All Aboard the Eurostar

While I've been to Paris a few times and France several times, my wife and son had never been to either before we boarded the Eurostar in late spring and positively flew across to France at speeds of up to 230 kph, through the Channel Tunnel and straight into Paris Gare du Nord.

Once we reached the city, we checked into a slightly shabby hotel strategically located within easy walking distance of the station. It was early evening when we arrived, so we crashed pretty early, eager to make an early start the following day.

The next morning, we made the most of it by rising at first light and embarking on a fairly hectic schedule that took us from the Arc de Triomphe to Place du Trocadéro for some photographs, up the Eiffel Tower for magnificent cityscape views, along the River Seine to see the newly reconstructed Notre-Dame, and through the fabulous Louvre area before finally ending the day in the Montmartre district.

But this trip wasn't all about Paris. In fact, I was determined to tick off a few neighbouring countries at the same time and do it as cheaply as possible. So, after waking up in Paris for the second time, we jumped on a slow day train to Brussels for an equally hectic day there.

I guess the highlight for me was visiting the EU headquarters, where they proudly boasted about democracy, yet in practice seemed rather less convincing. The chocolate waffles were pretty tasty, though, and I broke my self-imposed dietary guidelines more than once while in the city.

After just one night in Belgium, we rose early again to hit Luxembourg, one of the world's most expensive countries. Sitting on the upper deck of the double-decker train gave us pristine views of the greenery and ever-present wind turbines.

Our hotel was once again within walking distance, so we saved on a cab fare and booked ourselves in for the buffet breakfast. The guesthouse wasn't anything special — but far from a dump — and, including breakfast, it cost an eye-watering €250 a night.

Still, at least the public transport was free, so we rode the trains everywhere and loved the quaint vibes around the boulevards and glass-lift area.

Three countries, two of them new for me, squeezed into a whistle-stop tour of Europe was just the ticket to bump up my tally of countries visited to 59 — part of a new quest to reach 100 before I check out of here!