Duration: 15 Days 15 Nights (Sep 02~Sep 17, 2014)
Day 1: XXX Shops, Cathedral, Cruise & Eiffel Tower
I checked in online in Malaysian Airlines website 48hours
prior and was delighted to grab a ‘hot seat’ without additional charges – 74K.
If you ever went on an Airbus A380 on Malaysian airlines – remember to grab 74A
or 74K – these 2 are the ultimate hot seats in economy class! Unlike most
bulkhead seats which usually need to share legroom with a partition or flight
attendants during takeoff and landing, you get all the legroom to yourself
during the whole flight in 74A & 74K! The best part is you even get a
window with these 2 seats in case you want to see the landscape from the top
without worrying getting to lavatory by climbing over 2 other passengers. Always
refer to Seatguru (link)
for great seat selection. =)
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| No one at KLIA? |
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| Best Seat!!! Don't trust me? Trust Seatguru! |
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| Let me stretch my legs and see some views at the window! |
MH20 was surprisingly full and the supper/dinner of the
day was spicy fish set or grilled chicken set – there is no printed menu copy
for references like Singapore Airlines. The spicy fish set was good but not the
same could be said for the grilled chicken which was tasteless. The aircrew did
hand out Pringles Potato Crisps between supper & breakfast on the 13 hours
flight. MH Breakfast choices were always the same with Nasi Lemak & Omelet
Set which both tasted meh.
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| Supper - Spicy Fish Set |
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| Grilled Chicken Set |
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| Omelet Set |
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| Nasi Lemak Set |
We reached Paris CDG by 6.40am safely – in fact I think I
heard some people clapped when the plane landed. *amused* We were in Terminal 1
and cleared the custom in speedy record time! It was the 1st time I
cleared a custom so fast in my life! Paris CDG Terminal looked kind of
futuristic and medieval cool blended in 1 place with all the ‘cave’ tarmac & glass
tunnels.
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| Going through the 'cave' tarmac tunnel |
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| The "Glass" tunnel |
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| Look at all the "Glass" tunnels zig-zag-ing in terminal 1 |
We quickly got to the Tourist Information Counter (turn
left after coming out from arrival) and got our 2 days Museum Pass, 3 days
Paris Visite Pass (for unlimited Metro zone 1-3) and train ticket to Paris all
in the counter itself. I think we could actually buy an ticket extension from
CDG (Zone 5) to Paris (Zone 1) at Train Counter since we already bought the
Paris Visite pass with cheaper price but we didn't think about that that time.
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| Tourist Information Counter at Terminal 1 |
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| Our Passes for 3 days in Paris |
Since there is no train to Paris from Terminal 1, we took
the airport CDGVAL shuttle train to Terminal 3 to get the major train line RER
B from CDG into Paris and get off at Gare du Nord. After that, we simply cross
the very same platform and take RER D to Gare de Lyon (Direction: Melun) where
our hotel was located. The reason we chose to stay near Gare de Lyon station
was because we would need to take a night train to Milan on Day 3 on the same
train station.
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| Taking RER B to Paris Center |
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| Not much people there |
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| A transit at Gare du Nord - just walk across! |
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| RER D to Gare de Lyon - 2 levels of seats on the train |
We then walk to Hotel du Midi Gare de Lyon to leave
luggage there without checking in since they seem to be quite strict with check
in time at 2pm. There was a bakery on our way from hotel to Gare de Lyon
station and we bought the typical French pastries for our 1st meal
in Paris – Pain au Chocolat & Apple Puff. What a way to start our day! =)
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| Gare de Lyon Station |
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| The famous Restaurant Le Train Bleu in Restoration |
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| Sammy has to take picture! |
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| Some pastries anyone? |
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| Pain au Chocolat & Apple Puff |
We started to utilize our Paris Visite Pass by taking a
metro to our 1st destination – Montmartre which was boosted as the
most romantic neighborhood of Paris in some website. We took Metro M14 to
Madeleine Station (Direction: PARIS SAINT-LAZARE) before transferring to M12 to
Pigalle (Direction: Front Populaire). Just be aware that not all metro station
had an elevator – you would have to walk up and down the stairs like crazy most
of the time!
Anyway, for metro planning in Paris, you may refer to
this website (link) . just
key in the “From” and “To” and get the best route by metro. =)
We got off at Pigalle Station and walked along a park in
the middle of Boulevard de Clichy (great concept) and saw lots of XXX shops
along the road. So how is this romantic? *facepalm* We managed to find the
windmills on rue Lepic and the famous Moulin Rouge before returning to wonder
around on some of the narrow, hilly streets of Montmartre.
