PARIS & DISNEYLAND

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I decided to give sleep a miss tonight to make sure I have my bag packed properly for Paris. Somewhere at the back of my head a voice is telling me: Vanity...must look chic in Paris! But in the end I gave the idea up, I'd rather be able to walk fast and cover a wider area than be strutting around looking good with a painful bunion that could spoil my long awaited visit to Paris! Naah I don't want that! So goes both my denims and long coats/jacket and my woolies too into my bag to keep me warm!

We've spent the night at Rebrücke and was a bit silly to have stayed too late. Inspite of forewarning Marven we musn't stay long, we ended up later than we planned. Thanks to Wii...or not! They must have thought I am a dumbed old fart! But then again they've got a lot more practice so I was able to console myself with that!

When I finally managed to convince him it was time to call it a night, my cheapskate friend decided we won't take a taxi as previously planned but instead will walk to the train station. I would say it is a good 2ks from his parent's place in the middle of the night on snowy roads (snow was actually falling that time) and the air was quite chilly!

So I walked with a couple of young boys. Okey, guys but tonight they are acting like little boys! I am glad Tom, Marven's mate, was with us. It was a little bit easier talking to him being a bit sober than Marvo.

After walking for about twenty minutes, they saw a bus and urged me to run as fast as possible. I was puffing but managed to get on the bus on time.

catching the RE train to Schonefeld airport at dawn...bbbbbrrrrrrr cccccooooollllddddd!!!!

the foreground of Schonefeld Airport, Berlin

Red Xmas Trees; only the French would think of it I reckon

Orly Airport was quite busy. I noticed a group of red Christmas Trees in the Foyer on our way out to Arrival/Departure area. I thought "who would want a Red Christmas Tree?'...HHHmmm... well I suppose...it's Paris after all! Dubbed as Fashion Headquarter...they have a licence to be different even with their Christmas Trees!

Found out how we can get to our hotel from the Airport Information Desk. After giving the details of our hotel the Info Clerk/Staff produced a computerised directional instruction showing which train/bus to take and the distance and travel time also included. I thought that was quite impressive. Marven was gobsmacked by the kind of service too saying "you'll never get this service in Germany!"

Unfortunately it wasn't as easy as it looked. There were no buses, we stood at the platform for ages. I decided to go back for more info. And while I was inside, the military arrived and were in the process of cordoning the area. I just managed to get back to Marven before they completely barricaded the area where we were.

I approached one of the policemen: Pardon Monsieur, do you speak English? He said, little bit! I asked what's happening. He said "airport is close, baggage stolen, no people can leave the airport". I relayed it to Marven and he said "we better find a way to get out of here in a flash!"

We ran to the other direction, our hand carry luggage in tow. We tried to get on a bus, any bus and asked to be dropped to the nearest Metro. From the Metro, same story; I have no French and the lady at the Information Counter had very little English. But she was quite good and actually accommodated our inquiries. She gave us another set of instructions to get to our hotel.

I followed Marven almost blindly after we got our 3 day pass. He is used to travelling by train so my guts told me I'll just follow and he is more often right than wrong. Right now my mind is too tired to even try and figure out where we are going. Several stations later, we came out into daylight! Got a bit disoriented but found the Number 62 Bus Stop that will drop us near our accommodation.

I enjoyed the bus ride just watching the passengers hop in and off the bus while trying to absorbed as much detail as I can of the area we were passing. We counted how many stops to go before the Seine River. I know that once we've crossed the river we are only a bus stop away from our hotel. While in the bus I had a moment of reverie: could not help but miss my Auntie Almie. After all it was her romance novels that I use to read against her approval that planted little seeds of dreams in my heart and longings to one day see these places! And today is that day! From the bus stop, there's about 3 minutes walk to Le Auteuil Tour Eiffel, our hotel.

our hotel in Paris

Le Auteuil Tour Eiffel or simply Tour Eiffel hotel...

Checked in, showered and out again in a flash. We have no time to waste. Jack Frost was waiting by the corner ready to nip our toes but we decided to walk back to the River anyway! We walked down to the world well-known river, crossed it over one of it's bridges to get to Eiffel Tower which is about 2 blocks away, stopping halfway to mimick the Parisian version of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue stands in a small island, Ile des Cygnes, in the middle of Seine.

Bridge Passy holds this arches that holds the railtracks...

It was lovely even in that cold winter air!

from Passy Bridge, a great view of Tour Eiffel

After a few minutes of leisurely walk, we climbed up into the Passy Bridge. The Passy Bridge is a double decker bridge: it has a lower deck where the cars and buses run. This deck serves as the foundation that holds the upper deck which is the railtrack for the city train. Passy Bridge, I learned, is the only bridge in Parish that has a roadway, a pedestrian path and an overhead Metro rail. From here you are rewarded by an unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower.

There were a few couples taking photos here. This is when it pays to travel with a buddy. I watched the others running back and forth trying to make timed exposures to the point of me feeling sorry for one. I asked Marven to offer to take photos for them which he did. And as the saying "what you give you receive"goes... the gentleman offered to take a photo of us too! From here we walked back down to the promenade and walked the length of the block just admiring the views, boats and yatchs and the romantic atmosphere!

I told Marven I am happy I finally made it here. And added "the only sad part is that when I was dreaming of this, I was dreaming I would be walking with the man I love." He gave a dry sarcastic laugh and said..."don't worry I feel the same way".

Tour Eiffel flooded in Blue at night was a mesmerising sight...just as filling as the yummy crepes sold near it's foot...

It would have been lovely or can I use the word romantic(?) if I was with someone who loves me or someone I love...but I was not. Anyway we just laughed about it. Two good mates, both unloved (it seems to be the case at that moment anyway)! What a sad state of mind to be in in Paris, the City of Love!

But for now, I was just happy to soak in the air of fun, grandeur, love, romance, whatever and yeah...the flavour and aroma of croissants.. chocolat croissants and crepes! Yeah, lovely yummy oh so mouth watering crepes!

We stayed out until midnight spending a good hour finding our way back to the hotel. I was bugged by the time we got back.

our destination is Parc Disneyland

Next day, we were off to Disneyland, did everything we could do in one day and got back to our hotel again just before midnight.

We realised later on it pays to buy the Zones 1 - 6 days pass rather than the Zones 1-3 we got as the previous allows you to travel outside of Paris City. So we have to purchase an independent ticket to Disneyland.

The long queue to the Hollywood Hotel - it was a 45min wait...and freezing outside...

Then we wasted a lot of time queuing up for tickets because we were silly enough not to prebook it. The queue was very long and must have taken half of our time there.

The Hollywood Hotel, a little bit more interesting but not as scary as the Tower of Terror in Gold Coast OZ

Most popular ride is the Hollywood Tower Hotel (totally different from the Tower of Terror). For me it was the Pirate of the Carribean. Marven made sure we got to ride on all of the rollercoasters.

******Here below are a few more shots we took from Disneyland:

the main building at Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Castle, inspired by Neuchswanstein Castle

Our last day, we checked out early, stopped at a Brasserie for our French Breakfast and headed to Mont Parnasse for a 360 degree view of the city of Paris

From Mont Parnasse a quick dash in the Metro that took us to Louvre where we got soaking wet due to snow fall. There was a feeling of lightness and somehow I felt like a little child again...carefree, fun, in sync with nature!

Our last stop was to have another look at Notre Dam. It was lovely when we saw it last night, illuminated in the dark. I actually did not think we had the time but Marvo took us there anyway. Then it was time to head back to Orly Airport.