JennyOwen

By JennyOwen

A five train day

Continuing my love affair with French trains, I was at Nimes station as day broke, for the 06.59 to Paris. A double decker! Great views of vineyards and distant mountains from the top deck. With a change to another train at Lyon, we were in Paris at 11.00.
I dropped the big bag in Left Luggage at Paris Gare de Lyon. Needing the loo, I found an oddly luxurious Ladies nearby. Each cubicle was meticulously checked between visits, and swept or cleaned as appropriate. The super-efficient woman in attendance definitely wasn't letting anyone into a substandard facility. Each cubicle was also wallpapered in a Parisian design - scenes of flowery window boxes and pavement cafes. A nice surprise; my expectations of station loos are generally low.
I had time to walk along by the Seine, to the Institute of the Arab World. Sadly it's shut on Mondays. But I wanted to take some photos of the exterior, which has a particularly interesting design.
Then it was onto train number three, a short hop to the Gare du Nord on a suburban service (quicker and more direct than the metro).
After that... entry into the mass travel machine that precedes Eurostar access now (train no 4). Two human passport checks, two biometric ones (thank you, Brexit ...)... and a lot of queueing.
Train no 5 will be the evening one to Sheffield. Providing that I'm still awake by then :-)

Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.