Europe Trip - Day 14 *Paris*

Day 14, 30 Nov 2008


As expected, I had officially fallen SICK today. Early in the morning, the weather was cold as usual. I had mild fever, and sore throat. Since today was the last day of my Europe trip, so I was really hoping to visit few more places.

It was raining when we were on our way to Montmartre. There was a very nice old cathedral, Sacre Coeur Basilica. It was located on a hill, so we gotto take a short rail to go up. Since we got the day pass, so we didnt have to pay for the ride. As I was saying, the weather was freaking cold, and I was holding the umbrella. So I didnt really have the mood for taking pictures. Somemore, I needed to watch my steps as it was too slippery at the staircase.



Sacre Coeur




Outside the cathedral







Great view of Paris city




Taken while I was in the rail




There were many souvenir shops nearby the rail station. The price was reasonable if u purchase in greater amount, and u are capable of bargaining. So we spent some times there for last minute shopping. Mostly, I bought the souvenirs for friends, such as key chains, t-shirts, and some decorative ornaments. At least, there was heater inside the shop!


After this, we went to the Moulin Rouge. The famous show was known as Féerie, which definately could not run away from the "nude" ingredients. However, we only went there for photo taking purpose. As for the nude show, I think the one I've watched in Bangkok was more than enough to kill my curiosity.


Moulin Rouge





Féerie




Before we left, we bought the famous Crepes there, some kind of pancake. Since I could not read French, and the only word I understood was "banana", so I ordered this flavour! Actually I could read "chocolate" too, but I was not in the mood for this flavour. Seems like the banana in Paris didnt taste any difference from Malaysia's.


Next, we went to the Madeleine Church. This church was dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. In French, Magdalene is known as Madeleine, hence the name of the building.


External view of Madeleine Church




Today was Sunday. This suddenly strikes me and made me ponder if LV was opened today, as I needed to go back and change the wrong bag. I started to worry very much. If LV was closed, then that wrong bag would have to follow me back to Malaysia, as my flight was tonight! To save time, we took the Metro directly to George V station, right outside the LV store. Thank God, business was going on as usual :) So I went in and explained to the sales assistant about the incident. Politely, she asked me to wait for a moment. After 10 minutes, she reappeared, but with a horrible news: Damier Ebony Speedy 25 was OUT OF STOCK......... She told me the only unit available was the Demo unit. Holy crap, asking me to pay the original price for a demo bag, where it has been touched by millions of people, in such a rotten condition?? She kept apologising to me for the mistake. So I ended buying the Speedy 30, same colour, and had to pay additional EUR15, as she charged me the price of Speedy 25 that day. As a conpensation, the manager gave me a Pocker Card Set for free. Actually the situation didnt really boil my blood, as Speedy 30 was great after all. I choose to buy 25 at the first place, as I'm small in size, and was thinking that 25 would suit me more.

It was about 2pm by then. I felt really weak as my fever was getting serious, so I went back to hotel first. AL continued with her last minute exploration. When I reached the hotel, since we had already checked out, so I got no choice but to rest at the lobby. I ordered a sandwich and a cup of hot milk, as I could not eat the antibiotic with empty stomach. At about 4pm, AL came back. My fever was still bad, so she gave me a panadol. The taxi was there to pick us up at 5pm. Actually it wasnt that far from the hotel to Charles De Gaulle airport, about 40 minutes. But this short journey was kind of expensive, EUR40! It doesnt matter, as I was really exhausted, and wouldnt mind paying as long as I could reach the airport without any unexpected trouble.

The airport was huge, and I think it has more than 5 terminals. The taxi driver was a very helpful French man. At first, he sent us to the wrong terminal, it was for KLM Royal Dutch Airline instead of Emirates. Luckily, he was kind enough and went into the terminal with us. After he talked to the ground staff, and found out that we were at the wrong airport, he immediately sent us to another terminal without extra charge :) I would really like to thank him for doing so.

