29/12/22 08:06 

We’ve made it.  We’re on the Eurostar. To Paris.  On time.  And settled.  Nev. And the boys. Unfortunately, we had a slight change of route.  We made it to Ilford station at just gone 5am.  Forty minutes spare.  The grills on the main entrance were still down yet the automatic doors were sliding.  Initially, I thought we were simply early.  Nev noticed the posters displaying the engineering times.  Yet, nothing was clear.  A phone call to the National Rail helpline allowed us to discover that the Elizabeth Line was going to be replaced by a rail replacement bus service.  There was no indication as to where this bus would stop.  So, we grabbed a bus back to Gants Hill to catch the Central Line to Mile End and then we hopped onto the Hammersmith and City Line to King’s Cross.  It was a nice smooth journey without issue.  Aside from the 3am alarm.  Which went off after I managed to grab twenty minutes of sleep. 

And this is now my first entry in my latest notebook to be used, the third in the tricolour trilogy; An Englishman in Paris – Désolé, Je Suis Anglais.  I’m looking forward to using this many times over.  Even when I’m comfortable ordering the croissants, pains au chocolate, beignets and chouquettes from the boulangeries.