On our last day in London, we woke up, repacked, had breakfast in the breakfast room at the Grosvenor while we waited for our cab.
Our cab arrived on time and took us to the train station to board the Eurostar (also known as the Chunnel…..the train that goes underwater through the English Channel to France). Technically we didn’t have to take a cab, we could have just hopped on the tube but we didn’t want to mess with the stairs and all of our luggage. So we called a cab and he dropped us off (and our luggage) right in front of St. Pancras station. We found our train and boarded early.
It was very nice! We had assigned seats that were right by one of the luggage racks so it didn’t take us long to get settled in. I think the train ride took about 2 hours. And we were only underwater for maybe 25 minutes? It was hard to tell. It’s pretty cool though because they make announcements every 30 minutes or so and so we knew when we were in France waters because the announcements came on in French first instead of English.
We arrived at Gare du Nord station in Paris. We were a bit more prepared this time with our luggage, meaning we knew what to expect with the stairs. It wasn’t that bad though. I had done a bunch of research before we left (shocking right?) about what train passes to get, and so we immediately found a photo booth. Sounds crazy, right? But the pass we got is called a ‘Navigo’ pass, and it’s basically an unlimited weekly pass that runs from Monday – Sunday. But it works on ALL trains…the metro, the RER and the actual trains. And we would be using all three during our week in Paris. It was about 40 euros per person, but TOTALLY worth it. Once we got our pictures taken, we went to the counter and got the pass. I was worried at first because I read on some websites that depending on the person you get behind the counter, they may or may not sell you the pass. Typically, the Navigo pass is only sold to locals. Well, I printed off the fine print in French that stated that it could be sold to anyone, regardless of their citizenship. So I had that with me and was ready to make my argument, but fortunately I didn’t need it. The gentleman was very nice and sold us the passes and we were set for the week. All we had to do was swipe our little plastic card each time we got on the train/RER/metro and always have it with us. It worked out great!
Then we navigated our way to the St. Lazare station from Gare du Nord and found our way to the train that would take us to Cormeilles de Parisis (where our hosts lived). It took a while. The last time I was in Paris, we stayed right in the heart of Paris, so I never had to navigate to the trains for the suburbs. But we found it and got settled and then when we arrived, texted our hosts that we were there.
Here's a picture of the little village we stayed in. It was taken right outside of the train station.
Our hosts came and picked us up. They didn't speak any English, but we managed just fine. I won't post pictures of their home, but it was very nice and we had our own bedroom with a large closet and our own terrace! It was so nice.
We were zonked though so as soon as we unpacked, we were off to bed.
