Paris to London

June 30:  We were up and out for about 4 hours in Paris before tubing to the Paris Nord Train Station and catching the Eurostar train to London.  We started with breakfast at a typical corner shop with red checked tablecloths and chairs (like you have seen in photographs).  We then walked around central Paris, roughly following a route laid out by Rick Steves.  I listened to some of his commentary on his app.  We had experienced in prior trips most of the highlights that he described and which we re-saw - Notre Dame, St, Chapelle, Pont Neuf ("new bridge although it is the oldest bridge across the river), Rive Gache, Shakespeare and Co., Sorbonne, Ile d' St. Louis, Deportation Monument, and gelato shops.

We walked back through the Marais and its several open air markets.  We picked up some cherries for the train rides.  We retrived our luggage, walked back to Gare Lyon to catch the underground to Nord Station, after a false starts to find the correct track, and arrived at Nord about an hour before the Eurostar departed.  The fun began.  And, I am doing something I don't generally do in any travel blog I write - I am complaining and recounting a bad part of our trip.

After finding the departure area for the Eurostar Train, no small feat, we began a four-part gauntlet.  Step one, go upstairs with luggage, fill out a "landing card" which was easy and get in a queue to check-in.  Step two, we passed through French Passport Control - the agent stamped our passport with no questions - also easy except for the wait.  Step three, we waited a long time after getting directed into the slowest possible line imaginable, and we ran smack into English "Border Force."  We could see the agent serving our line was spending lots of quality time with passengers in front of us.  We finally made it up to her and fortunately Betsy got an equal amount of quality time;  I would have lost it.  The agent wanted to know when we arrived in the UK, how long we had been in the Schengen Area ??, when we were leaving the UK and whether we had investigated the regulations on long-term visits to Europe and the U.K.  After listening to her tell us we needed to research these regulations and be prepared to adjust our plans, she let us pass.  Step four, we passed through security - empty your pockets, but otherwise okay.  Though we had to left our luggage up onto the conveyor belt.  We managed to complete these steps in about 45 minutes and flowed into a waiting area with few seats and lots of passengers.  There were no information signs on where to go.  We flowed with others after some mumbled annoucement, having to carry our luggage back downstairs to board the train. Fortunately, there was a moving ramp.

After we arrived in London, I investigated long-term visit regulations and the Schengen Area.  It turns out that US citizens can visit the UK for up to 180 days and can visit the Schengen Area (a collection of 23 countries that make up most of Europe) for 90 cumulative days over a 180-day period.  One can come and leave the Schengen Area as often as you want accumulating up to 90 days.  The 180-day period begins on the first day of the trip.  I sat down and calculated the statistics for our personal trip.  Total length is 156 days, 116 in the UK and the rest in Italy, Greece, Switerzland, France and Iceland.  So now, we can answer all of the Border Force's questions.  Immigration has become a big issue in Europe.

Our Eurostar train ride was uneventful passing through Lille, France, Calais and into Folkstone, England, after going through the Chunnel.  The Chunnel passing was surprising quick, without any slowing or pauses.  I enjoy cruising along at 180 mph - the foreground is blurry and can get to you but the long view is fine.  The countryside changes quickly.  Trains passing in the other direction are a momentary whoosh and are nearly invisible.

We arrived to St. Pancreas Station in London, walked to the Mentone Hotel and checked in.  The luggage we left at the hotel in mid-May was there.  We retrieved it, did some computer work (Schengen research) and went out to investigate train routes to Windermere, Lakes District.  We bought 'flexible' tickets for 9:43 am, which meant we did not have reserved seats - a source of some concern for tomorrow given we had no idea how many other tickets they might sell and that we now had 6 pieces of luggage (four suitcases and two backpacks).

We then went to dinner at Diwana, a vegetarian Indian place we ate at 3 years ago, before walking the Coast to Coast Trail.  Dinner was good and a good value for the money.  We retired and mentally prepared for the next day, the last travel day for a while.