Wow, what a day. We got up early as we had no idea how to get our tickets so we wanted plenty of time in case there was a problem. I had ordered the rail tickets on line back in March but the system now has you getting your tickets at the station. They have plenty of kiosks available but you needed to insert the credit card that you bought the tickets. Of course, I left this credit card at home. So we needed to go to the ticket office where the man printed out both the first train to Paris and then the train to London.
When the train platform was posted we headed to that area. Found a lift but it brought us to the wrong platform. Found the right one and then had to head to Y area for our car number. Plenty of space to store the luggage which was great. Ride was uneventful. You go so fast that you really cannot see much of the country. Besides, we were sitting facing the rear of the train so that has a tendency to make me sick.
Arrived in Paris and had to transfer to the north station. There were no taxi cabs so we had to wait for around 15 minutes. The ride to the north station was fine but when we got there, we had to go through passport control and wait upstairs until the called the train for boarding. Dragging this luggage around is getting old real quick. Plus the pull up handle on my big piece broke. Piece of junk.
Again, plenty of room for the luggage. Took our seats and off we went heading to London. They served us a nice light lunch with wine. Love that about France. It takes about 25 minutes to go through the chunnel. Arrived in London but again at a different station than we needed for the train to get up to Southampton. Had to take the underground to get there. The man at the ticket office told us what underground trains to take, there were two of them, and we finally made it to Waterloo Station.
It pays to look lost, as a very nice lady asked us if we needed help. She works for the train company in customer relations. She was able to get the track number and took us to the train before anyone else came on board. She had us put out luggage right up front and us in the first two seats. And we met Albert, train attendant, who assisted us in getting off with the luggage.
Had to wait for a taxi but I hailed one down and the ride to the hotel was quick. This hotel has seen better days or at least our room has. Because we are using points, we have a room with no view or should I say, a view of other buildings. Oh well, such is life.
Not sure what we are going to do about dinner. I need to find out just where we are before we decide anything. Tomorrow we board the QM2 for our trip to New York.
The day all told has been long. Left the hotel at 6am and checked into this hotel at around 4:30pm plus we lost one hour so our body clocks think it is 5:30pm. Long travel day. But we made it so I guess that is something to be proud of. But we are getting too old for this type of travel especially lugging all this luggage around. We are both rethinking the way we pack. Do not need to bring big luggage. That is what the laundry is for.
We hope we have good internet on the ship. If not, I will do my best to keep you updated but it is six days at sea. Nothing much to see but water. Till then.
Dinner last night at the Oxford Brasserie. All quite good. We were the first ones to sit down for dinner. Seems that the American eats early. Walked back to the hotel. A/C not working right so I turned it off and opened the window. Much better.
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