"As a teenager, well before the Eurostar existed, I much preferred travelling by train. The French family who used to host me every year were kind enough to help me travel from Norfolk to Chambery in Savoie that way. My own parents would put me on the boat train in London and Monsieur met me as I arrived in Paris. We then travelled to the French Alps by couchette – strange bunk beds with sliding wood partitions to provide privacy. In Paris, before our overnight trek, we used to stop at Le Train Bleu, a stunning brasserie in Gare de Lyon. I was more than a little impressionable – the decor, the food and the service were something I’d never experienced in the UK. we did eat out fairly regularly both in London and East Anglia, the height of sophistication for me at the time was dining at The Swan in Lavenham or being treated to a fondue at the Swiss Centre in Leicester Square. If anything like Le Train Bleu existed in the UK train station, I certainly didn’t go there."
