View from the pantry car in the train.

Sharmila has done the same on her trip from London to Paris with Nikita. For me, this would be the first high-speed train in Europe. And the fourth time crossing a country border by train – Denmark to Sweden, Germany to Austria, Austria to Hungary, Monaco to France, and now France to Luxembourg.

We will hit 200mph for most of the high-speed rail section between Paris and Metz.

Woke up blithe as a lark, as P. B. Shelley would have fancied. The no-food, no-drink, sleep-through-the-night-on-the-plane strategy seems to have worked well.

I pulled up the shade and there stood the Eiffel Tower, tall above the clouds, while Paris below was still not out of its slumber.

Back on a plane, to knock off a couple of countries together. I changed into my night clothes the moment I got to my seat. The plan is to fall asleep as soon as we take off. Skip dinner and breakfast (have to admit Air France does have some good wine, which I will be sad to miss) and be totally fresh when I land on the other side of the pond.

That is the plan. Now, if the plane decides to have a maintenance problem and we are offloaded, I will be in big trouble. PJs and a nightshirt do not mix well with the airport boarding area or the SkyClub lounges!