I've just had a call from an English friend travelling by train to the south of France by TGV.

One of her suitcases has been stolen, and it seems that it was taken from the luggage rack by the train door just before the train left Paris.

This is random theft, and probably more common than one might think. It causes enormous distress and is highly unlikely to result in the owner getting his or her possessions back.

So keep an eye on your bags, especially now that the summer holiday season is approaching.

SHOULD THE WORST HAPPEN ....

1. Contact your train conductor and explain the situation.
2. Get them to write down that you have told them what's happened, with their name and employee number. See if there are any police on the train, and if so, make a report to them. If not ..
3. On arrival go to the ACCUEIL at the station and make a report of the situation; if there are SNCF police at the station they will be contacted and if not you will be told at which commissariat de police you will need to make a report. (Not every police station handles work tied up to SNCF - they are usually linked with one specific police station.)
4 Report the theft and (this is the way it's done in France) make a complaint against a person unknown. (Porter plainte contre X). That way, if someone should be taken into custody concerning your baggage or its contents, there will already be a statement linking them with having someone else's goods in their possession and the police will be able to make a firm case against them.

At all these stages get a written report of what you've done, as you'll need a paper trail of this sort to be able to make an insurance claim from your insurer. Also try to make a list of the items that were in the luggage and their condition - new, used, falling to bits etc.

To help avoid complete melt down should this happen to you might I make the following suggestions:-

1. Keep all prescribed medicines in handbaggage.
2. Keep all credit cards and money in handbaggage and make sure it's safe at all times.
3. If travelling with others, split your clothes between the cases so one person doesn't lose everything!
4. Be careful what you put on your luggage label ... preferably your surname and a post code rather than a full address ... it won't stop anyone looking you up but they'll have to spend more time over it.
5. Advise your home police in case some thief passes on information to people local to you.
6; Keep a spare pair of knickers in your handbaggage.

I truly hope that none of you will suffer in the way my friend is at present. Keep an eye out ... stranger danger still exists where recreational theft is common.