Earlier in the week I’d been in London, Oxford, Dublin and Brussels for a series of meetings and speaking commitments. It was a packed schedule. Paris had been booked for a weekend of croissants, impressionists and aperitifs. The Eurostar pulled in from London just after 6.30pm. I know high speed rail is not economical in Australia, but catching a train from St Pancras to Gare du Nord in just over two hours does make you dream of a post-airline world.