That actually means Paris was awesome!!
Seriously... We(Jiha, Alisa and I) were thinking about making Paris as an annual holiday spot.
Well, until we get bored with it and there's nothing else to see there.
I've been procrastinating writing about this.
Sebab malas!! Haha...
Ok, before
kemalasan datang kembali, baik start.
DAY 1
We left Dublin in the morning. Arrived at around 12pm. Then, took the bus to the main city which took 1 and a half hours. Lama gile!! So, we took the Metro to our accommodation(main ikut orang je. Jalan jauh betul. Padahal ada je Metro yang dekat) This trip was actually a spontaneous trip yang memang sungguh tak diplan. All we knew were our accommodation's name(Formulae 1), places we want to go and see(eg:Disneyland, Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, etc.) and some tips from people who've been there. So, mula-mula nampak cam blur gile ah. After that, cam dah semakin hebat(siapa-siapa berhajat untuk ke Paris, sila tempah saya sebagai tour guide. Upah hanyalah sebijik ipod touch. Haha...)
Anyway, once we arrived at the Metro station that was supposedly near where we were going to stay for the next 5 days, we were completely lost! And the numerous people we asked about the place don't have the slightest clue where it was!! Dah la sejuk pastu tak tau nak pergi arah mana. Haish~~ Then, we finally agreed to go towards the Stade de France(a huge stadium) after the majority of the people we asked pointed towards that way. So, off we went with bags in tow towards the stadium. It was kind of a long walk, so when we passed a shop, we stopped to buy drinks(actually Jiha je yang nak beli air. Alisa and I were looking for some shelter from the cold and also to ask the directions, yet again, to the hotel). The pakcik could speak in English(rasa cam nak sujud syukur je kalo jumpe someone that could speak in English) and he was actually from India. But, he didn't know where the place was(we were thinking. What kind of place membe Alisa recommend ni?? Kenapa semua orang tak tau??? Adoi...) But, we still went towards the stadium's direction and pusing punya pusing, jumpa gak sign nak pergi there. Bergembiralah kteorang ikut sign tu.
But, after about 30 minutes tak jumpa-jumpa jugak. Then, after getting rejected a few times(Alisa ah selalu kene reject kalo bab-bab tanya ni. Haha...), there was this one auntie that gave us the directions there(which was again salah). Pastu last-last pergi masuk hotel mana-mana tanya where exactly tempat tu. Setelah penat membebel-bebel kesejukan, kepenatan and marah-marah kawan Alisa(he said it only took 5 minutes to reach there from the station. Yeah right! It took us 2 hours and a half!), we finally reached the hotel.
Anybody thinking of staying there while traveling to Paris, it's a nice place. But, seriously, DO NOT follow the signs leading there. Sampai bila pun tak jumpa cause sign die cacat. Ikut sign nak pergi McD.
So, after spending a couple of hours in the room, we went out to buy the RER(train) tickets to Disneyland(Senang esok tak payah nak kecah-kecah baru nak beli cause we were planning to go out early the next day). Then, alang-alang dah dekat station, we decided right there and then to terus je pergi Eiffel tower malam-malam tu. Tak sedar diri sejuk malam-malam buta. But, it was worth it! Eiffel tower was really beautiful and minus the fact that there were loads of guys selling souvenirs and mengganggu concentration kteorang untuk tangkap gambar and the freezing cold weather, it was totally fun!! But, I wasn't that excited seeing Eiffel Tower, maybe cause I'm more of a nature person. I mean, Eiffel tower was just a tall ensemble of metal that looks pretty with lights and I got excited at first upon seeing it, but it wears down after a while. Still, seeing it in real life was a great experience.
DAY 2Ok, so the plan for today was to get out early and spend the whole day in Disneyland. As expected, we got out late. And while we were rushing to go down and out of the hotel, we met 3 Malaysians downstairs(at the reception area). Since we were rushing and we were kind of in shock that there were actually other Malaysians(merata-rata Malaysians ni) staying at the same place we were staying(turns out there were another group of Malaysian students staying there as well besides them), we just said "Hi!" in a hurry and made our way hastily towards the exit(Jiha slack pergi tarik-tarik pintu yang patutnya ditolak. Dua pulak tu. Haha... Takpe Jiha, cuba lagi!! Kteorang paham... Nervous jumpe A_i_...=P)
Then, when we reached the station, I remembered one of the guys(Pakdin) who was our college mate(back in KMB), studies in India. So what was he doing all the way here in Paris?? Tiba-tiba rasa bersalah cause tak stop and tegur dorang. Ye ah, sure dorang tak tahu jalan semua. Well, we weren't experts either tapi at least we could all get lost together. Huhu...
Nak dijadikan cerita, the train came extra late and we met them again at the station and turns out they were heading towards Disneyland as well. So, instead of just three girls, we ended up spending the rest of our trip with 3 additional people. 2 guys(Abid and Pakdin) and also another girl(Mizerque... Hope I got the spelling right). So, we went in both parks(Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios park) and got on almost every rides that were marked as being horrifying (except the space shuttle thingy which looked totally cool but it was already late by the time we reached there and it got too cold) and the shows that were recommended.
