Between Amsterdam and Paris, the pleasantest way to travel is on the high-speed Thalys train, even though every time I've been on it, it's been badly delayed, "Hélas!" ["Alas!"] as the loudspeaker announcer always says. Once the air-conditioning was broken on one of the hottest days of the year, and of course the windows don't open. People were panting and pouring water over their heads. And usually, the wifi, which costs €13, works for less than half the trip.
This time someone else was paying, so I got to travel in first class. Aside from the servers coming by to offer you sandwiches and drinks, instead of your having to go to the bar to get them, the best thing about the Thalys first class is that they arrange your taxi. When you arrive at the Gare du Nord, instead of waiting for up to 45 minutes in a long and not always orderly taxi queue (see photo below), you merely waltz over to the Taxi Réservé stand and hand over your slip of paper from the train. Et voilà! Your driver then takes your suitcase and leads you to your taxi! I had several suitcases, so it was awfully nice.
This photo, by Hatsa at flickr, was entitled "Longest taxi queue in the world, Gare du Nord"
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