Mile by Mile, London to Paris

Introduction

Gare du Nord is a landmark railway station. A landmark is something by which people give directions. For instance, Waterloo Station is another landmark railway station. Landmark railway stations are a statement to represent the city, as they are the first thing people often see of it. That said, landmark railway stations are often architecturally grand.

Genrenon-fiction, third person travel and history leaflet for passengers coming into the Gare du NordAudience The purpose of a railway station is that it allows people to embark upon or disembark from a train, or to act as meeting or departing place. Post also travels by train, as does a lot of goods such as coal and oil. Travellers, commuters, families or individuals taking day trips or long holidays are likely to use trains as a mode of transport. Among the commuters may be shopkeepers, as their businesses may be situated in train stations themselves. This leaflet is handed out to people travelling into Gare du Nord, which means that the audience is passengers on these trains. However, the leaflet may be of particular interest to readers of travel guides, with an interest in history, tourists and perhaps architects or architecture students. Modewritten, formal registerPurposeto inform and educate about the history of the station

Presentation of Paris and Parisians

Creating a sense of luxury and opulence (visible wealth) 'significantly enlarged' - suggests popularity, enough money to renovate 'grander' - better, more impressive than before, renovations made to boost wealth? 'triumphal arch' - mimics Roman architecture; Rome was a massively powerful empire 'pomp and grandeur' - pomp = unnecessary ceremony, grandeur = elegance and sophistication, demonstrates frivolity with money 'decorated' - can afford extra expense of statues as an aesthetic choice - unnecessary, but why not? 'ultimate' - implies there is nothing better, highest level of wealth 'major cities' - shows Paris to be important

The phrase 'all the traffic' popular place to travel to/via the station difficult to get into; some not 'all' the traffic can get in? population may be growing - bustling

The phrase 'right up to the 1960s' refurbishments continued until the 1960's, large scale renovations and extensions, emphasis on vast size of the station updates to keep up with style and growing population modernisation = always growing hasn't been updated since 1960's, perhaps now old-fashioned and out-dated

Describing the station as 'nothing more than 'a black dome'' presents station as featureless, simplistic and boring, contradicts earlier descriptions definite journey's end Paris seems more mysterious, ominous and exciting, almost secretive

Station's size and status 'swallow up with apparent ease' - people blend in easily, busy place, station personified, effortless swallowing 'far-flung cities it joins together' - important and influential; only bigger stations allow trains terminate/stop there, need to have space for lots of trains ('massive trainshed')

Final thoughts'gateway not only to the city, but also to the continent beyond it' - 'gateway' shows importance; representative of Paris itself, train station is just the start of travel in Europe

Historical Context

The two descriptions which accompany the diagrams attached to the Gare du Nord article were actually written 160 years apart. Flèche D'or uses more formal language where the Eurostar textbox is more casual in using inclusive personal pronouns, such as 'we'. The Eurostar textbox discusses the modern day Paris, whilst Flèche D'or describes the historical significance of Paris; 'Paris in the inter-war period.'