After checking in our luggage, I did the GST refund. The procedure was quite simple. I showed the refund form and LV bags to the customs, and they stamped the form for me. After that, just handed this form to the American Express Money Changer counter, and the officer would refund u the total in CASH :) However, EUR3 was deducted for each transaction, per receipt.

Then, I decided to use up all my available EUR coins, so I bought some chocolates there. Our flight to Dubai was at 2105. It was certainly not funny to get my ass burn for the 7-hour flight to Dubai + 4-hour transit + 7-hour flight to KL.


Bye-bye Paris!




Well, a really memorable trip with exceptional experiences and fresh encounter. And I spent a total of RM18k. After going back to Malaysia, I was sick for one whole damn week.

Europe Trip - Day 13 *Disneyland Paris*

Day 13, 29 Nov 2008


Disneyland.

A dreamland for many people. Ever since my visit to Disneyland Hong Kong, seriously speaking, it left me with an extremely bad & horrible impression. I went there during August, which was the summer holiday in HK. I sweated until I went to the nearby shopping centre to get a new blouse, paid and changed on the spot!! And, there was super long queue for all the games!!! As such, I didnt really have a high expectation on Disneyland Paris. Since AL insisted on going, as this was her first Disneyland trip, so I gotto be her accompanimet. I booked the entrance ticket from Eurostar website, abt GBP40.

This morning, was the coldest of all. It took about 30 minutes to reach Disneyland station (Marne-la-Vallee Chessy Station, zone 6) from our hotel, zone 3. By the time we stepped our feet down, plenty of human was already queuing at the ticket booth. Since I got the booking from Internet, so I proceeded to another special counter to claim my ticket, avoiding the long queue :)

Disneyland Paris has 2 parks - Disneyland Park & Walt Disney Studio Park. Our ticket was the Hopper Ticket for 2 parks :D Since I got the horrible nightmare at HK, so I suggested that we queue for the ride that we were interested. The progress was smooth, and we managed to have about 10 rides and shows altogether. This was a lot better than HK. Or maybe the system & management were better in Paris, as most the time, the queue was moving fast.


Entrance of Disneyland Paris




Walt Disney Studio Park - Studio 1




Hollywood Tower - Commit suicide Tower, one of my favourite




Winnie the Pooh




Goofy




At about 4pm, there was a parade at Disneyland park. So everyone was rushing there for a good spot, and ready for the grand parade with all the Disneyland characters.


The Lion King




The Little Mermaid




The Toy Story




Aladdin & Princess Jasmin




Snow White & Cinderella




Beauty & the Beast




Little Drummer Boys




Santa Clause - Merry Xmas Ho Ho Ho~~




After the parade, we spent some time to explore the souvenir shop. Since I had a Minnie Mouse from HK, so I bought Mickey this time, to make them a pair. I also bought a nice shirt for KN. Since it was winter, so it gets dark very early.


Night view of Disneyland Paris







There was another Light Parade at 7pm. Since it was extremely cold, I couldnt stand the low temperature anymore. So I was waiting inside the building, while AL continued watching the parade. Guess what, I was still trembling non-stop eventhough I was inside, and I almost vomited. We left Disneyland at 8pm, as we didnt want to fight for the train with everyone when the park closed at 8.30pm. When we reached the hotel, we had our dinner at a restaurant nearby. I had kebab tonight, but my appetite wasnt that good, as I was getting SICK from the coldness!!!!!!

Europe Trip - Day 12 *Paris*

Day 12, 28 Nov 2008


Today, we got a big plan, to visit the Louvre Museum. At first, we planned to wake up early and depart before 9am. However, it was already 9am by the time we woke up. Winter is always a good weather to sleep, thanks to the cold weather. I also forgot to set the correct time zone for my hp, as Paris was an hour ahead of London.

