In the midst of businessmen and English people at the end of their vacation in the capital, Marie and Christelle, 63 and 64, stand out with their broad smiles and their well-filled backpacks on the platform leading to the Eurostar, this Friday morning at the Gare du Nord, in Paris (Xe).
The girlfriends, from the north of the Paris region, will reach London with their 11:13 a.m. train to attend “the historic but dramatic”, they say, the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, scheduled for Monday.
"The moment I learned the date, I rushed to the Eurostar website to get tickets," says Christelle, a former teacher.
She is an icon, she marked her time.
I didn't want to miss such an event.
"And what's more, continues Marie, a former teacher, it allows us to spend a nice weekend in London!"
“An expensive weekend that is theirs, tickets and Airbnb included for three nights, at around 600 euros each.
VIDEO.
In London, 7 km and an all-nighter before seeing the Queen's coffin
Like them, thousands of French people will cross the Channel, by train, with the Eurotunnel, by ferry or by plane to attend the planetary event.
“We have observed since the beginning of the week a slight increase in reservations for this weekend.
We explain it by the funeral of the Queen of England without being certain, says one at Eurostar.
However, we have not added any additional trains over the weekend.
It didn't seem necessary.
»
As for fares, Eurostar claims not to have "took advantage" of the moment to inflate them.
“They remain at the same rates as the rest of the year,” we are assured.
For a round trip on Saturday and Monday, it is necessary to count, at least, the sum of 370 euros for a place in second class.
The less fortunate tourists turned to the bus
Tourists with more restricted budgets have been able to turn to BlaBlaCar and its buses.
The company, which specializes in carpooling, has also observed a 25% increase in reservations “compared to last weekend”.
There are still places left, for one of the five daily departures for the English capital, Saturday and Sunday, from 50 euros.
During the slightly over 10 hours journey, all the buses will use the Eurotunnel in Calais, which in fact also sees a peak in bookings for this weekend.
“There is growth compared to what we expected for this weekend, with the programming of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II”, confirms one at Getlink Group, owner of the Eurotunnel.
Read alsoDeath of Elizabeth II: "The atmosphere reminds me of Johnny's funeral", admire the French in London
A “certain number” of reserve trains have thus been released to respond to the increase in reservations by tourists who prefer to travel to the English capital by car.
“During peak hours, we will go up to a departure every quarter of an hour rather than every half hour usually.
Our system, in a closed circuit, allows us to be flexible and to adapt in the event of large crowds, ”we emphasize.
This weekend, even with the Queen's funeral, will not go down in history as a record for Eurotunnel.
“We know, throughout the year, other weekends like this.
Between the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Champions League matches in football or even rugby matches, we list at Getlink Group, we are used to this kind of situation.
»
