Taking the Train (& an Unwanted Guest) 25-27 June

 

As well as having been double-vaccinated at least two weeks ago, France also required us to have had a negative Covid test. Prices vary significantly but the cheapest we found was Collinson at East Midlands Airport. There were closer test centres at 2-3 times the price, but they weren’t exactly local either – and the drive to EMA was a nice one.

The test centre was as well organised and efficient as the vaccination centre had been. We arrived very early but were allowed to go straight in. 15-minutes later we were out – and the results (both negative thankfully) were emailed to us before we’d got home.

The taxi and the train changes were trouble free until Watford Junction where our luck ran out. The shuttle-train to St Albans (our stop-over for the night) pulled in nice and early and we boarded. Then the conductor announced the train was cancelled due to the driver having exceeded his legal working hours. Luckily Tom offered to pick us up and so we ended up at his and Natasha’s earlier than we would have had the train run as scheduled.

We had a lovely Chinese meal, courtesy of Tom and Natasha before hitting the sack – with the alarm set for 04:45. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see Serena and we arrived after her bedtime and were leaving before even that early riser was going to be up.

We both had a rough night (my hay fever disturbing both of us) but at least we were both up and dressed ready for the taxi to the station. He was a little early which meant we got an earlier than planned train to St Pancras to pick up the Eurostar.

Now to see if we had managed to get all of the required paperwork in good order: ticket, passport, covid test, covid vaccination certificate, evidence of abode, declaration of honour. Some clearly necessary, others feeling like simple bureaucracy to punish Brexit. Regardless, everything went smoothly (though finding the specific documents needed at each stage of inspection was a pain). Almost unbelievably no one we saw had issue with their documents.

The Eurostar was 10 minutes late departing but with a 4-hour stop-over in Paris before our next train, that was no worry. The hour+ walk from Gare du Nord to Gare d’Austerlitz was straightforward and amazingly it stayed dry. Once over the Pont d’Austerlitz, the priority was to find somewhere to eat – we ended up eating Vietnamese. Two tasty main courses and three beers for less than €30 – in the centre of Paris – that has to be good VFM. The rain started whilst we were eating and so the fact that chopstick slowed our consumption was a good thing. Dinner over we strolled around the neighbouring Jardin des Plantes before heading to the station.

Place de la Revolution

We’d booked first class ticket for the last, 4-hour, leg of our journey and so travelled in comfort.

Uzerche station is a fair way out of town. Fortunately, on arrival, the weather was perfect – dry and neither hot nor cold. We had planned to take a taxi as the weather forecast had been wet, but with the weather much better than expected we decided to walk. It took 25-minutes but didn’t feel as long as we’d expected.

A quick inspection of the house revealed no serious concerns and so, we relaxed a while and then hit the sack around 11pm (local).

And then the heavens opened. Not only was there a downpour, the accompanying storm was spectacular. The sheet lightning that accompanied the rolling thunder was exceptional. Rather than the occasional flash that I associate with lightning, the night sky was pretty much continually illuminated. The rain hitting the shutters made it sound as though we were under a corrugated roof. We’d been so lucky with the weather a couple of hours earlier.

It was 09:00 before we awoke (I usually awake around 05:30) but then again, we had had a really long day (preceded by a short and rough night). Having arrived by train, we have no car with us. However, we do have a pair of e-bikes. I’d put the batteries on charge when we arrived and now oiled the chains and inflated the tyres. Then we headed to the supermarche to stock up on essentials. The rest of the day was spent removing dust sheets, dusting and vacuuming.

As we were closing up the house for the evening, I came across this young lady setting up home. Pretty sure she hadn’t been there the night before so quick work – and three eggs laid already.

Uninvited Guest