smroan

What would I be able to see before the train goes into the Chunnel? White Cliffs of Dover?

flanneruk

smroan.

PLEASE don't talk about the 'Chunnel' Nothing - not even wearing baseball caps, dressing up to go to the theatre, a preoccupation with correct dress or the use of the word 'soccer' for football - marks you out as a non-European tourist as clearly.

The word has never been used in Europe. It was invented by some foreign journalist. Its use here will get you only stares. Unlike 'Frisco', which doubtless most Californians do at least realise is a pseudo-familiar reference to San Francisco, most Europeans will actually struggle to know what you're talking about.

The (slow) route through Kent is quite pretty. Then blackness, then superfast through Northern France's dismal agribusiness prairies. Then Paris.

From France, the train goes into the tunnel before it's possible to see Britain. From England, you can't see the cliffs at all. However, in the France-England direction, you get a terrific view of London as you're entering Waterloo.

The most scenic approache of all is by ferry to England (where you see the cliffs from the interesting side), followed by a drive through Canterbury. The plane journey is also good on those occasions you get the approach to Heathrow from the east, flying over central London (by far the finest air approach to any major city since Hong Kong stopped using Kai Tak, though cloud often obscures it).

In other words, by plane ship or train, the views are better travelling towards London than travelling towards Paris

twoflower

No, I don't think you will see the cliffs. I came the other way, and by the time we emerged on the English side darkness had fallen. Nevertheless I think we'd have seen the cliffs if they were in view at all, but we didn't - and we were facing the right way to catch them! Views on the French side are mildly interesting though, and the Eurostar goes much faster on that side.

smroan

flanneruk: Sorry for the misnomer. But what is wrong with being a non-European tourist? I assumed this board was about helping people who wanted to tour UK? I have no baseball caps and promise not to dress for the theater (seeing Anything Goes, Phantom and Mama Mia-for the 3rd time, having seen it on Broadway and in Boston.) Hope those choices are not offensive.

flanneruk

There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a non-European tourist, and I chose my words badly.

If people want to drink coffee with their pudding course or eat supper a few seconds after our lunchtime, it's a free country.

'Chunnel' is different. It's not American dialect, like 'entree' for main course. It's false slang - not so different from using spurious anglicisms out of Mary Poppins or PG Wodehouse.

All that said, do enjoy your trip.

Singletail

Flanner also "forgot" to tell you about that "dismal urban semi-blight" view you get of London when you approach Waterloo, too.

m_kingdom2

It's transport taking you from A to B, who cares what you can see?

The white cliffs of Dover aren't a spectacular sight at all, rather off white and not all that high.

As for Chunnel, it was used in Britain when it first opened for a day or so, then it faded away. Trains aren't my thing, I'd rather fly - faster, I don't care about the security and having to wait at airports, lounges and excellent shops at Heathrow help matters. And of course, one gets their frequent flyer miles too!

ben_haines_london

If you double your journey length and pay 50 pounds one-way you can enjoy good views if you travel thus, Mondays to Saturday. There are free busses at each port. You have a fine view of the Medway, with cathedral and castle, 45 minutes out from Victoria, you may catch a view of Canterbury Cathedral 70 minutes out of Victoria, and of course you see the classic view of Dover Castle. That is why I give times from Victoria: the route from Charing Cross is poorer.
London Victoria 0616, Faversham cross platform change 0743 to 0753, Dover Priory 0836, Dover Docks 0915, Calais Maritime 1145, Calais Ville 1236, Paris Gare du Nord 1432
London Victoria 0734, Faversham cross platform change 0846 to 0848, Dover Priory 0930, Dover Docks 1000, Calais Maritime 1230, Calais Ville 1326, Boulogne Ville 1403 to 1433, Paris Gare du Nord 1720
For a good lunch London Victoria 0734, Faversham cross-platform change 0846 to 0848, Dover Priory 0930, taxi, Dover Docks 1000, Calais Maritime 1230, Calais Ville 1326, Boulogne Ville 1403. Drop bags in left luggage and walk or taxi up into the old town for lunch. Leave Boulogne Ville 1735, Paris Gare du Nord 2020.

You can book these at window number 8 in Charing Cross station or online through Canterbury Travel. Please write if I can help further.

[email protected]

indytravel

Somebody needs to smack those Eurostar people around for promoting the use of slang.

It was just a year and a half ago that they took the words "The Chunnel Experience" off their www homepage when you selected the USA as your location.

Now how are we naïve Americans supposed to know it isn't the chunnel when the company itself promoted it as the chunnel for years?

Same with EuroDisney, it was reported that way here with all the opening hoopla. As it had financial struggles for years it was still called EuroDisney thus reported that way in the US news.

Did the Disney people come through with a huge advertising campaign to inform Americans it's now Disneyland Paris? Absolutely not. They knew their marketing dollars were better spent promoting Disneyland & WDW in the US not Disneyland Paris.

Another example is the pronunciation of Warsteiner beer. In Germany it's pronounced var-steiner with the V sound for the W. In the US their current commercial campaign pronounces it war-steiner with the W sound.

Rich

Someone needt to tell the Eurostar website that they are sounding like a non-European tourist . .

This from their website: "There are other trains through the Chunnel"

The term was widely used in the UK and during Europe during construction.

Rich

lyb

So....what is it called? Everyone keeps talking about what it ISN'T called, but no one has said what it IS called.

janis

the train is the EuroStar, the tube it travels through is the Channel Tunnel.

twoflower

Flanneruk. "If people want to drink coffee with their pudding course".

Can you elaborate? I don't usually eat "pudding" (desert?), but even though I've travelled UK quite a lot I'm not sure what you mean.

PatrickLondon

This'll be good. There's such a world of hidden significance in whether you say 'pudding', dessert', 'afters' - or 'I'll just have coffee, please' - or indeed whether you have cheese in there somewhere.. a social minefield.

Scarlett

Imagine if you have your Pudding while Chunneling!

Scarlett

Sorry I forgot why I was posting..
The Question was the Views...
I was so excited when we left London, that I was thrilled to see the "urban blight" as well as those green green expanses as we got farther away from town..small farms, sheep, etc. It did get a bit boring, then through the Tunnel and the same flat boring landscapes but French..it was cool to see the red tile roofed buildings in clusters, the trees in straight rows, we read our books and watched the cars on the road, going soooo much slower than we were..it is a nice experience, whatever you call it.
And they did call it the Chunnel in NYC for years, still do if I am not mistaken.

SiobhanP

FlannerUK...we call Football "Soccer" In Ireland. All Irish people know that the true foodball is Gaelic Football.
People, especially in the countryside referre to soccer and Gaelic is always Football. I have a feeling Gaelic was around a bit longer.