Note of advice: DO NOT get fooled by the cute Nemo ride. It was actually one of the best rides in the Walt Disney Studios park but it was definitely not cute!! Fun because it was unpredictable.. but we got fooled by the cuteness of it and thought it was just another harmless ride. Anyway, just can't wait to come again and go on it another time!=P
But, whatever it is, Disneyland was fun!! The only complaint I have(besides the cold) is that I wasn't able to take a picture with Mickey. Sdey!!=S
DAY 3
We(Jiha, Alisa, Mizerque, Abid, Pakdin and I) started the day with going up the Eiffel tower. We went all the way up(Level 3) and took loads of pictures there(the wind was blowing kind of hard, making it extra cold, but we still braved ourselves, with the occasional rests. Rugi ah kan bayar-bayar, tak nak tangkap gamba and enjoy the view from up above).
After Eiffel, we went to see the Arc de Triomp. The arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during Napoleon's time.
Then, we went towards the famous Champs Elysees road. To anyone who wants to go to Paris just to shop, do not think of spending your money here. Almost all of the things are super expensive!!(wow!! penggunaan ayat super!! haha... inside joke. harap maaf!=P)
Don't know if there are sales, the prices would be reasonable though. But, with my status as a student, I could only settle with window shopping.
So, after that, went to see the Grand Palais and Petite Palais and basically took pictures there and around the area. Paris is extremely beautiful at night.
Then, we went towards Musee' da Louvre. We purposely went after 6pm cause one of Mizerque's friends told her that after that, the entrance is free.(yes, we Malaysians love free stuff, don't we?=P) Met some more Malaysian friends here. Mei Lin, Jino(I keep meeting them everywhere I go!! London la, Malaysia la, ni dekat Paris pulak), Ding Dong and Zhe Dong. Owh, I forgot to mention, we even met one of our friend's(Khalil's) Mak Long. What a coincidence!! Memang merata-rata la Malaysians ada.
After basically dragging ourselves[we were all exhausted and just wanted to see Mona Lisa(which was kind of disappointing.) and were all hungry to explore the whole huge museum], we made our way outside to take some more pictures!!
After taking a couple of photos, we went towards KFC(which was halal!! yay!!) and met some more Malaysians there. They were actually studying in Paris. Told us where Hard Rock Cafe was(We searched for Hard Rock Cafe that afternoon to no avail) But, since it was already late after chowing down at KFC, we just went back and saved it for the next day. Everyone was soo tired anyway.
DAY 4Today started with a trip to Notre Dame with us meeting yes, another group of Malaysians. Kali ni pakcik-pakcik yang ade kerja with aerospace or something like that. Layankan je la... Went inside the cathedral and took some pictures outside and inside. Orang dorang dok sibuk berdoa, kteorang sibuk tangkap gambar. Lawak betul... After that, went to buy some more souvenirs around the area. Then, we made our way to Hard Rock Cafe. Berborong sakan sorang-sorang kat situ. Bujet murah la kan. Huhu... But, it's ok cause bukan selalu pun. (ye ker??=P)
Then, went to the supposedly 'cheaper' place to shop(Printemps). Murah apenya, semua barang-barang mahal betul!! Memang tak mampu la. Unless dia tukar currency jadi RM instead of Euro. Huhu... Then, after dinner semua, we went to Eiffel tower again cause the other three tak sempat tangkap gambar time malam-malam there.
DAY 5
Today is actually the leisure day. Woke up a bit later than usual. Then, Alisa, Jiha and I teman Abid(supposedly for an hour tapi jadi sampai 3 hours lebih. haha..) while Mizerque and Pakdin went to the airport to settle bout their lost luggage. Played cards(poker, etc.) and learned a new magic trick to pass the time. Then, when it got too late, the three of us had to leave and head towards the airport(Jiha pun bersedih. haha...). by the time we reached the airport, the weather wasn't that great. The fog was horrible and true enough, the flight was delayed.
Turns out, we had to be transferred to another airport(at Lille). All of the passengers went on the buses that were provided and all was good for the first few minutes, and by the time we were on the bus for an hour, everyone were fast asleep, even the energetic makcik beside me. Guess how long the trip to Lille airport took? Owh yeah... 2 looong hours. Last-last, what was supposed to be an 8.20pm flight, turns out to be a 1.20am flight. Sampai Dublin, around 2am(Paris's time is an hour earlier compared to Dublin's). Tak nak lama pulak perjalanan kan?? Macam balik Malaysia je. But, we were laughing all the time. Cakap Malay mana orang nak paham. Dah la berperang dengan makcik Cruella deVille with her victory smile setiap kali dapat potong our line. Kejam!! Tidak lupe juga kepada plastic guys Alisa. Haha... Memang terhibur gak la eventhough flight delay dengan dasyatnya. Muka-muka orang lain semua tak bermaya je. Huhu...
So, basically that's about it regarding the Paris trip. Banyak benda-benda lain yang berlaku. But, nanti panjang jadinye. So, I'll leave it at that...=)