Day 1 of France and Spain by Train

We got the 11.31 train, heading to Three Bridges. The excitement as I stood on the platform waiting for the train fizzed inside of me. We had just missed a rain shower and standing on the platform the sun shone on our faces and there was a light breeze. We got the Class 377 Unit 156. We rolled steadily through the countryside passing a particularly pretty field of lavender. We stopped at Horsham as always to attach more coaches. As the landscape evolved into a series of buildings we arrived at Three Bridges where we got the connecting Thameslink train Class 700 Unit 147. As the gentle rhythm of the train ferried us towards London I read. In keeping with the journey ahead, I read the new hardback by Monisha Rajesh – Moonlight Express, a journey on sleeper trains. Having thoroughly enjoyed her previous book Around the World in 80 Trains, which I recommend to any aspiring train traveller, I tore through the pages as we rumbled along.

We arrived into a very grey and dreary looking London. Our first stop was to get some lunch. We sat and ate and perused a collection of market stalls outside Kings Cross station before heading to the international train terminal at London St Pancras. London St Pancras became the Eurostar terminal in 2007, taking over from London Waterloo where the trains had been running since 1994, when the Eurostar first opened. Opening in 1868, London St Pancras station was designed by Williams Henry Barlow and is a Grade I listed building for its architectural and historical value.  Entering the queue, we snaked our way round the barriers where we met with a very irritable man on security. Going through border control without issue, and with a fancy stamp featuring a train symbol in our passports, we sat in the lounge to await our train. We boarded the Eurostar service at around 15.10.  

Upon boarding we were met with our rather underwhelming seats – without a window. Luckily the seats in front of us remained unoccupied as the doors closed so we hurriedly switched seats. We chose Standard Premier class tickets (also known as Second Class), only a little bit more in price than Standard Class (Third Class) and with the luxury of larger seats and a complimentary meal onboard. At exactly 15.31 we set off, passing through several tunnels. As we emerged, we watched the landscape change at dizzying speed as we journeyed the 67 miles from London to the Channel Tunnel. Eurostar trains travel at a maximum of 186mph on high speed tracks throughout Europe and 100mph through the channel tunnel. Rain briefly hit the window as we were served our meal. For me quinoa and mozzarella salad washed down with lemonade. As we ate, we were quickly whisked into the tunnel. At 75 meters below sea level the Channel Tunnel is the third longest railway tunnel in the world. On the other side we were greeted by a rather drearily lit landscape. As we raced through the countryside of northern France we passed fairytale-esque farm houses with painted wooden shutters. Quickly the landscape turned from flat fields to industrial units as we passed Lille. As the rain started to fall once again a rainbow appeared, shining brightly over the buildings.

Eventually we arrived at Paris Gare du Nord station. Originally a smaller station built in 1846, it was rebuilt and completed in 1865 and now Gare du Nord is the third largest station in the world with an estimated 700,000 passengers boarding trains each day. A station renowned for its architecture, it has 23 iconic statues on its roof, each representing a major city that is served by the station. With our suitcases wheeling behind us we swiftly moved towards the metro where we were stumped by the ticket system. Paris Metro has 321 stations and 16 lines, and is one of the densest metro systems in the world, with 244 of the stations situated within 41 square miles. Tickets for the metro are loaded onto wireless smart cards called Navigo Passes. It is 2 Euros for the pass and then you can load journeys onto the pass. Finally with our own Navigo Passes we arrived at Montgallet, a 15 minute walk to our hotel. We arrived and dropped off our bags before heading to a local corner shop to get some bread and cheese. Back at the hotel we watched some French TV before heading to bed.