Distance : 477km
Travel Time : Apporx 4 hours
The travel cubes worked – kind of – I’ve been able to get almost everything required into the drag-bag, as it will be known from now on. When I say almost, it’s a tighter squeeze than usual for Mr Mutt. Still, he’s getting old now and could probably do with losing a bit of weight.
AI has done it’s first job successfully, persuading me that packing light can be done. There are polo shirts, sweaters, trouser, shorts and fresh underwear crammed in the bag, along with the usual array of passports/paperwork and approximately 3,456 cables for two and a half electronic devices.
The disadvantage of AI is it uses lots of power. I’m conscious that my phone not only contains my essential rail pass and reservations, but the data-hungry AI app. I’ll need to keep that in mind when I’m not near any public Wi-Fi. But hey, this is 2025 – I’ll have no issue, right?
Eurostar is a fantastic service – these days not only connecting the UK with France, but extending into the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. But while its trans are usually efficient and comfortable, its terminals could do with a makeover, The architectural grandeur of London St Pancras station is subdued in the Eurostar waiting hall. Up to 1,800 passengers use the space every hour, with every seat almost always used – cramped together beneat the elegant platforms and trains above. Most people agree that something needs to be done, though nobody can quite agree. St Pancras station says it has room to exoand to accommodate up to 5,000 passengers an hour – though it’s hard to see where that space might be. Others argue that Eurostar should instead use capacity at Ashford and Ebbsfleet – two UK stations that bear the international moniker, but which are these days only served by domestic trains; the problem in those places being policing the UK Border.
As usual, it comes down to politics. And, as usual I play my own political card, proudly flashing my Irish passport at the check in gates. In honesty, it makes little difference when traveling by train in Europe – once you’re out of the UK you’re unlikely to have your ID checked again.
One thing I don’t need AI for is the routine aboard Eurostar. But it’s a great travel too nevertheless. A Eurail pass comes with compulsory reservations. For standard class it’s €32.50 – but for €7.50 more you get a seat in Eurostar Plus. It’s not quite First Class, but it does include a meal and a drink. Given that a regular ticket for this would come in at about €80 – and probably more – it’s a good option to get fed and watered en route.
15 hours in Paris
For once, I’m in no rush to dash across Paris to a connecting train as I’m staying overnight, though my hotel is at the Gare dy Lyon, which mans a familiar transfer using the RER train. However, AI has an answer to make my life easier. Previously I’ve queued to buy a single €2.30 ticket, but my assistant tells me I can use a contactless card at the barrier. It doesn’t work. And here’s a tip – although the ticket machines operate in many languages, that doesn’t make the process of buying a single trip any easier. Confusingly, you need a T+ ticket, which can only be found by scrolling down to the bottom of the options.
Accommodation is in abundance in Paris, but be prepared to pay a price. Some of the cheapest (and sleaziest) hotels around the Gare Du Nord were well over €100 per night, and they didn’t look especially inviting. Instead I chose a Best Western – the Auruore – close to the Gard de Lyon. €170 bought me bed, breakfast and a view of the Eiffel Tower.
The room was clean and comfortable enough, and almost opposite the station itself. I’ll be honest, Paris was a means to an end on this trip – a stepping stone to reach other destinations. Whatever the reason, I cant get enthused about the place – and the late afternoon drizzzle didn’t help improve the mood. A giant iron structure obscured the close up view of the city’s more famous giant iron structure – a security fence around the Eiffel Tower itself. But take a few steps back and the view isn’t quite so bad.
The drizzle had turn to heavy rain as I took the RER train just a few stops north along the Seine to perhaps the most remarkable structure of all. Notre Dam cathedral is even more awe inspiring when you consider much of it was destroyed by fire in 2019. In France, they take their culture serously, and the place was restored within five short years. Given the original took several hundred years to build, it’s an astonishing feat.
Equally noteworthy is that entry to the Cathedral is free. A long queue snakes around the concourse, moving quickly enough – but it’s close to closing time this evening so time so explore another aspect of Paris’s famous culture.
Le Express Bar-Cafe is probably no different from many others in the Halles district. But it’s been recommended by friends – so in the now pouring rain I squelch my way across the Seine, bypassing several perfectly tempting bars selling European beers, arriving slightly damp and sweaty. That oesn’t matetr, though, because this is a place full of locals, sharing stories and jokes on a Friday evening over a glass of reasonably priced booze. A dive bar, suggests one review – but in a good way. There is no rush, just good honest service and a convivial atmosphere that’s perfect for people watching, even if it’s too wet to sit on the pavement.
I’d asked my AI assistant to suggest a place where locals go – and it might well have chosen Le Express. But I then added a prompt to find somewhere near the Gard de Lyon. The result was Le Social Bar. Hidden away on a backstreet behind the station, this isn’t a place you’d find in a tourist guide. It’s not necessarily a district you’s want to find yourself in. But that belies the hospitality inside.
In the past, this kind of place would have been labelled at a hipster joint. Far too trendy for the casual drinker. And yet the crowd in here don’t look especially pretentious – even if there are two guys offering head and neck massages around the tables. Le Social is marketed as a community enterprise – a space where you can socialise and also experience something a bit different. There are three parts to the building – the main bar, a small dance floor area, and – in the basement – a beach themed Tiki cocktail joint.
Meh – perhaps it is all a bit hipster. But any prentence is soon washed away by a decent blonde beer and an impressive cheeseboard for €21. In Paris, that’s a bargain.
The Gare de Lyon may be grande, but for style you need to look across the Seine at it’s neighbour,. The Gare D’Austrelitz has had a chequered history – in recent years losing many of train services that used to run south and west. It still hosts all the night trains running from Paris, and has a beautiful 19th century exterior overlooking the river.
If architecture is your thing, this is certainly the place to be. Forget the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe, because the local newspaper has a pretty classy setup.
OK, when I say local newspaper I mean Le Monde. Previously it’s newsrooms were spread across six sites in Paris – now brought together by this stunning building. The archtect’s website describes the place in far more detail – but each of its thousands of glass panels can be configured in different colours or designs.
“But you went to Paris and you didn’t see [insert iconic cultural reference here]?” Well no, I didn’t. But travel needn’t be about doing the obvious. It’s more a state of mind – guiding yourself through the moment.
Time to head South….
TravelCaster 
Leave a comment