Overnight in London
We were very busy beavers on Friday, getting all the last minute things done to get away to France for two weeks. John and Barb needed to wash, iron and re-pack into smaller bags for the trip. Susan had to get all her paperwork in order (Covid vaccination record and proof of travel insurance) and also cancel all the various deliveries (milk, paper etc), the gardener, mower man, cleaner etc for two weeks. Then she also had to pack and sort out all her medications for that period of time. Not only that we had a couple of hours of recorded Coronation Street episodes to catch up on!
Finally it's Saturday. Talk about best laid plans. We had planned at first to catch the train into London to Liverpool Street from Great Chesterford, then a taxi from there to King's Cross (where our overnight hotel was situated). These plans were scuppered by week-end track work on that line. Bum!
Plan B involved catching a train from Cambridge on a different line, which handily went right to King's Cross station, but we'd need a taxi to get from Great Chesterford to Cambridge train Station. Easy right? Wrong. After several phone calls we eventually found a driver for the job and he was only five minutes late (but still in time for us to get the train).
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| Susan and John waiting for our taxi driver to turn up |
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| No sweat ... we're at Cambridge station with (lots of) minutes to spare |
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| On the train to London. The adventure begins .... |
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| We arrive at King's Cross Station |
Well, we got to London King's Cross Sation okay, but the effort of walking along all those train platforms and climbing on and off trains has exhausted Susan. She wants a taxi to our accomodation which although only 300 metres from the Station it's a step too far for her in this state. The taxi driver was a little perplexed why we wanted a cab and helpfully went round the block in a big loop so he could charge us ten pound and make the fare worthwhile.
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| King's Cross Station |
Getting in to the hotel room proved challenging too. No lifts. Susan's room was on the first floor up a steep spiral staircase. John carried the bags, but Susan lost her footing on the stairs and slid (gracefully) to a crumpled heap halfway up the stairs. After a heave to her feet, she assured us no damage was done and she rested for an hour or two before we went for tea back at King's Cross station at a nice Italian restaurant.
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The food was delicious and we loved the snowy white ceiling
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A yummy meal
No - that pizza was too much for Susan! |
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| Feeling brave, we walked the distance there but taxied it back |
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| The Elmwood Hotel at King's Cross |
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It was pretty basic accomodation, but clean
and cheap and close to the station |
We had to be up very early in the morning for our Eurostar train to Paris. Like 5.30 am early. This was not a big challenge for us (we're normally early risers) but a big challenge for Susan. She used all her reserves of strength to get up, dressed AND walk to the station at St Pancras (right beside King's Cross station). We were there in time for a quick bite to eat and to stock up on snacks for the trip.
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The colourful Bureau de Change situated right
opposite St Pancras International Station |
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| St Pancras Station is a beautiful piece of architecture |
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It's big, really big, so there was a lot more walking involved once we got inside and
had to negotiate Border Control. Phew! All our documentation was in order and we
had the right tickets to ride. |
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| Paris, here we come!!! |
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Even John is a little bit excited ...
(Er, it looks to me as though I was buttoning
my shirt. Definitely not Tiggering) |
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