La grande commute

Cheaper houses, a lower cost of living, French food markets and a small city – but is there a downside to the 80-minute daily journey from Lille to London? Saska Graville finds out...

"Coming back to work each September, still yearning for the holiday lifestyle I've left behind, I ask myself the same question: how can I escape the grimmer aspects of London life and still keep my London income?

I've considered moving out of town but country living isn't for me. I have a job I love as deputy editor on a major women's magazine, I'm a single, urban girl and I like the fact that my Queen's Park home is within easy reach of
the city centre. I love the buzz of the city; it's the grit and grime of London I don't like.

Instead I'd dreamed about becoming a "croissant commuter" — someone who lives in France and works in London. If I got my calculations right, I could keep my well-paying job and friends here, but add to my quality of life.

Paris, I decided, is too pricey to both live in and commute from — you need to balance lower living costs in France against the higher price of travel. And at two hours 20 minutes by train, it is too far away. But thanks to Eurostar, picturesque Lille is just 80 minutes from St Pancras.

That's 80 minutes of smooth train travel, in your own seat, without armpits in your face. With visions of weekends at French farmers' markets, and weekday mornings an easy skip to the train, croissant in hand, I booked into a Lille hotel and put La Commute to the test."

Day one

I take the bus to work at my office near Marble Arch as usual. With a short walk at either end, my journey takes no more than 40 minutes. I wonder how I'll feel travelling more than twice that. But the lure of Lille is strong, so I dismiss my doubts and look forward to my first journey to the Continent.

The main hurdle is train times. Services on the London/Lille route are limited, so my choices are a 5.27pm train, arriving in Lille at 7.54pm (France is an hour ahead), or a 7.34pm arriving at 9.54pm. Though I work only 15 minutes from the Eurostar terminal, the earlier one relies on flexible working, as you need 30 minutes at St Pancras to check in. And crucially, to get the most affordable deal — a £55 return — you need to book up to two months ahead and can't switch trains, which limits post-work spontaneity. On-the-day tickets are expensive and not always available.

After queuing for security and a short wait in the departure lounge, I'm on my way to France. At 6.30pm on a Monday night, I'd usually be squeezed on to a packed 98 bus going up Kilburn High Road; instead, I'm relaxing with a gin and tonic as I whizz through the cornfields of northern France. I know which journey I prefer.

Day two

I wake up horribly early in my Lille hotel. My alarm goes off at 4.45am, English time. Hideous. Best to stick with French. So, up at 5.45am for a 7.35am train, allowing 30 minutes for check-in and a pretty 10-minute walk to the station. It turns out that I could have had a lie-in. Unlike St Pancras, Lille station is virtually empty and I am through security in minutes. It feels very cosmopolitan to be sipping my café crème and seeing Paris, Brussels and Montpellier on the departure board.

Back on English time, the train pulls into St Pancras at 7.55am. By 8.20, I'm at my desk. If your employer will allow an 8.30am-4.30pm day, then La Commute can work. Unfortunately, I've booked the later train tonight, which means a very long day ahead.

I seek some commuting tips from London-based architect James Finestone, who moved to Lille a year ago with his French wife and three children. The family swapped their three-and-a-half-bedroom flat in north-west London for a six-bedroom house with huge gardens and a swimming pool in the suburb of Villeneuve d'Ascq. James makes the journey three times a week to his central London office. With a fourth baby on the way, the couple faced a choice of moving further out of London, or the less conventional option of northern France. "We saw 10 houses, all of them enormous and made an offer on one immediately," says James. "It's even got a wine cellar."

James says living in Lille is the best move they ever made. "The train station is a 15-minute tram ride from the house and I've only ever had two delays on the Eurostar. Even with ticket prices, it still works out cheaper than spending a night or two in a London hotel," he says. "The train is also a very good working environment. My only complaint is the pricy coffee and crap croissants on board."

For a slightly ritzier commute, James has a tip. "Invest in one of the more expensive tickets (minimum £185 return) and you get membership of the Frequent Traveller programme. You can then earn points on the cheaper return fares to use in the business lounge at St Pancras."

The business lounge is swanky but it doesn't alter the fact that, if you're on the 7.30pm train, you don't get to Lille until 10pm. There's no time for a social life. Not that I'd have the energy. After two days of Channel-hopping, I'm exhausted.

Day three

My 6.30am alarm feels positively late, after yesterday's crack-of-dawn start, and it's such a relief not to be dealing with the hassle of a London commute. I hadn't realised how much aggro is a daily part of my journey to work. I'd quite happily put up with an extra 30 minutes of travel time if I knew I'd have an allocated seat without an iPod thumping in my ear.

Day four

My most successful commute so far, though I still haven't had much chance to enjoy Lille. Up at 6.40am, at the station by 7.05 and ready to board by 7.15. I'm a pro. Sitting at an empty four-seater table with my coffee and laptop I can't think of a nicer way to get to work. Even better, I'm on the early train home, so I've got supper in France to look forward to.

By 8.30pm, I'm wandering the cobbled streets of "le vieux Lille". With wooden houses painted in shades of grey, purple and sage, geranium-filled balconies and chic shops and wine bars, it has minibreak written all over it. Stopping for a glass of wine and a few crudités at the Monsieur Jacques wine bar, I make a mental note to book a return trip.