We were quite familiar with the route after the nightmare in the Metro & RER station yesterday. At least we didnt take the wrong train, or wrong direction. When we arrived at Louvre Museum, so as what we had planned and surveyed the night before, we used the internal entrance. After buying the ticket from the machine (No worry, it was available in different languages), which costs €9, we proceeded to the permanent exhibition hall. Honestly speaking, if u would like to explore this biggest museum ever, u would need at least 3 days, or more. So what we did, just followed the map, and took the pic of those famous sculpture + paintings. Anyway, I'm not that artistic to enjoy arts or history. So the following are the pics I've taken. And basically, I just realise I didnt even know most of the names >.<


From one of the hall, I managed to take this pic, through the window











It was indeed a "great experience" to get a close touch with Monalisa. Be prepared, u don't want to imagine how many people would be swarming there, holding their cameras, just to take this pic. And, she was at least 3m away from u, hiding in another glass frame protector. This kind of situation will only benefit 2 types of people - either u are tall and huge, or u are tiny and small in size in order to squeeze through those freaks. I belong to the 2nd category :p Anyway, prepare to zoom ur camera. What a great encounter with Mademoiselle Lisa!


Monalisa







Near the exit to Glass Pyramid




Glass Pyramid




Our next journey was to Place De La Concorde, the largest square in Paris.


Cleopatra's Needle




Fontaine des Mers




Actually, Concorde was too close to Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe. And on the way to Arc de Triomph, there were plenty of other interesting buildings.


The Grand Palais




Invalides




Sausage stall along Champs Elysees




And here comes the highlight of my day - Louis Vuitton Champs Elysees! After my Monogram Insolite wallet at Florence, Italy, I bought another 3 LVs here - Monogram Vernis Rosewood, Damier Ebony Speedy 30 & Damier Graphite Marco ^_^

Supposedly, to shop in LV would be a great honour & luxury. The sales assistant, a French lady, was really professional and helpful. But too bad, she made a huge mistake. She put all my bags in 3 separate LV gift boxes, and tied them up with the beautiful LV ribbons + gift cards. So I assumed that the bags were correct, without checking them, which I admitted this was partially my own fault. And when I reached hotel, opened those boxes, only then I found out that the Speedy she gave me was in wrong colour - Damier Azur, and wrong size - Speedy 30 (I was asking for 25 initially). But the problem was solved when I went back there after 2 days. I would continue this in the next blog, which is on Day 14. Actually I didnt worry much when I saw the wrong bag, as I know LV accepts exchange. Not to forget, I also met Bruce Willis. I didnt notice his existence until the sales assistant told me so. There was no long queue outside the boutique. But when u were inside, please have a little bit of patience before u were served. The headcount inside was something similar to Vincci Midvalley KL during sales period.


Hometown of Louis Vuitton







So, happily, I was holding all my darling LVs, without knowing that one of them was wrong... ops! And moved my ass to Arc de Triomphe. I went across the road, and stood in the middle, just for the sake of taking this pic. Dont worry, plenty of crazy tourists were doing the same stunt. Late at night, we came back again for the romantic night view.


Arc de Triomphe




Next was the Eiffel Tower, where everybody claims that it's a romantic place. I was really excited when I saw this symbolic tower of Paris. This would be perfect if HY was with me :(
I had my dinner there, the Panini, something like a long French loaf with meat & cheese, freshly baked from oven.


Eiffel Tower




After the Eiffel Tower, we went to the most advance and modern area of Paris - La Defense. This was a busy business district to the West of Paris. It was definitely a good place to shop. You would expect to see many people here, as it was the main stations for Metro & RER with many interchange. Since it was near Christmas, so the Parisians opened up a lovely Christmas Market there. I bought a ginger bread and a sandwich with tomato & cheese for the breakfast next morning. The hot chocolate tasted so nice too, very rich and creamy. What more, I was drinking this during such a cold weather.


La Defense, & Christmas Market




The Grande Arche - The sides of the cube are offices




Finally, we went back to Champs Elysees for the night view. Needless to say, it was freezing cold.


