Destination Paris - Tuesday

-->

Travel – Evening – Tuesday 8^th – Destination Paris

The Paris started at 16:30, when we arrived at St Pancras Station.

We quickly passed through the check-in as we had printed tickets from home.

Passing Customs was just as easy, but the departure lounge even at 16:40 was near full. We quick found some seats in the lounge and took the seats. Jennifer was very nervous but was glad to chill out as we wait for boarding, We had booked seats in the standard premium coaches. So when boarding started we let everyone else rush, the train wasn’t going to leave without us.  At 17:10 we boarded, Coach 3 and found the seats. We had tables in front of us, and no one filled those seats so we could spread out.  Right on time the Eurostar pulled out at 17:20. We had the usual welcomes and introductions from the staff on the train. For Jennifer, it was the realisation that we were heading for Paris.

It had been a long day packing and traveling to St Pancras so we just relaxed and enjoyed the view. Surprisingly about 20 minutes into the trip the meal started being served.  Nothing Flash but still a nice light meal. Well worth the £10 extra each.

At about the 30-minute mark we were traveling at 280Km/h and we entered the tunnel, we were only in it for about 20 minutes’ total. Hey, we were in France and the countryside changed. Surprising my first impression was no fences, and the occasional small graveyards. They crop the land very tightly. Hence no fences, occasionally you would see farmyards and that’s where the animals were.

The train trip was smooth with e gentle swaying from side to side, just enough to make Jennifer feel a little travel sick. So she just closed her eyes and went to sleep. The whole trip is about 3 hours long.

So we pulled into Paris and by 8:40 Paris time, we were out of the train station, and checking where we wanted to head. As the evening was still a bit light we started to head down ‘Boulevard De Magenta’ to ‘Republic Square’, So off we went. Passing plenty of little beautiful Churches, 

 It was evening and many cafes were open but not much else. So we were in the Square in about 25-minutes. Once in the square, we stopped for rest, and watched a Live Band and some Dancing, mostly Tango. 

t was not long before Jennifer was keen to get going again, so off we went, next target was ‘La Bastille’. 

By this time it was only the Café open and it was now dark, but surprisingly there were many Tourist pull Carry-on bags, this is a tourist town.

Once at La Bastille, it was only a small walk to the Hotel. Total time walking was 1 Hour. The hotel wasn’t flash but all we needed was bed and Shower, somewhere to call home for four days. By 10:00 we were in bed asleep, dreaming of the next day. WE WERE IN PARIS.