This train leg was quite nice and went by faster than I expected. It's a good thing because tiredness is going to bite soon. The ICE 3neo from Siemens is a very nice train. In plane terms, it feels like walking onto an A350 for the first time.

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Eurostar staff were quick at rebooking me in Brussels, even if it seems there were a lot of people with similar stories. It's full in 2nd class apparently so there might be a few unhappy people. I'm amazed that Eurostar won't upgrade passengers in case of irrops, they'd rather pay for a hotel night than put 2nd class people in Plus or Premier.

I quickly went through to the lounge which was very quiet but is filling up with 50 minutes to go until the last train.

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Sweet and savoury escargots
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Wine selection
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Time to relax

There are still 2+ hours delays on the Paris line, and 2 trains cancelled out of the last 4 so I can't imagine the zoo in Gare du Nord.

The Cologne phots brought back memories. I can highly recommend Carnival, its a hoot, an entire city in fancy dress.

The escargot threw me for a minute!

I was going to post from the channel tunnel but that didn't quite work. My 4g connection was inoperable and FT (via Cloudflare) block Eurostar's WiFi provider.

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There were a few tired faces on the train, mine included, of people who'd been caught up in the disruption on the Paris High speed line. We got lucky boarding in Brussels because we got dinners. I think that's where they cater. The people who joined in Lille weren't so lucky.

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Mediterranean chicken, I think.

It was a long day. In the end it wasn't Deutsche Bahn who messed up, it was an issue on the overhead power cables in Paris which put the whole Eurostar operation in a bit mess. I will write to DB to complain that I had to escalate to get a new ticket, but I'll do that with a fresh brain, not tonight!

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Eurostar Plus and Premier seat

I'll save my final thoughts for later in the week, when I've slept a bit. SWMBO and Mini-me are getting back tomorrow so I'm going to get some rest while I can.

Thanks for reading so far!

They had a Dutch-language name but I can't remember what it was. And since the pastry would most likely be called that in a French bakery (another Viennoiserie !) I decided I'd call them that.