Tuesday November 20th 2012 ~ Across to Paris

An early start with a Piccadilly Line tube from Manor House to King's Cross, then it was aboard Eurostar 3219 + 3220 with the 07.55 London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord. I was in the second rear carriage of the train, on/in 3220.

Scenes from Paris Nord. Class BB 215000R (a sub class of BB 15000) no. 215031, regular BB 15000 no. 15008, and TGV Sud-Est no.71.

 After getting my Mobilis pass I decided to get bus 5160 on the 26, from Gare du Nord to Gare Saint Lazare.

Articulated bus 4679 on the 43 outside Gare du Nord

Bus 5165 on the 26 outside Gare Saint Lazare

Then after a coffee I decided to have a go on some of the suburban trains from Saint Lazare. First off class BB 27300 'Prima' loco no. 27346 (pushing) from Saint Lazare to Argenteuil on the 13.27 to Gisors. Loco hauled services are push-pulled with loco's at the Saint Lazare end. Then it was  27334 from Argenteuil at 13.50 with a stopping train back to Saint Lazare.

27346 propels the 13.27 Paris Saint Lazare to Gisors away from Argenteuil. The '8' prefix is to denote that the loco belongs to the Ile de France division of SNCF.

Then it was class BB 17000 no. 17041 from Saint Lazare with the 14.31 to Ermont-Eaubonne which I took 'all the way', and then the same loco back to Argenteuil on the 15.12 to Saint Lazare. Chainging there for 27366 at 15.30 back to Saint Lazare.

A bus exits the bus station at Ermont-Eaubonne, just to the north of Paris.

17041 at Ermont-Eaubonne at the head of the 15.12 to Paris Saint Lazare

27366 arrives at Argenteuil with the 15.30 to Saint Lazare

At Saint Lazare I hopped on to bus 3645 on the 20 for a trip across town to Gare de Lyon, followed by a class MP89CA Metro no. 01 on Line 14 back to Saint Lazare (the difference between an MP89CA and an MP89CC being that the MP89CA's are driverless). I needed to get south to my hotel in Montparnasse so I decided to go the long way round, first 17058 from Saint Lazare at 17.57 to Ermont-Eaubonne, then a new Class Z 50000 EMU no.15H (with 20H leading) on the 18.46 to Gare du Nord. These units are pretty stylish, with extra large windows and seats with a bright multi-coloured square pattern. I was pretty tired now and was glad to get class MP89CC Metro no. 06 on Line 4 from Gare du Nord to Mouton-Duvernet and thence to my hotel.