Strasbourg; Thursday, 13 December, 2012

At the end of a long week (which had included long days on both the Saturday and Sunday) I was glad to get away from work on the spot of five, and thanks to having pre-brought my ticket the evening beforehand, 15 minutes later was speeding my way towards central London.

The train arrived at St Pancras and I walked the short distance from the Thameslink station over to the Eurostar check-in and after a very quick check-in and security check I slumped down in a seat at the bar in departures with a burger and a pint.

I barely had time to consume them before they announced our train as ready to board. I joined the throng of passengers heading to the train, and into a packed carriage.

On time, we pulled out of London and tore our way through the Kent countryside and down to the Channel Tunnel.

The train was fast to Gare du Nord, so we were able to run a little early, and we pulled in five minutes ahead of the scheduled time.

From Gare du Nord I walked the short distance to the Gare du L’Est and on to my hotel for the night.