Paris Breaks via Stratford

Everybody knows you can get Paris breaks from St Pancras Station in London, and some that you can also catch the Eurostar at Ebbsfleet and Ashford but not much has been written about the new Straford International Eurostar station in East London. That's because of the 2012 Olympics probably, which delayed the opening of this new intersection transport hub. Stratford International was in fact built at the same time as the fast high speed link from St Pancras to the channel tunnel, but it couldn't be opened straight away because of the work surrounding the site for the London Olympics in 2012.
But now Stratford is open, you just have to get a special bus service through the building site, from Stratford mainline railway station, platform 11. The Eurostar trains themselves, from St Pancras, don't stop at Stratfrd International yet, and there is still some dispute as to whether the London to Paris trains will stop at Stratfrd during and after the Olympics, but the high speed South Eastern trains service does stop at Stratford, so you can take a very fast train from Stratford to Ebbsfleet, Ashford and then on to Dover or Canterbury or use this route to connect with the Eurostar.

Can you take your own drinks on board the Eurostar to Paris?

Since alcohol has been banned from public transport in London some people have been wondering if it's OK to take your own drinks on board eurostar trains to Paris.

Here is a run down of the Paris Eurostar situation:

As it was Christmas Eve, and we’d already missed half the family-fun, we decided have some Christmas Eve fun on the journey – Eurostar to Paris and then a train to Normandy.
When I went to Paris with the marvellous other half who surprised me for my birthday we enjoyed our own croissants and champagne all the way there, at 8am, and apart from some disapproving looks about our early morning boozing from passengers, no one else said anything at all. Yes, I’ve certainly seen it done, in fact the couple opening their bottle managed to spill/spray it all over the place, the Paris Eurostar staff even helped clear it up, which is a fairly strong indication that they’re ok with it.

Ask for double rations each time the trolley goes past, so long as the train isn’t too packed they’re happy to give you as much wine as you can drink (8 of those little bottles in my case tho that was before the high speed line knocked half an hour off the drinking time to Paris). Ages ago we held a dinner party on the way to Brussels by Eurostar.

I’ve had the misfortune to share a carriage with a very large and raucous hen party, all knocking back copious amounts of champagne in a most indiscreet manner (pink, natch).

So yes the overwhelming majority opinion is that yes, you can be as anti-social as you like and the won't touch you for it on the Eurostar to Paris

Eurostar congratulates the new owners of Ebbsfleet United Football Club

Eurostar congratulates the new owners of Ebbsfleet United Football Club
Originally uploaded by Andyrob

Eurostar is a sponsor of Ebbsfleet United, and user of Ebbsfleet International station which is on route from London Kings Cross St Pancras to Paris.