Eurostar: this friendly french student was returning to Lille where she is studying after a weekend at home.

As usual, I've forgotten her name. She told us that she normally took a less expensive commuter train from Calais to Lille but because of a strike she had to take the Eurostar today.

She explained to us how rich retiring Brits are saving (?) small french villages by buying quaint cottages in the french countryside and thereby pumping money into these otherwise withering small towns. One side effect is that you find as many foreigners as natives in many of these town.