A new day dawns and its off to Paris for lunch on Eurostar.

Eurostar booked leaving 8-31 getting to Paris just in time for a nice long lunch.
.
First time on Eurostar so unsure of what to expect but St Pancras was fine. Check in, even at the busy morning period was smooth, security and immigration cleared quickly and plenty ofplaces to sit whilst waiting to board.....(c/f. Paris Nord departure comments later.)

Station clean and bright and did have that little bit of glamour that Sir John Betjeman would have approved of.

Whilst waiting in the departure hall we chatted to a couple from Brazil on a European tour....only to find that they were sharing the same table on the train...what are the chances of that?

750 passengers on the train, more than 2 trains capacity, 1500, in the hall...makes a big number of combinations.

On time departure, on time arrival all went smoothly. 192 mph (max speed is stated as 186mph so slight inaccuracy of the GPS) clocked on the GPS as we headed for Folkestone, 20 mins in the tunnel and a good hour sees you in Gare Du Nord.

You then simply walk off the platform with no further delays by customs/immigration/ ticket checking....good. (c/f with arrivals in St Pancras later.)

Tip:: You can buy your Paris Metro tickets in advance at the Information desk in the departure hall...no queuing on the train or in Paris.