Distance cycled: It's hard to cycle when the
Eurostar forget to load your bicycle onto the train.
Number of boys wearing only jocks in my hostel
room: 3
Number of bags I had to carry up nine flights of
stairs: 5
Number of old men I saw carrying baguettes:
8
The most recent vote went in favour of getting the Eurostar to
Paris and I was quite excited since I'd never caught it before,
little did I know it would turn out to be quite the debacle. I was
booked on the red-eye service on Friday morning and after booking
the ticket found out the baggage dudes will still be snoozing
(along with the rest of London) at 5am so I'd have to check the
bike in the day before. Considering I only had 24 hours in London
it was an inconvenience but unavoidable. As soon as I met the guy
checking 'Meg' (my bicycle) in I was nervous. I got the feeling he
was more interested in getting my phone number rather than getting
my bike to Paris.
I got a taxi to Kings Cross at 4.20am the next morning and got
pulled aside at customs. Apparently my camping knife and cooking
gas had set off alarms. What mischief did they think I was going to
get up to on the train? Perhaps they were worried I'd boil my own
water and not pay the exorbitant prices they charge for a cup of
tea?
On arrival in Paris, I lugged my panniers to the registered
luggage depot but Meg wasn't there waiting for me. After a bit of
sign language and broken French and English I discovered she was
still in London, obviously her alarm hadn't gone off for the
red-eye train journey. Fast forward 6 hours and I had my bike back
and was all checked into a 9th floor bunk in the Peace
and Love Hostel. The only ventilation was a window that couldn't be
opened due to the bunks so it was like a sauna up there. When I
woke up the next morning I was greeted with the vision of three
young guys wearing nothing but their jocks. Ahhh the joys of hostel
living.
Update: I contacted Eurostar about the Meg mixup and they
refunded the £30 bicycle carriage fee (which is pretty steep
anyway) and offered me my next journey for free from the UK to
Paris, Brussels, Lille, Marne La Vallée for Disneyland or Calais
I'm not sure I can be bothered cycling all the way north again to
use it... what do you think?