Bunk beds, broken toilets and Pringles for dinner – but I’d do this Paris-Berlin sleeper train again in a heartbeat

European Sleeper revived the overnight rail corridor between Paris and Berlin in March - (European Sleeper)

One minute you’re baking in a commuter quiche on the Northern line. The next you’re in Pigalle, Paris, drinking Hennessy cocktails at Chambre 01 bar. Dani the tarot reader is telling you to follow your heart to New York, and a pole dancer in Le Pigalle’s hotel lobby is serving as a stark reminder to start stretching.

The cultural whiplash unlocked by a Eurostar ride through the Channel Tunnel is a fondly familiar one. But this time the coveted St Pancras to Paris connection wasn’t the only moment I’d be spending on the tracks.