Friday (July 27) morning began with transfer to the railway station to go to Paris, which was made real simple by the Monograms staff.  After checking out of the hotel we didn't have to touch our bags.  Monograms' hostess was there at the hotel to take us to St. Pancras station in London, located between the British Library and King's Cross tube station.  Everything was handled by the hostess, including handing out our train tickets and making sure that our bags were checked in for the trip to Paris.  St. Pancras International terminal is huge and looks more like an airport terminal with lots of shops and restaurants in the middle connected with a bus station, and stations for underground tube trains and out of town trains.  Monograms hostess was with us all the way up to the passport control point to make sure that we didn't lose our way.

St. Pancras station is the boarding point for the super fast Eurostar trains to Paris.  This train service is punctual and it takes only two hours and 15 minutes to reach Paris, a distance of 283 miles, compare that to Amtrak's fast Acela trains that take 2 hours and 45 minutes to cover 225 miles from DC to NY. There are about 20 scheduled Eurostar trains daily.  Two hours and 15 minutes, London to Paris is far superior to five hours it takes by air (downtown to downtown).  Passport control for entering France was handled right at the London terminal.  Security check was limited, nothing like the exhaustive check that we experience at the U.S. airports.  What I found fascinating was that there were non-stop trains going straight to Disneyland very near Paris but those trains do not stop at Paris.  Europe's concept of fast trains in unlike America or India. These super fast trains go straight to their destinations without stopping along the way.  For example Amtrak trains between DC and New York stop at various cities along the way; Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark, etc. The European model would have a non-stop fast train  from DC to Baltimore, 15 minutes later another fast train from DC to Philly, and 15 minutes later another non-stop from DC to Newark and another 15 minutes later a non-stop to Manhattan.  What a concept!  I love it.  

Eurostar trains are very comfortable but I would recommend upgrading to first class for the same reasons as one would upgrade an airline seat - legroom. Going through the Chunnel (Channel tunnel), while exciting for the mind of an engineer like me, was nondescript. There was nothing to see and a short time later were viewing the French countryside. 

Arrival in Paris was simple.  We were met by a young Monograms hostess at the arrival platform at Gare du Nord station.  She took care of making sure our luggage was retrieved and loaded on to the van while we relaxed in its air-conditioned comfort.  This is significant because throughout our trip we experienced very hot days, typically 90+ degrees F.  Nothing in Europe is air-conditioned. Unlike their counterparts in the U.S., most shops and restaurants are NOT air-conditioned.  Paris was even hotter than London. Throughout our trip the dilemma was that we could not sit inside the restaurants because it was too hot and we could not sit outside because many customers were smoking cigarettes.  This is exactly why we travel internationally, it makes us appreciate America even more.  A short ride in the van took us from Paris Gare du Nord station to Crowne Plaza hotel at Republique Square.  The rooms in this hotel were larger than the rooms in London's Hyde Park Hilton but the A/C was weak just like London.  Get used to warm temperatures, Atul!  

My advice: Don't travel to Europe in July or August if you like air-conditioning.