Eurostar to Paris - from the loveliest station in the world
It's not often I go on about architecture. It passes me by most of the time. I don't often notice the lovely buildings around me when I'm wandering around London. But getting to and coming back from Leicester yesterday took me through the newly refurbished St Pancras International station in London. The refurbishment has been going on for a while now, turning the original dark dirty Victorian railway station which has been in use since 1868 into an international masterpiece of light and pale blue metal. There's even a replica of the original station clock hanging at the end of the arch.
With a 90 metre long champagne bar and the ability to hop off one of the trains from the Midlands and get straight on to the Eurostar is simple and stylish. Paris Gare du Nord looks old and tired compared to St Pancras. And I don't think that even Grand Central station in New York comes anywhere close to this amazing place. St Pancras has totally bowled me over on all counts. Or are there any other beautiful stations that I've ignored of not yet seen?
So if you're coming in from Paris to London, don't fly. Take the Eurostar for a change, come to St Pancras International and see what I'm talking about. and hopefully you'll be as amazed by St Pancras as I am.
