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| St Pancras station - a lot of people to move! |
It was a seriously early start, with a 4am alarm so I could get yesterday’s blog finished and done. Then some rapid packing (who do I have so much “stuff”? – most of which is not clothes) and out to catch a 5:30am bus to the station. London was quiet in Grays Inn Road, but once the traffic hit the Kings Cross area, it was crazy. As it was in the Eurostar area – snaking lines of hurry-up-and-wait to get to ticket scanning, and then passport control (both English and French) and then trying to find somewhere to sit in the pre-boarding concourse. I have to say that quality of coffee is a vast improvement over British Rail offerings.
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| Grays Inn Road was quiet |
Most of the craziness of boarding was caused by the fact that two trains were leaving within minutes of each other – the 7.01am for Paris, and the 7.04 for Brussels. I was on the latter, and it looked as if both trains were pretty full. The actual journey was blah – half an hour of it was in the darkness of the Chunnel, and there’s nothing to see. And even in open air on both sides, the railways are cut into the land, with high banks on both sides. Announcements were in French, Belgian and English – I got most of the French, but Belgian is a very weird mix of language sounds. What we could see of the land is very arable – there is some serious farming going on and the crop growth looks good.
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| Walking from one station to the other in Lille |
Arriving in Lille Europ, many of us debarked and made the 10 minute walk over to the local railway station, Lille Flandres – easy to find. Again, it was hurry-up-and-wait; 50 minutes until the Rouen train was called. Basically, it was a local train, and stopped at a dozen stations on the way – a nicer way to get a taste of the countryside. In Rouen, the Gare Rive Droit is at the top end of Avenue Jeanne D’Arc – easy enough to wheel downhill, but I may have to rethink getting back to the station on Monday! The place I’m staying is just on the edge of old Rouen, and it’s less a hotel than a sort of AirBnB – luckily I’d contacted them about arriving early before the stated check-in time. There is no reception; Hervé met me at the next door Turkish restaurant, and whisked me through a very solid blank door and up a bare set of stairs – luckily only one floor. I suspect it was an apartment building which has now been split up into smaller units; my very charming room opens onto an old courtyard, and Hervé tells me that I should be insulated from most of the music making that goes on in the evening on the front side. I have to confess that I dropped on the bed and slept for three hours, before coming to, and getting myself a bit more organized.
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| Walking in Rouen |
I’d actually not planned to do much with this first evening – more, orientation and getting the feel of it. It is VERY hot here – 30°C+ and very humid – I may need to revise my plans for tomorrow. For now, I got out and wandered – up to the tourist office to find some printed stuff in English, and then through the streets till I got to the Cathedral.
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| Looking up the nave |
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| Outside cloister |
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| West facade |
I had some lovely quiet time there – it was the last half-hour before they close, and not too many people around. Once we were expelled, I managed to wiggle my way back to the Chambres des Carmes and spent what was left of the evening blogging, and re-planning tomorrow’s outings. No fancy French dinners for me, just yet... But more Cathedral pics to come, I'm sure!
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