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Paris 2025 - Crossing the Channel (Day 2)

We got up early on Day 2 to make sure we got to our coach. Shannon had found that National Express coaches from Southampton at certain times cost only £8 per person which, when considering the price of train fare, was an absolute bargain! We took our coach from Harbour Parade in Southampton. Admittedly, the check in process was a bit complicated and we just chose a queue and hoped for the best until someone came to check our tickets and we were confident we were in the right line. From then, it was plain sailing and we were really pleased with our choice of transport. We arrived in London a little ahead of time into Victoria bus station.

Initially when we planned the trip, we were going to just go straight to St Pancras via the underground. However, we decided to take the scenic route and allow Shannon to experience London for the first time. It didn't really leave the best first impression due to how busy it is as a city, but it was great to be able to wander past Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster and the London Eye. Instead of getting on the underground at Victoria, we made our way to Waterloo and went a few stops up the Northern line to Euston. From there, we walked to St Pancras international which took about 10 minutes. We still managed to arrive with plenty of time to spare as we gave ourselves a few hours to go the 20 minute journey across London, but we thought we be better to be on the safe side and have extra time in case of delays. 

Our experience at St Pancras was a little more eventful. Travelling abroad is not second nature to either of us, therefore the concept of going through passport control and security is a little daunting. We managed to make sure that pretty much everything that could happen did happen. Shannon went through the security scanner with a belt on, which meant she had to be frisked, then both of us struggled with the passport gates resulting in Shannon setting the alarm off as if she was being denied exit from the country. We got there in the end and made ourselves comfortable to wait in the departure lounge for our Eurostar. The train journey itself was smooth and before we knew it, we arrived at the Gare du Nord in Paris. 

Our choice of accommodation for the first 3 nights of our stay was an AirBnB hosted by Jean-Philippe just north of Monmatre. We took the metro up to Porte du Clingnoncourt and then walked the 15-20 minutes to the apartment. Just a word of warning on the AirBnB, it is on the 5th floor so you should be prepared to ascend a lot of stairs with your luggage to reach it. Jean-Philippe welcomed us when we arrived, gave us some tips for getting around the local area, and made sure we knew how to work the TV and set up the sofa bed. As it was getting late, we took a stroll to McDonald's for tea. 

A trip to McDonald's was something Shannon had on her bucket list for our holiday as they offer some different options than in the UK. Shannon went for a Royale Deluxe Burger (a beef burger with cheese and a different burger sauce than the UK) and Nicole had a McWrap Chevre (a breaded goats cheese wrap), and we both enjoyed some cheese fondue fries. We followed this up with a McFlurry. Nicole had a cookie dough one and Shannon found her new favourite ice cream, a Magic McFlurry, which came with an abundance of blue coloured cola flavoured sauce. We then headed back to the AirBnB to get some sleep ready for a busy few days. 

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