Patrick, France's first TGV train, bids farewell after 40 years of service Patrick, the first of France's famous high-speed TGV trains to leave the factory in 1978, was retired in December after nearly forty years of service. As part of his farewell tour, it was exhibited at the technicentre at Le Landy, near Paris. "This train is mythical. It has made generations and generations of children dream, and also parents," says an SNCF driver. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES