On a recent business trip to Paris I stayed opposite the Gare du Nord. Built from 1861 to 1865 for the Chemins de Fer du Nord company, the building is imposing and impressive. It illustrates the power the railway companies had at that time and how they liked to demonstrate their power…

I took the RER Bleu to the airport. Well organised, clean, quiet and smooth – the London Underground should take note. However, the thing that I liked the most was the route indicator board inside the train. It was illuminated to indicate the route the train was taking and the next stop was shown by a flashing light. Very clear and informative with a rather retro style, it reminded me of a pin ball machine.

Then I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport which was total chaos. Perhaps trains are still better than planes…

Photo of Gare Du Nord By Velvet (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons