Continental Rail
T HE JOURNEY BETWEEN London and Paris by rail takes two hours and 15 minutes; given that Eurostar’s been doing it for 20 years – and makes the London-Paris connection up to 18 times a day – it’s no surprise that the trip is a smooth and seamless one nor that the company is in the midst of expanding routes: London to Marseille direct in spring 2015 and London to Amsterdam in late 2016.
Before I set off for Paris on the Eurostar, I weigh my options in London’s St. Pancras station. Do I relax and simply admire the history and grand architecture of the building, quench my thirst at Europe’s longest Champagne bar, stock up on premium biscuits and tea at Marks & Spencer or head straight to the Eurostar business lounge for plentiful spreads of snacks and pastries and a covetable bilingual newspaper and magazine selection?
The choice is paralyzing for a moment, but in the end I opt for history and literature. First completed in 1868, the building escaped demolition in the 1960s, but became vacant and fell into disrepair in the late ’80s. Renovations for the grand terminal that it is today, home to 15 platforms, began in the early 2000s. I snap shots of the train station’s sweeping glass ceiling – a 240-foot archway that reaches more than 100 feet up at its highest point – then head to the lounge, where I load up on magazines that just about double the weight of my carry-on. Fortunately, the train service has no weight restrictions on luggage.
English graffiti turns to French as soon as we’re through the tunnel. Victorian row houses give way to squat country homes. And then there’s the food.
I’m served a mid-morning breakfast planned by Raymond Blanc, a France-born, England-living chef who’s been decorated by both the French and English for his culinary efforts – Légion d’Honneur and Order of the British Empire respectively – and has been setting menus for the train service since 2012. It’s a subtle thing, but I notice the portions are smaller than those I’d been eating in London, and the composition of the meal is different, too: fewer carbs, more protein. The serving of ham and cheese isn’t a prepackaged sandwich but fresh brie and thinly sliced proscuitto to accompany the mini croissant already in front of me.
We roll into Gare du Nord and disembark. Everyone’s pace quickens – there’s a new city to be seen!
– everyone except a group of soccer fans who’ve spotted fellow passenger Jamie Redknapp, a former professional player and now television sportscaster and are clamouring for photos and autographs.
Unlike flying, when you’re dropped (not literally) into a new locale, sights, sounds and smells (sometimes literally) hitting you in the face, a train journey introduces you to the destination incrementally. Instead of landing, one sort of floats in to the new city. The train also deposits you in the city centre, which should never be underestimated. From the terminal, I head to the Marais district and am faced with a familiar dilemma: historical sightseeing, pain au chocolat or Champagne? I opt for a couple glasses of the latter.
For more information on Eurostar, go to www.
raileurope.ca.