Day one on Interrail - Hitchin to Paris

Inter railing for me had always seemed something for young people, but it turns out that I was wrong.

Day one took me and Richard Cave (thanks for the great photos!) from our home town of Hitchin in leafy Hertfordshire a few miles south to London and then via Eurostar to Paris.

The only hitch in our electronic tickets and pass system was at Hitchin station, where the barrier to the platform didn’t recognise our passes. Luckily, the guard recognised our faces and waved us through. From there on, the day was a breeze, with an evening wandering the city and eating dinner at a tiny Corsican restaurant which played Erykah Badu all evening. It was disappointing that a vegan dish was unavailable, but we should probably have searched a little harder.

Our hotel in the St Gervais district was functional and cosy but the tiny room was fine and staff friendly and welcoming. All in all, a successful first day, albeit some 40 years later than I could have originally used the Interrail way of travelling around Europe.

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