A Tale of Two Cities, part 2

Eurostar is a high speed train line that connects London to Paris through the Channel Tunnel.  From when the Channel Tunnel first opened in 1994, until 2007 when the terminal was moved across town, Eurostar carried nearly 82 million passengers from Waterloo Station through the tunnel to the continent.  My family and I were among those passengers in late January 2000 to board the sleek comfortable Eurostar train.  We were leaving the busiest train station in Britain, heading for the busiest station in all of Europe, the Gare du Nord on the north side of Paris.

Trains departing Waterloo pass the Battersea Power Station on the way out of town.  For unsuspecting travelers this is an unexpected surprise, as it was the setting of the cover of the Pink Floyd album "Animals".  We enjoyed watching the very urban London scenery pass by as the train made its way to the tunnel.  As we finally arrived at the tunnel, we made a fuss to the children about it.  But, although we were reaching top speeds of 189 miles per hour, we lacked a visual point of reference with which to enjoy the speed.  20 minutes later we emerged from the tunnel and were in France. 

We arrived at Gare du Nord, children and luggage in tow, and walked the few blocks to the Alba Opera Apart'hotel.  I have a tendency to forget that city blocks are larger than they appear on the map, especially when pushing prams and pulling suitcases through busy city streets.  We tried to contain our excitement long enough to get to the hotel and unpack our bags, but it was difficult not to gawk at this historic yet vibrant living city as we made our way just over half a mile to the hotel.

The Alba Opera Apart'hotel offers hotel rooms and small apartments, close to the border between the 9th and 18th arrondissement.  It is close to the historic Montmartre region, a reasonable walking distance to the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur and the Moulin Rouge caberet.  The hotel was as charming as could be.  The room was on the 3rd floor, and the elevator was so tiny (and cute) that we could only send the luggage up the elevator, and had to walk the stairs to meet the bags when they arrived.  Despite our inability to speak French, and the proprietor's inability to speak English, she gave us lots of great information and a local map showing us the Metro stations and nearby points of interest.  We exchanged information using gestures and even a bit of Spanish, since the proprietor was of Spanish descent.  As we re-loaded our kids into their matching prams and prepared to head out of the hotel for our first foray into the City of Lights, we knew this was going to be a fantastic adventure.

A Tale of Two Cities, part 1

As we near departure date for a trip to France, I think back to the three days we spent there in 2000 when the kids were just 3 and 4 years old.  Like many Americans on their first trip to Europe, we chose London as the starting point.  We sought the safety of the common language and similar culture.  Europe on training wheels.  London had the strongest presence of all European capitals in popular culture for young Americans in the 1970's, and I couldn't wait to see the city of Mary Poppins and Peter Pan, as well as Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Abbey Road, and on and on.

The south bank of the Thames River now boasts one of London's top tourist attractions, the London Eye.  Tony Blair officially opened the attraction on December 31, 1999 to usher in the new year; but as of late January 2000, it was still dormant and closed to the public.  The wheel wasn't opened until March of that year, which was a disappointment to the two young children in tow.

Just south of the London Eye is the Marriott County Hall Hotel, a 5-star hotel housed in London's former County Hall.  Having just wrapped up an extensive series of business trips, I had accumulated enough Marriott Reward points to enjoy this well-deserved splurge courtesy of Marriott.  Our large room faced the Thames River, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  We rode the tube trains, and learned about London from a cabbie in his iconic black cab.  We enjoyed as much of London as a couple with two toddlers can, all the more so after we ventured to the Kensington neighborhood to buy a matching pair of prams.  With the liberation of our new prams, we strolled Kensington Gardens, and reflected at the makeshift memorial to Princess Diana, then just two years gone.

London was orderly, proper, clean, polite.  We loved it, but we were conspicuous.  Young children being silly, with my daughter in a bright pink winter coat.  We could not have stuck out more in this landscape of gray skies and black overcoats.  Certainly we were quickly spotted as Americans by our accents and bright colors.  We were thrilled to be in London, but it didn't fit my idea of an adventure.  I like to feel like a fish out of water.  There is no doubt that London is different than Chicago.  But it is different in the way that the Thames River (tidal and brackish with salty water from the sea) is different from the Chicago River (fed by freshwater from Lake Michigan).  We were looking forward to the second half of our trip to feel truly out of our element.

It is about 21 watery miles from England to France across the English Channel.  Swimmers have successfully made the crossing, as have hovercraft, hydroplanes, and of course ships.  But others had long dreamed of a faster and more comfortable crossing.  As early as 1802, a French mining engineer proposed tunneling under the water to the other side.  Ideas and proposals bounced back and forth over the years since then.  By 1988, a new plan had been conceived and work began in earnest on what would become the The Channel Tunnel.  Six years later, the tunnel was open for business, and another six years after that, I enjoyed one of the coolest train rides of my life.