Overnight in Paris

First Day. Up before 6 to feed meowing cat and fit in a morning's work. Done by 11.15 and then a leisurely packing (had to jettison one blouse and one dress as, despite not bringing my laptop, ai was struggling to fit everything in the backpack) before heading off for the 2.30 train to London.

Very smooth journey, with no issues or delays. Tube to St Pancras. Picked up some food at M&S and then through check-in. Quite busy, but nothing on what it will be, presumably, once the fingerprint requirements come in in the autumn. Found a seat and waited less than an hour until boarding.

Table and window seat amd no-one next to me - bonus! Spent most of the time reading and only dozed a little bit. Didn't listen to any of the podcasts or music I had downloaded.

Arrived Gare du Nord l just before 9.30 and it's still light. This time, I found the hotel very easily. It's a nice little hotel directly opposite the train station and with more character than my frequent Ibis hotels.

I need to leave about 8.30 to get the metro to Paris Austerlitz in the morning, ready for a trip across France. Looking forward to a train route I've not done before, though it looks like I will be in for a week of rain, so maybe I should have gone south again!Read more