Starting on November 14th, Eurostar trains will depart London from one of Europe’s railway cathedrals called St Pancras International. St Pancras and the neighborhood around it has been spit polished for the opening–and now there is high-speed track all the way to the chunnel.
St. Pancras is one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic architecture in the world. When they gutted it to make the new, improved Eurostar station, they didn’t skimp on the finery. It now features the longest champagne bar in Europe, for one thing. Are you having romantic fantasies yet?
If you’ve ever seen any of those old, romantic movies where the leading lady smokes a thin cigarette through a long, white cigarette holder while waiting for her beau in the elegant restaurant inside a train station from whence the smoldering love-duo will depart to romantic Paris to escape the difficult husband, then you know the scene. And just think, you can replicate that experience all by yourself. Well, maybe without the cigarette. That you’ll probably have to smoke outside the station these days.
In any case, you can start by renting a flat in London, say in Hyde Park. Everyone’s heard of that.
Here’s what I suggest you do next: Dally about London a bit, perhaps on the first day finding the best bubble and squeak joint, enjoying some fried Mars bars after. Then you’ll partake of a plethora of fine and free museums. After a week you let loose a bored yawn and decide to spend the next week in Paris. Pretending your bags are huge steamer trunks of the size you know it would take a linebacker to lift into the “boot,” you then slide into one of London’s cool taxis to rumble over to St. Pancras where you’ll embark on your journey to Paris via the sleek Eurostar train. But first immerse yourself in the splendor of the Victorian gothic. Quaff some champagne while you wait. Pretend you can afford it.
It’s doable, as they say.
(Maybe you’d like another location in London? Fine. Here are some vacation rental properties in Greater London.)














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