Arc de Triomphe




Champs Elysees at night, how nice! Again, I was in the middle of the road

Europe Trip - Day 11 *Paris*

Day 11, 27 Nov 2008


This morning, we woke up rather early to catch the Eurostar to Paris. After a big hug with DT, we departed to the nearby underground station. And I can say, throughout my entire Europe journey, today was the toughest!!!!!!!!!! When I was at the Tube station, since this station was kind of small (Goldhawk Road Station), so there was no escalator!!! Imagine I had to carry my 17kg luggage, walking up the staircase of more than 30 steps........... Of couse I couldnt do it!!! It was definately too heavy for me, what more to walk up the steps. But, thank God, one kind-hearted lady appeared, and lending me a helping hand, so we both carried it up!! I just couldnt express my appreciation on her help.

The journey was fine when we reached St Pancras Station. Another handsome guy helped me with the luggage. Before we went on board, we had a nice breakfast at Costa, something like Starbucks but with lots more variety of drinks and food. I had a cup of hot chocolate, and a bacon sandwich. I always eat bacon in Europe, as this is rarely seen in Malaysia. It was a great experience to have the journey in train. Nothing special, but at least it didnt make me dizzy! In order to spend all my coins, I bought a chocolate muffin and a bottle of mineral water. We reached Paris Gare Du Nord station in 2 hours time.

Firstly, we bought the Paris Visite 2-day pass, which was the tourist pass for unlimited ride on Metro and RER, from Zone 1 to 3. We could already feel the coldness eventhough we were still inside the terminal. Paris was really really cold. And the interesting story was just about to begin. This was the unluckiest day for my journey. Initially, it was not a fuss at all to get to our hotel, but... but... but.........

The original route was:
Gare du Nord - Chatelet Les Halles (green line, RER)
Chatelet Les Halles - Neuilly Plaisance (red line, RER)

Due to an accident happened at Gare de Lyon station in between Chatelet Les Halles & Neuilly Plaisance, we could not reach Neuilly Plaisance directly by using the RER red line. This was definately not a good sign. To change more lines indicates that I had more tendency to carry my luggage up and down........ Don't expect a good escalator, you wont be even seeing it in most of the stations. And, we had to walk even more as we took the wrong train!!! What a lame joke!!! Moving the luggage up and down, in and out of the train was definately the most suck up thing in my journey. Until one stage, I just kicked my luggage and let it rolled down the staircase....... Another nightmare was at Nation station. It took about 20 minutes for each train to arrive (due to accident), and sad to say that it was fulled of human inside, worse than a sardine can.

So our new route was:
Gare du Nord - Chatelet Les Halles (green line, RER)
Chatelet Les Halles - Nation (red line, Metro)
Nation - Neuilly Plaisance (red line, RER)................ :'(

By the time I reached the hotel, Gis Hotel, it was 5pm. And I was like a dying salted fish.

The moral value of the story is:
Don't intend to carry a huge luggage if no one is helping u + Always expect something which is unexpected in a trip.

Now, our Paris adventure begins. After resting and charging ourselves, we moved to the first spot of the day, Notre Dame Cathedral.


Notre Dame Cathedral




A statue in front of Notre Dame




After that, we walked around, looking for Sainte Chapelle. We found it, but too bad it was already closed. Since the church was inside the compound, so it was kind of difficult to take the pic. What we saw from the outside was only its roof. Then, we continued walking, and saw the Seine River.


Romantic Seine River




I couldnt remember what is this




Pantheon




It was about 8pm by then. Since we didnt buy the Museum Pass, so we were quite worried about our trip to Louvre Museum the next day, as we always heard that there was a long queue. So, we decided to get a peep first. Without wasting time, we took the Metro to Palais Royal Musee Du Louvre station. The train actually stopped inside the museum. If you wish to see the glass pyramid, u would need to walk up to the main entrance of the museum. We realised that there were many ticketing machines at the internal entrance. This means, we actually do not have to queue at the main entrance. What a good trick :D After getting the clue, happily, we explored some other parts of the museum. Of course we couldnt enter into the exhibition hall without ticket, but at least we could take some pics outside the hall.


Seen this in Da Vinci Code? Where Mary Magdeline lies underneath the starry sky.




Inside the Glass Pyramid






External view of Musee Du Louvre









We could also see the Eiffel Tower from here. It was very far away, in blue light, in conjunction with Christmas Mood :)