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| Walking along the park |
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| Look at what is behind us!! |
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| Moulin Rouge! |
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| Some Random narrow streets |
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| More Gadgets? |
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| A Board of Love? |
My plan was to take the Funiculaire to the top of the
hill to visit Basllique du Sacre Coeur but we somehow lost our way and ended up
climbing up TONS of deadly STAIRS before reaching the top! *gasping for air*
The entrance to the Cathedral was free but no photo is allowed inside. We did
pay a fee to get into the Crypt and dome. We first visited the crypt (kind of
creepy & dark) before embarking our 300steps journey to the top of the
dome…. *sweat* who says this is a great idea???
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| Follow the Sign? |
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| Seriously? Are you sure we are at the right direction? *Panting* |
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| A Small Piazza |
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| Finally we are at Basllique du Sacre Coeur |
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| Sammy is happy too! |
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| Let's roll! |
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| Crypt & Dome Entrance? Let's take a look! |
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| Inside the Crypt |
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| Creepy!!! |
The stairs to the top was spiral and narrow and I would
say claustrophobic shouldn’t try to attempt this! We climb and climb and climb
and climb before finally reaching the top. The view was totally worth the
effort though – we had a clear view of Paris right in front of us as this is
the highest point at Paris. =)
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| 300 Steps?! Are you sure? |
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| Why are we doing this? |
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| Are we there yet? |
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| I think we are!!! |
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| What? More Stairs?! NNNOOOOOOOOO!!!! |
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| A View from the Dome |
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| Zoom into Eiffel Tower |
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| It's a Beautiful Day! |
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| Let's enjoy the view! |
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| Another Church? |
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| Sammy! What are you doing?! Eating the Eiffel Tower?! |
After we got down from the dome by stairs again, we took
the Funiculaire to get downhill (include in Paris Visite Pass). There was a
merry go round as well as some tourist streets. We were starving by the time we
got there so we bought a French snack Croque Monsieur from a random stall at
the junction. Croque Monsieur is a ham sandwich topped with cheese but
unfortunately it was cold from the inside even after the vendor reheats it in
the oven for us. However, the thick layer of cheese was AMAZING!!! It would be
better to get it hot and crispy though.
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| Going down! |
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| Cute lil Train! |
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| Getting downhill! |
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| This is the Station! |
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| At the bottom |
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| Tourist Streets? |
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| Let's buy some food! |
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| Croque Monsieur |
We then got to Anver Station to take metro M2 Line
(towards Porte Dauphine – Marechal de Lattre de Tassigny) to “Villiers
Station" before changing train again to take M3 (Direction: Gallieni –
Parc de Bagnolet) to Opera Station and walk to Palais Garnier.
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| Palais Garnier |
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| Strawberry coated with Godiva Chocolate!!! *drool* |
We got in to Palais Garnier and marveled at the grand
staircase, grand foyer and it ceiling as well as the auditorium with another
amazing ceiling. We are total art dummy but we were definitely impressed by the
design and deco of Palais Garnier.
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| Let's go in Palais Garnier! |
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| The Staircase! |
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| Sammy striking a pose! |
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| Ceiling at the auditorium |
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| At a Random Corridor |
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| Grand Foyer - Amazing huh? |
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| A closer look |
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| The Grand Staircase from the top |
After that, we walk to Galeries Lafayette Haussmann – a famous
luxury department store at the area to have a look. The department store was
full of branded goods such as Prada and Gucci. You even had to queue to get
into Longchamp. We did not go in any of these since we were just too broke. There
was a beautiful dome ceiling at the centre of the store and we ended up at the
terrace on seventh floor for beautiful views of Paris.
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| Galeries Lafayette Haussmann |
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| Dome at the Center |
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| On 7th Floor |
We only stayed at Galaries Lafayette Haussmann for a
short time before taking the metro to Richelieu-Druot Metro station then walk
to Hardrock Paris Café for some t-shirts. FYI, Hardrock Paris plain t-shirt is
the cheapest among all the Hardrock we visited in this trip.
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| Did i mention most Metro Station in Paris do not have elevator?! |
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| Hardrock Paris |
After that, we took metro again from Richelieu-Druot
Metro to take M9 (Direction: Pont de Sevres) to Trocadero where we explore the
Trocadeto garden as it had a great view of Eiffel Tower according to the
internet.
