Which saddle for London to Paris

The comment I made was "need 100 quid shorts if you want to ride for very long rides in comfort" I think that shows an understanding of the word need. You could easily ride in lesser shorts but for max comfort need better ones.

Ian Hibell rode 100's of Thousands of miles around the world in very tough conditions. He used a traditional leather saddle yet I dont think he wore any form of cycle specific shorts at all. Let alone £100 ones.

He was an adventurer/traveller , took his time to explore. He was not in a race so I am pretty sure he rode comfortably.

Do you *need *£90+ cycle shorts to ride in comfort from London to Paris?

No.

It might help, but I think being comfortable on a bike is a lot more to do with how physique, posture, bike setup, attitude and experience riding.