I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve taken the Eurostar now, or indeed, how many times I’ve crossed between Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord on the Métro. It amuses me that someone whose first language is Polish and second language is English — that’s me — has less trouble navigating the French user-interface of the Paris Métro ticket machines than the locals seem to have.
Just north of Bourg-en-Bresse the whole of France seems to be a high-speed blur limited to twenty yards either side of the TGV. Beyond that the mist clinging to the flat landscape is obscuring everything.