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| I can't feel my legs! |
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| At Trocadeco Garden |
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| A Landmark at the Garden |
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| Sammy & the Tower! |
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| Me & the Tower! |
We then walked to the cruise port to take a cruise in
Seine River. We booked the cruise through Bateaux Parisiens (link)
in which our tickets were opened for 1 day – this means we can take the cruise once
on that day in any time we wanted. We took the 6pm cruise to go around the
Seine River with French song blazing on the speaker and built in audio guide in
our seats. I must say it was such a great experience to cruise the river for
all the amazing architectures. Also, trust it to the French to build a transparent
glass cruise there you can see everything even if you sit in the cabin!
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| Time for a Cruise! |
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| Let's Sit Outdoor! |
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| Transparent Cruise! |
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| View along the way... |
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| Eiffel Tower from the Cruise |
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| Crossing the Bridge |
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| I think this is Pont de Arts? Look at all the locks! |
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| Another Bridge with love locks! |
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| Enjoying the Breeze & the View |
The cruise lasted for an hour and we walked to Eiffel
Tower to wait for our turn to go up. We bought the e-ticket for 8pm from Eiffel
Tower official website (link).
Remember to purchase your ticket in advance as line can be very long onsite. In
case you have no tickets and need to queue to purchase onsite, remember there
are 2 major entrance points for ticket purchase and online ticket entrance.
During our visit, we noticed that the queue at one of the entrance was super
long whist another short. We weren’t sure on this thus we asked the person in
charge there and they confirm both provided the same ticket counter! Another
tourist asked WHY? and the Person in charged just reply “human! Who knows?”
Hhaaaa…. So do take a 2nd look at which line is shorter!
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| Getting near to the Tower |
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| Long Queue!!! |
Since we already had the pre-booked ticket and it was not
8pm yet, we grabbed a quite sandwich from a stall nearby but unfortunately the
sandwich wasn’t good. At 8pm, we simple went straight to the Visitor with
tickets” entrance and got on the elevator without any queue!
The sunset on that day was supposed to be at 8.30pm++ so
we got great view of Paris before, during and after sunset at the top of Eiffel
Tower. The tower started to glitter at 9pm but since we were still on top of
the tower, we couldn’t see the effects.
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| Sun is almost setting! |
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| Arc de Triomphe |
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| More View from Eiffel Tower |
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| Sammy! Don't jump! |
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| Finally? |
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| Square in front of the Tower |
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| Everything looks Golden |
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| Arc de Triomphe at night |
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| Trocadeto Garden at Night |
We finally got down from the tower at around 9.30pm++ and slowly walked back to Trocadero garden before stopping halfway to admire Eiffel Tower glittered again at 10pm! Remember!!! Eiffel Tower glitters for 5 mins starting from 9pm every hour! So plan your timing perfectly!!! I must say watching Eiffel Tower glitters was definitely one of my top 3 highlights in this trip. =)
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| Majestic at Night |
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| Waiting for the 'Glitter Show' |
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| It is finally glittering!!! |
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| AMAZING!!!! Picture can't do this justice!!! |
One downside about Paris was you could smell “pee pee”
smell everywhere! We were not sure whether that was human or canines but there definitely
spoiled the ‘romantic city of light’ image a bit.
We finally walked back to Trocadero garden to get the
metro M6 (Direction: Charles de Gaulle-Etoile) to Charles de Gaulle-Etoile
Station for a transfer for RER A (Direction: Boissy-Saint-Leger) to Gare de
Lyon to check in grab some groceries at Monop before finally checking into our
hotel.
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| Some Couple taking Wedding Picture!!! |
Hotel du Midi Gare de Lyon was only a 5minutes walk from
Gare de Lyon station – it was a budget hotel thus it didn’t have any elevator.
Be aware that you might have to carry your luggage to the 3rd floor
with stairs – we did!!! I believe our room was actually at the attic so we
could see strange wooden pillars at the middle of the room along with low
ceiling. Well, I guess that’s what you get when you book a budget hotel. =P
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| Finally reaching the Hotel |
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| Holy COW!!! What is this wood pillar?! |
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| Need to bend your head when using the toilet! |
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| Glad to see the bed though! |
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| Some Desserts from Monop! |
Next Day (Notre Dame, Pompidon & Louvre)
