Robespierre

This would probably be more appropriate to the U.S. forum, but here goes:

The Saint Louis and San Francisco Railroad has been called the "Frisco Road" since the mid 19th century.

Regardless of what the effete snobs at its western terminus choose to nickname their city, it has for over 150 years and forever shall be "Frisco."

janis

"Frisco" was always just a nick-name for the St Louis and San Francisco -- and that line was never profitable and went out of business several times and doesn't exist anymore -- just like "Frisco".

obxgirl

Calling it the "chunnel" is tacky?? Give me a break. Outdated, sure. Kind of like calling the internet the World Wide Web.

There's at least one regular poster here who insists that "chunnel" is some sort of low brow americanism. Ignore the rant.

Anyone who ever had to rely on a hovercraft or a ferry to travel between the England and France welcomed the Channel Tunnel. Ditto for cheapie flights between London and Paris.

From my point of view, it's a train ride. Unless you're a train afficionado, go with whichever option offers the lower fare.

Robespierre

Calling the internet the world wide web isn't outdated - it's factually incorrect.

The internet is a network of server computers accessible to client computers. Some of them are mail servers, some of them are file servers, and some of them are hypertext servers. The latter make up the world wide web.

SusanP

The point is, I can't believe that a flight to London, transportation from Heathrow to Waterloo, and the cost of the Eurostar from London to Paris would be less expensive than a direct flight to Paris. Shrink asked if it would be worth the effort, so he was only considering it if the train ride was something really spectacular, not to be missed. I just don't think that is the case. And it's inconvenient to have to move all your luggage airport-train station-Paris when you could fly there direct. Just my opinion.

Robespierre

On the other hand, you can get to Paris Gare du Nord from several train stations. There's the RER (regional express) at CDG, of course - but there's also London Waterloo. In either case, you get off a plane and onto a train.

The only difference in luggage-schlepping is that hour or so from Heathrow to Waterloo - which provides the delightful additional benefit of an abbreviated tour of London.

But zipping through France at 186mph is a rush (sorry).

Kate

Chunnel? So much fuss over a name.

To clear up - calling it the "chunnel" isn't tacky at all, it's just not commonly used any more. It was used heavily whilst the tunnel was being constructed, but it refers to the tunnel ONLY, not the intercity train service, which is the Eurostar.

So, people will refer to the Eurostar when they're talking about taking the train, because the Chunnel is just a tunnel, NOT a train. The eurostar isn't the only way of getting through the tunnel - you can also catch a car-train that's called the eurotunnel, so calling it the chunnel just isn't clear enough how you plan to get through!

walkinaround

all snobbery aside, the fact is that in europe it is not called the chunnel.

i'm not saying that you should not use the term but just refuting those who try to offer evidence otherwise. i suspect that the eurostar site referenced is the US site, not the european one. Likewise, i suspect the BBC stories referenced are old.

Either way, say "chunnel" in the US and everyone will know what you are talking about. use the term in europe and people will think it's a little strange.

call it what you want but please don't try to convince us in europe that it is commonly used over here, because it is not.