SMOM and Seborga

Day 1 - Fri 12 Feb 2010

London - Paris - Zurich

The alarm goes off at 05:40 and the taxi arrives at 06:00 and I'm at the station by 06:15 (that has to be the shortest trip ever!) - down to Kings Cross on a crowded train but everyone had a seat. Across the road to St. Pancs and found that there's a speed restriction on the line down to the tunnel, but it's unclear if this is down to the snow or a points failure.

After I get through security I sit down to wait for my train to be called. After a few minutes a bloke sits down next to me with a Port Morseby tag on his bag. I commented that it was quite a rare tag, we spent the rest of the time swapping travellers tales.

My back is hurting, so I keep trying to move around the train to stop is seizing up. There are a lot of couples on the train heading off to Paris for Valentines weekend. Got to Paris at 12:30, about 20 minutes late and walk over to L'Est. It's a cold clear day, so it's all right in the sun, but inside the station it's absolutely freezing. In the station they have these little vertical heaters with lots of people huddled around them, but they don't do much!

Just after 14:00 the platform is announced and the bundle begins, I have a long walk up the platform as I have a first class ticket. I find my carriage find I have a Solo seat in a 2 x 1 configuration with much more space than Eurostar, and for less money!

The trip to Zurich was long, as there was more snow on the ground the further east we travelled. The only entertainment was the English couple and their daughter who couldn't find their seats, and got off the train about an hour before their stop, before coming back looking rather sheepish.

Got to Zurich at 19:30 and collected my ticket for tomorrow from the ticket office before heading across the road to the Co-op to get some snacking food. Then I head down to find the hotel. My room is small but perfectly formed, and even has BBC so I don't miss an episode of QI. After that nip out to have a quick look around, but it's so cold I'm soon driven back into the warmth!