Leaving London

This is the next instalment of Ann’s blog, read Trafalgar Square Nelsons Column and the Cock or Dubai to London for her previous updates. 

St. Pancras station is light and spacious, plenty of shops cafes and upstairs, there’s a champagne bar as well as a restaurant. We’ve arrived early so we find a seat in a cafe for coffee. It arrives in a bowl, Leon has ordered a scone and it is enormous! The scone comes on a platter with a little bowl of cream. There are jars of fig jam, apricot jam and Belgian hazelnut spread (like Nutella). Delicious!

Check in is easy as is the airport-style security check. After all the drama of Leon’s visa his passport is given only a cursory glance (and upon arrival in France, there were no formalities at all).

The lounge where we wait to board is fairly crowded but has plenty of seating and some more cafes. Our departure is called and this is the only part of the experience that is disappointing. There is a mass exodus via two travelators that take us up to the platform. The only organisation is those seated in cars 1-5 go one way and 5-18 the other. A sign at the top indicates a u-turn for our carriage.

On the platform I see no indication of car numbers but there are helpful staff who direct us. However, the actual boarding is chaotic. You take all your luggage with you and there is a space to stow it just inside the carriage door. There are a couple of guys I assume are meant to help but they didn’t seem to be doing anything but getting in the way and asking us to move. A passenger in front of us had brought his big suitcase on a luggage trolley and just dumped it in the middle of the doorway, preventing us from boarding while he got rid of the trolley. This is the time when you want to be traveling light as there are a couple of steps up into the carriage and the lower luggage storage shelves were full meaning a shoulder-height hefting of bags. Leon takes care of this and we make our way inside to find our numbered seats.

The seats are wide and comfortable with plenty of leg room, there are overhead racks for bags and an airline-style tray table. I take advantage of the St Pancras free wi fi to post on Facebook. We are soon on our way and there’s no click clack of train tracks on this smooth ride. A few tunnels and the industrial landscape gives way to the rolling English countryside. This is definitely a civilized way to travel. The train manager announces that the bar cars are open but there’s no need to move because  a light lunch, complete with choice of wines is served at our seats.

Come on Australia, lets build railways! The Melbourne – Sydney route is the busiest flight corridor in the world and it costs more to park your car than fly! London to Paris was a couple of hours and TGV Paris to Reims less than an hour at 315ks per hour, a smooth, enjoyable ride.

Anne’s blog #16