From this July, take a second look at the bags used by Eurostar managers in the UK, France and Belgium. The staff is being issued with bags created entirely from recycled Eurostaff raincoats, lining material from suits and antimacassars.

The bags are made in the UK by Barrow and Gale, a traditional bags manufacturer based down in Woolwich, London. Established in 1750, the company holds a royal warrant to manufacture Royal Maundy purses for HM The Queen. Taking place on April 21^st, Royal Maundy is the Queen's real birthday (this year she was 85) when she gives alms to the poor, a tradition going back 800 years.

The recycling campaign is part of the aim of reducing Eurostar's overall impact on the environment, part of its Tread Lightly program which aims to reach zero waste being sent to landfill and 80% of all waste being recycled.

More on travelling with Eurostar

For more information on upcycling and the work by Eurostar and other international companies, go to the energyrethinking website

Image © Eurostar

Les Flaneries de Reims offers over 100 concerts of all kinds of music, from classical to jazz, many of them free, all over the great city of Reims. 'Flaneries' roughly translates as a stroll, a saunter, a wander and this is a stroll through Reims and its music festival.

Grouped around the themes of Eight Centuries of Cathedral music (Reims cathedral is 800 years old this year); Liszt (born in 1811); Percussion; the thoroughly modern sounds of musician, architect and mathematician, Iannis Xenakis, and finally 'Annees Folles' (Mad Years)  which takes the destruction of World War I and the 'mad' new music of the likes of Milhaud, Shostakovitch, Prokofiev and Ravel at the time. But the French being French and wonderfully inventive, have added another dimension to this particularly category with films by Dada with piano accompaniment, le Bœuf sur le Toit by Milhaud and Cocteau, what is described as a 'futuristic' banquet with old musical machines, improvisations and more.

This glorious festival takes place all over Reims, from the cathedral and the Basilica of St. Remi to cafes, some of the Champagne houses, and even the Automobile Museum. Tickets for the concerts with an admission fee are from 5 to 25 euros. Ask at the Tourist Office for a list of  free music in cafes, restaurants and public buildings.

More Information

More on Reims and the Region

Image: Musical Statue on Reims Cathedral © Ossi Laurila, licensed to about.com

The 24-hour Le Mans  is a racing legend. For the whole town, the week before and the weekend of the race itself is a huge occasion. The excitement kicks off on  Sunday June 5^th with various checks and scrutineering in Place Central des Jacobins, and continues on Tuesday June 7^th with the drivers' autograph session. The qualifying sessions are on June 8^th and 9^th. On Friday June 10^th there's a drivers parade through the city center between 6 and 8pm. Then the race itself (the 79^th) begins at 3pm on Saturday June 12^th and finishes at 3pm on Sunday Fune 12^th.

Teams from all over the world are taking place, with Audio Sport Team Joest and Audi Sport North America hot favorites for this year's race.

If you'd love to compete but haven't quite made it yet, then book at the Porsche Sport Driving School at Le Mans (at various dates except during the race meetings).

More Information

Image: Le Mans 24-Hour Race © Rick Dole/Getty Images

The Museum of Flanders in Cassel, north France, has a new exhibition on the Great War running until August 28th. At the Gates of Chaos: Behind the WWI Front in Flanders has some unusual items on show. An aircraft propeller and a British motorcycle from 1915 and works by the British artist Sir William Orpen are on display. They are part of a little known collection that was accumulated during the War in the Hotel de la Noble-Cour in Cassel -- the headquarters of Marechal Foch during the 1914-18 War. The collection is now with the Flanders Museum.

Practical Information

Museum of Flanders
26 Grand'Place, 59670 Cassel, Nord
Tel.: 00 33 (0) 3 59 73 45 60
Website (in French only)

More on World War I and the Region

Image: Column on the March by C.R.W. Nevinson.