In 2000, Thalys started a daily Service between Brussels and Geneva. With its "Thalys Soleil" (French for "Thalys Sun"), it started offering direct connections to the Provence, initially to Valence, and extended to Avignon and Marseille in 2002. Service between Brussels and Cologne was improved in December 2002 when trains began running on the new HSL 2 in Belgium. In 2003, services started to Brussels Airport and the Thalys Nuits d'Été service to Marne-la-Vallée. In 2007 Deutsche Bahn purchased a 10% shareholding with SNCF reducing its stake to 62% and SNCB 28%.