetables for TGV East service are available beginning Tuesday at www.raileurope.com/.

Rail passes that allow unlimited travel in Europe for Americans have long been popular, but new technology has made it easier to book point-to-point trips well in advance, according to Chris Lazarus, a U.S.-based spokeswoman for Rail Europe.