I hate planes and I hate airports! Holiday travel this year was by train and it suits me much better. I’d like to say it’s my green credentials cutting down airmiles (I’m being inspired by the lovely blog A Lazy Girl Goes Green) but it’s more selfish than that, based on my preferences and the ease of travelling with the Aged P’s. So I had a pretty decent return home from my sunny summer hols. Eurostar look after you well (if you pay a bit more) and gave me a yummy (and meat-free) meal with proper cutlery and crockery (i.e. no plastic). Plus the staff were very friendly and very funny: I’ve now met the one Frenchman with whom you can make jokes about wine!

I loved this sign at the station — it just couldn’t exist in UK!

I relax on a train, since I know there’s nothing I can do to control the journey: we’ll arrive when we arrive. In some small way this is ‘being in the moment’ for me, I suppose. I eat what I’m offered, I enjoy some shared moments with other passengers, but mostly I’m content to sit back and observe — the scenery, the people, my thoughts. It was so calm it verged on feeling self-indulgent. I used to associate travel with stress, not peace. I like to think my yoga helps me to be better now at practicing acceptance.

Man recharging his mobile phone with cycle-power!

Even immigration had its fun moments. Travelling with non-EU Hubby always involves some small interrogation. This time it was the French passport controller asking Hubby what the capital of Australia was. First up confusion over the pronunciation of Canberra (Australian vs. French — they sound very different!) followed by surprise that Canberra rather than Sydney was the correct answer! 🙂

But, ha, back in London it was not so pleasant:
It was cold and dark.
We had to wait ages for a taxi.
We missed the last direct train home.
We had to wait quite some time for the next train.
And that had a replacement bus service for the last leg.
And it ran late…

Hubby and I (both practicing acceptance!) were resolutely non-grumbly, despite being tired, cold, and hungry. An excuse for snuggling up together on the train. Also an excuse for him to go to MacDonald’s! I have never seen anyone look more baffled than the MacDo employee when I asked him for a pack of the carrots I’d spotted in their fridge. Who knew MacDo served anything that looks like what it really is!?

“I’m lovin’ it”!