London to Nice day one

 I woke up twice today. The first time was when the person with the bed below mine let her alarm snooze into oblivion at 6 am. The second was our now routine 9:30 am fire alarm. I need to relax and London is not the place to do it.

I’m not looking for culture here anymore so I went to a bagel shop for a taste of everything. This shop is odd, it’s clearly meant to evolution New York bageling but all the details are off. The interior design has all the trappings of a northeastern Jewish deli. The cups are straight out of a Greek diner. The service is slow and conducted without shouting. The customers are permitted to ask questions about what’s being ordered. The bagel is good, small, and not in the style of New York. No matter, it’s what I ordered.

In the bowels of St Pancras I board the Eurostar to make my journey to Paris. The tunnel zips by and I turn the pages of The Heart of Darkness. Two hours later in Gare Du Nord I transfer to a packed RER train to make a family call. My mother’s cousin lives in Paris with his Partner and their son. To make it more of a family affair, his brother and brother’s girlfriend are also in town. We catch up and discuss what we’ve found as expats and as travelers. Always much to talk about on those subjects. We’re celebrating a birthday and go to a local Italian restaurant around the corner. The owner knows all the locals and treats us out of towners well also.

Unfortunately I can’t linger for long, I have a night train to Nice that I can’t miss. I’ve slept on many trains but this is my first time doing couchette, we don’t have any of this in the US. Six to a small shared compartment all in beds. On the TGV, the ride takes 6 hours. We’re going to do it in 12 but with earplugs at the ready, maybe I’ll wake up refreshed. Each berth comes a pillow, earplugs, an eye mask, some other toiletries, what can be described as a halfway point between a sleeping bag and sheets. My bunkmates are silent and the loudest thing I can hear is the bussing from my phone charger.