The Channel Tunnel
England - France
I'm aware that The Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel as it's commonly called, is really more of a thing to do than a place to see. It was on the list that I originally started working from and I was intrigued so I left it on there. I don't have a lot of train experience so it was probably more intriguing to me than it might be to someone who rides the rails regularly (or a hobo). Branelle and I took the Eurostar from London to Paris this past fall and really enjoyed it so here are some brief comments and pictures from our trip.
To catch the train in London you head to St Pancras Station. It is fantastic. It doesn't look like a train station from the outside, but to be fair it's also a luxury hotel and that's what you see from the front.
The process to board is kind of like flying, but much easier and more relaxing. You carry all of your luggage with you the whole time and you go through a security checkpoint with it. Once you get through security you are in a large waiting area that's a lot like the nice central part of airline terminals - you know, where all the food and shopping is but no gates. St Pancras is clean and comfortable. It's a pleasure waiting there, but you don't have to arrive as early as you would to fly so you won't wait long.
Eventually, you'll see that your train is ready to board on an electronic sign next to a moving sidewalk and you just head up to your platform. It's that easy. It's not crowded. There's no huge rush. You do have your luggage, but there's so much room it's not really an issue.
Once you get up to your platform you just look for the car where your seats are and board. There is a place to store your luggage and then you just have a seat. We were in Europe for a few weeks so we had quite a lot of luggage but there was plenty of room for it all.
Nel and I had two seats facing each other next to a window. It was extremely comfortable and at one point I was thinking to myself, "Why does anyone fly when you can do this?" To be fair, we were in First Class. You don't really realize it because you don't see anyone else. On a plane, you're all in one cabin and you can see coach and all the people right behind you. On the Eurostar, unless you go for a hike (which I did out of curiosity), you only see and hear your particular car. There were probably only 10 people in our car while each coach section probably has about 80 or so....in the same amount of space. I'm sure I still would have enjoyed the trip in coach, but it would be hard to have an issue where we were riding.
The trip from London to Paris takes about 2:20. We had WiFi and I followed along on an interactive map. Most of the trip is above ground, and the chunnel part is just kind of dark and sneaks up on you. The train has a 99 mph speed limit in the tunnel itself, which covers a little over 30 miles, but we hit 190 or so above ground. It doesn't feel that fast though.
They feed you and ask you if you're okay a lot, but I don't actually recall anyone asking us for our tickets. Nel got her Candy Crush on and also checked in on our daughter back home. It's very quiet and comfortable. Plane travel can kind of wear you down. We arrived in Paris feeling refreshed and energetic. Being able to stand up and walk around if you want makes a big difference.
I should also point out that we had one of the brand new trains they had just started running. I'm sure the old ones are nice too, but new is almost always a little better.
When you arrive in Paris it's at Gare du Nord. I'm not a fan. I've been here a couple times and it's just a place that I want to get out of as fast as I can. It's a neat building, but it's crowded and dirty and full of people that want to take advantage of you in some way or another. We picked up our car at Avis and headed out.
I loved our Chunnel trip. Like I said, It was a real novelty for me and I love transportation and purpose-built vehicles in general so it was probably more interesting for me than most. We purchased our tickets in advance and the entire process was surprisingly easy. If you're planning a trip that involves getting across the English Channel, take the train. You'll be glad you did and you'll remember it for a long time. I'm glad I left it on our "100 Places" list as it truly represents the saying "It's about the journey, not the destination."
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