In the Chunnel

We’re on the train to Paris. We made the 11:30 train by the skin of our teeth! It was a lot like boarding an airplane, we had to go through security, had our passports stamped, went to our train gate, and voila, here we are! Kevin was thinking and bought us a window seat, what he didn’t know to request, however, was a seat that is facing forward! We’re making the 2.5 hour journey to Paris backwards! As I write this we are traveling through the “chunnel” which is the underwater tunnel  that connects England and France. I’m trying to keep my mind off of the fact that we are down here, however, this isn’t working much, especially since the train just slowed down a lot. I’m feeling claustrophobic and a bit like I am going to vomit. Partly b/c I don’t like traveling backwards, but mostly because I hate the feeling of being underwater, on a train, in a tunnel. ICK. Gonna go for a walk…

Kevin here: so Nic is off going for a walk and missed our exit from the chunnel. Is it chunnel or chunnle? Either way, we are now in France. I must say, it’s quite pretty so far. Rolling hills, green farmland and cottage style houses.

I (Nic) am back! I went to the loo, considered having a total meltdown, reminded myself that I was on the road to Paris so I needed to keep it under control, I walked out of the loo and voila, daylight! Thank goodness we’re out of that damn Chunnel. Now, if I could only face foreward for the rest of the journey, it’d be perfect! Sigh.

The forecast in Paris is 70* and sunny all week long, a total surprise. I expected (and packed) for it to be 60* and cloudy all week, so some shopping may be in order!

One thing I didn’t realize we take for granted at home is the climate control indoors. At home, wherever you go, it is always comfortable, perhaps slightly too warm or too cool for your taste, but reasonably comfortable most of the time. Well, in London everywhere is HOT! The tube, the hotel, the restaurants, the bus, every single place we went was hot and stuffy inside. Apparantly they do not believe in climate control here! Even at the Boxwood Cafe where we had our super nice dinner we were initally seated in this room upstairs that was bloody HOT and we were sitting under this spotlight type lamp that was making us both sweat (mostly me)! They were happy to move us, of course, because everyone was so fabulous there! Regardless, I was surprised that even an upscale place like that had an area that was not air conditioned! Come on people! You could lear a thing or two from us energy-sucking Americans!

We are aproximately an hour away from Paris now! The countryside is beautiful! I better shut down the laptop to save some battery in case we need it later. For now, cheerio!

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