Dinner is at Le Barbue d'Anvers, a dark, romantic place, filled with chandeliers, gilt furniture and lovely old tiling. The strength of the euro means the meal is on the pricey side (24/£19 for a steak), but I'm so taken with my Thursday night out in France that I don't mind.

Day five

Memo to self: an evening of delicious French food and wine might be fun, but it's not compatible with a 6.40am alarm. I admit I'm looking forward to a bit longer in bed next week.

I spend Friday evening touring the suburbs looking for a property I'd swap my north London flat for. A 10-minute drive from Lille station and I'm in leafy Bondues, Mouveaux and Wasquehal (or "BMW", as they're known locally). These are the posh parts of town, with huge mansions and wide tree-lined roads. For £100,000 less than my small, one-bedroom flat with no outdoor space I could buy a two-bedroom house with a terrace and garden in Wasquehal. It's tempting, especially as I've discovered today that renewing my mortgage is going to cost an extra £200 a month. More space for less cost on the Continent is attractive and makes the cost of train tickets bearable.

Weekend

If the main point of La Commute is a better quality of life, then the weekend is when it's put to the test. First stop, food shopping at the Sebastopol market. There are boxes of carrots still caked in earth, trays of peaches and cheese that makes my mouth water. A fish stall is piled high with langoustine and scallops, there's freshly baked bread and large jars of duck fat. Shopping at a London farmers' market doesn't even come close.

My post-market morning is spent enjoying Lille's café society. Waffles filled with vanilla cream are the speciality of the Meert tearoom and the croissants are pretty good, too.

It's all very picture-book but is an extra bedroom and a few tasty tomatoes really worth spending over £275 and 13 hours a week on Eurostar for? I honestly don't think I could keep up with the pace five days a week, which is what my job would require. Three days, definitely.

With flexible working hours and enough of a financial benefit to offset the pricey train fares, why not? I've loved my temporary dual nationality and I'll miss the peaceful glide to work, but those relentless crack-of-dawn starts? Non, merci.

A full version of this article appears in
the October edition of Red magazine,
out now.

LONDON VERSUS LILLE

London

Eating out: London is not only famous for its home-grown culinary talent but challenges Lille at French cuisine too — La Trompette and Galvin Bistrot de Luxe to name but two, and renowned French chef Hélène Darroze at The Connaught. In all, London has in excess of 40 Michelin-starred restaurants. Costs: set lunch menu (excluding wine) at La Trompette £37.50.

Green space: It may be packed with buildings and people but London has a massive expanse of green space and parkland. The Royal Parks alone are 5,000 acres, the largest of which is Hyde Park, home to more than 4,000 trees.

Public transport: The vast area covered and the millions of passengers transported each day make London's system far more complex than Lille's. The London Underground has 268 stations and there are more than 8,000 buses. Costs: a single Tube journey costs £4, a single bus journey £2.

Lille

Eating out: Food in Lille is largely influenced by Flemish flavours, the staple dish being moules frite and Potjevelssch, a dish of cold meats including veal and rabbit. As it's a thriving student city, it's not short of great value, especially around the old town. There are two Michelin-starred restaurants, Le Sebastopol and L'Huitrière. Costs: set menu at Le Sebastopol (excluding wine) £40.

Green space: Lille is a tenth of London's size and relatively speaking has much less parkland. The largest park is the Avenue Mathias Delobel, encircled by the Deule canal and containing the city's zoo.

Public transport: Lille's public transport system runs every day of the year except 1 May. Lille is home to the world's first automatic métro and its two lines cover 60 stops. About 60 bus routes also operate in the city. Costs: a standard single ticket can be used on any form of transport on any part of the network and costs £1. A day pass costs £2.85.

TWO HOURS OR LESS TO YOUR DESK

Brussels to St Pancras, two hours

From Brussels to London and back takes about two hours each way, not including check-in times — 30 minutes at St Pancras. The first train leaves Brussels at 6.59am and, including the one-hour time difference, arrives in London at 7.55am, so you can be at your desk for 9am. The last train departs at 7.34pm and arrives in Brussels at 10.33pm local time. Costs: standard midweek day-return tickets cost from £59 to £309 depending on the level of flexibility you require.

Birmingham to Euston, 80 mins

Trains from Birmingham New Street to Euston run every 15 minutes or so and take 1 hr 20 mins. The first train leaves Birmingham at 5.30am and the last train from Euston runs at 11.40pm. Costs: from £39.50 for a saver return to £7,608 for an annual season ticket with Virgin.

Brighton to Victoria, 65 mins

The first fast direct train to London Bridge leaves Brighton at 5.22am and takes 1hr 5mins. With the last train leaving Victoria for Brighton at 1am, you can fit a lot into one day. Costs: standard day return: £18 to £21.70; standard class annual season ticket £2,948.

Greenwich to Kensington, 70-90 mins

Commuting within London can take just as long as travelling from Lille. For example, one staff member walks to Greenwich Station, for a train to Charing Cross then Circle line to High Street Kensington from Embankment. On a good day it whizzes by in a mere 70 minutes. Far more often, the 10-mile journey can take up to 90 minutes. Costs: £24.20 for Zone 1 & 2 Travelcard.

A full version of this article appears in the October edition of Red magazine, out now.