#237679 by Strawberry Muppet
31 Aug 2005, 23:29
Following Eurostar's announcement that it would be withdrawing its exclusive Premium First Class from September 1st 2005 [:(] and restructuring its normal First Class service, I decided to call the Frequent Traveller centre to redeem additional points to upgrade my existing First Class award ticket for the chance to experience the luxury that is Eurostar Premium First one last time again. Premium First is designed specifically to pamper the stressed out business executive from beginning to end. Passengers benefit from reduced check-in times, lounge access, a quieter, dedicated Premium cabin (coach 9 on all trains) with fewer seats and no likelyhood of sitting anywhere near annoying children or screaming babies. A higher quality four course meal is served with better champagne and fine wines. And on arrival in Paris or London a complimentary chauffeur-driven car is waiting to whisk you away to your final destination. [8D]

27th August, 2005, London

I woke up Saturday morning feeling lazy as I usually do. I was supposed to go to Paris Friday night but was really busy so had called Eurostar to change my ticket for 24hrs later. The alarm had gone off at 08.30 but I didn't fumble out of bed until 09.45. I had only a coffee all morning and missed lunch as I got lost driving around north London and getting stuck on the A406. By the time I arrived at Waterloo at 15.50 for my 17.09 departure I was famished and in real need of a good feed. The queues for the automatic check-in machines were long but as I held a Premium ticket I made my way to the newly re-branded 'Business Premier' manual check-in and was issued my boarding pass straight away by the check-in agent. I then proceeded through security, where I was given a gentle pat down after setting off the metal detector. In front, new desks have now been erected for British Immigration officers to check all passports in addition to a secondary passport check by the French Police. After completing these formalities I made a hungry dash for the lounge.

Entering Le Salon, Eurostar's business lounge for holders of Premium, Business First (soon to be Business Premier) tickets and Carte Blanche members (Eurostar's top-tier Frequent Travellers), the receptionist waved me through without checking my ticket as he recognised me from previous visits. There are the usual papers and magazines, a bar, internet computers and a reclining leather massage chair. I've never been impressed by the selection of snacks here, only peanuts, pretzels, olives, tortilla chips and biscuits were on offer as usual. [V] That was it. Hardly appetising since I was practically starving. Both the lounges in Paris and Brussels are normally always well stocked with an array of mini sandwiches, even if a bit boring, a lovely selection of fruit - I adore all fruit - and gorgeous chocolate as well as the standard salted munchies. I really should have eaten something at home before leaving. Boarding was called 20 minutes before departure but I always prefer to board last.



The purser welcomed me by the door to Coach 9 and checked my boarding pass. As there was only one other Premium passenger today I was told I could choose to sit anywhere I pleased. Goody, there were plenty of seats and lots of privacy [:)]. I sat in a bay of four seats facing each other. These have been recently refurbished with new pillow headrests and leather armrests. The recline lever used to be at the base of the old seats and have now been replaced with a push button in the arm rest, hardly cutting edge technology as you still have to shift your weight in order to recline. The 18-coach train, with the capacity of two jumbo jets, pulled out of the sleek terminal on time and I made myself comfortable as we gathered pace through the leafy suburbs of south London. The journey time was scheduled at 2hrs 50 mins.



Hot towels were brought round before I was offered an aperitif of my choice. I chose the Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve 2000, accompanied by nuts. Meals in Premium are served on fine English Wedgwood china (unlike in First where plastic is used for the starter and dessert) with proper full-size cutlery and larger glassware. Only the teaspoons are the same as in First because, as I gather, all of the Premium ones had been nicked. Champagne and wine is served directly from full size bottles. Shame there was no Premium menu or wine list as the service was only a few days away from being no more. I had a delicious cold breast of duck with an onion chutney followed by another cold entree, red mullet with peppers in a sweet chilli sauce which was quite nice but didn't wow me like the duck.





The hot main course, as always, is a let down.[n] There were the two choices from First plus an additional one for Premium, so three in all; beef, chicken or fish. I chose the beef in mushroom sauce with potato cake which I didn't enjoy very much, it was well over-cooked. As I was still quite hungry I wolfed most of it down with plenty of bread. Apart from the main, everything is better in Premium, even the bread.



Dessert was most delicious. Some sort of chocolate and nectarine pudding with a dollop of heavenly cream. Yummy!



I passed on the wine and cheese and stuck to the champers and ended the meal with a pot of Earl Grey tea which was presented with a box of fine Parisian chocolates as the train passed through the Channel Tunnel. The purser was nice but didn't go out of her way to offer exceptional service as I've previously known. She didn't offer any liqueurs after dinner nor did she come round with hot towels to finish.



As I had not pre-booked my car in the lounge because I was too busy drinking and having a long back massage in the chair [:D] , I requested that I needed one to the purser. She informed the train manager who then made the arrangements for someone to meet me as soon as the train arrived arrived in Paris. I asked her if she had a voucher for me to give to the chauffeur, as you normally do when you book the car in the lounge. She didn't have any and wasn't quite sure how it worked. The train sped through northern France and arrived at Gare du Nord exactly on schedule at 20.59 local time. At the end of the platform, sure enough, the chauffeur was holding a placard with my (mis-spelt) name and I was taken to my waiting Mercedes. I told him I didn't have a voucher and after several phone calls to confirm that Eurostar would be paying I was soon on my way through the chaotic traffic of Paris, feeling a little queasy from all the champagne I had onboard. [xx(][:D]

The Strawb

Many thanks go to Jaguarpig for helping me out with my photos [y]

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