CAMILLESHERYL
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2007
- Messages
- 37
TRIP REPORT DAY 3
That day, woke up at around 8 am and the first thing I did was jump to the window to peep, I was holding my breath and praying that I would see sunshine and surprise! surprise! The sun is up and bright! After the other day, I was sooo convinced that we will give Paris a miss because of the bad weather but all the pixie dust worked! We have sunshine!
Woke up DH and DD was awake anyway doing silly noises like ahhhh.... baba… and giggling trying to entertain herself. We got ready and headed off to the Breakfast hall. I was hoping to find a different set of breakfast but it was the same as yesterday, I’m not complaining though because for some reason I really liked the chicken sausage although DH find it a bit odd to his taste buds. After breakfast we headed back to the room to get our things and went to the hotel lobby and the waiting area and is nearly empty. There are like only 3-4 families waiting, the bus came and there were plenty of space. I was really delighted although when it stopped at Explorer’s the bus again was fully packed! We got to the bus station and headed off to the train station across the street. We were there around 10:20 and we queued up to get our tickets, I have asked for the mobilis tickets. As we were heading to the escalator we saw a train just closing the door and there was a lady tried to push her way on one side while DH was holding the pushchair on the escalator, I shouted “That’s very rude, don’t you think?” and she did apologized. We waited for 10 mins and another train came by. There were 14 stops before the Auber station and took about 40 mins to get there. On the way, there were a lot of graffiti’s and when we got to the station, the state of it was pretty bad and in need of a lot of TLC! (I will include the photo of the subway when I finish my Photo Installment for Paris). We went up and had to carry the pushchair through several flights of stairs and it was heavy!! There was a lift but in only goes so far then you have to make your way further up by stairs which was a nightmare! When we went out of the station we saw the Opera and walked down a bit and saw a red double decker bus which we boarded. We paid 22 euros per person which I thought was a bit expensive and when I scrutinized the ticket it was valid for 2 consecutive days. The company was Les Cars Rouges Bus by the way. We first saw Champs Elysees, Grand Palais and Trocadero on the upper deck of the bus, the next stop was Eiffel Tower and we decided to hop off. The queue was very long for the both buying the tickets and the elevator. DH was determined to go to even atleast the 1st floor so he decided to take the stairs up but I have read somewhere that there is a restaurant on the first floor where you don’t need to queue up to the elevator as there is a special access. I went to the booth for Altitude 95 restaurant and there the lady asked me to pay 9.50 for the elevator and we went straight infront of the long queue and was given priority. For a minute I felt like a VIP. Hehehe!
We got on the first floor and saw that there is another restaurant which offers a buffet style and less expensive but I feel cheeky if I go there instead of the Altitude 95 so we went as planned. We got a window seat which was really breath taking. I was mesmerized by the view and yes it was pretty romantic! We had the set menue for 23 euros per person, all I can say is that the food was bad but I didn’t take much notice because I was soooo loving the idea of eating at the Eiffel tower! Hehehe. I know very petty eh. BTW, the dessert that was included was a piece of cake or a cheese and I opted for the cheese which was really stinky!!! I dunno what kind of cheese it was but it smelt like my DD nappy. (excuse me).
Anyway, after lunch we went out and DH was pushing his luck wanting to go to the top floor and being the kind and understanding and giving wife that I am (hehehehe!!! Ahem ahem!!) after me giving him a hard time, I gave in but I decided to stay on the first floor with DD as I am not a big fan of heights. While we were waiting, DD got a bit ratty and wanted to walk around. We ended up chasing pigeons for 30 mins while waiting for DH to come back. Btw, all in all you have to pay 11.50 euros to get to the top. You buy the tickets on each floor by card or by cash.
After Eiffel Tower, we boarded the bus again and stayed there for a while, we passed by champs de mars, the louvre museum and finally decided to stop at the Notre Dame Cathedral. There I saw little kiosk selling Crepes, I thought it was going to be a bit different but I was sooo wrong, the filling was Nuttela and Banana. Nothing special which was 5 euros each! We then took a few photos but didn’t went inside the tower to meet Quasimodo hehehe. We took a leisure walk along Seine River going to the Louvre Museum, by this time it was already 5:16 so we didn’t go inside to meet Mona Lisa. We then decided to make our way back to the station as it was getting dark and I am a bit scared of going to the RER late. On our way back, we passed by a park and there was a fountain with people just chilling and relaxing. There was a pretty laid back atmosphere and it was sooo calming. I wish we could have stayed longer there and just watch the sun set but like I said, don’t wanna stay out too late.
We got to the station and I was bursting to go to the toilet, prolly all the iced tea that I was drinking the whole day which btw was 2.90 euros ( everything’s expensive! ). I asked a lady wheres the toilet and she said there was none. A main station without a toilet?? They could definitely improve their stations!! Anyway, I inserted my ticket and it wasn’t working! Great! Bursting and everything seems to go wrong. The guy who was on duty just opened the door for us and then we went down one floor and had to lift the pushchair again and then there was the elevator going down another floor and then 2 more escalators down. We finally got in the train and it was full but as each stop a lot of people tends to get off. There was a French guy playing with DD and we heard an announcement in French and we were absolutely clueless, all we understood was Torcy which was one of the stops. Before this French Guy got off, he asked us if we were going to Disney and we said yeah and he explained to us that the last stop of the train is Torcy and we have to get another one. When we came to Torcy, we were reluctant to get off and as we just stepped out there was another announcement and people kept still on their seats so we asked the guy infront of us if that train goes to Disney and he just said, that’s what the announcement was all about. Finally a few minutes later we arrived at the Marne La Vallee station which was the last stop anyway. We got out of the train station and crossed the street and there was the number 54 bus. It wasn’t too crowded at first but the bus stayed and waited a bit longer till it was fully packed again. We got to the hotel and I was literally running in the hallway to our room only to find that my keycard wasn’t working so had to rush back to the lobby and use the toilet there! What a relief!!! We then went back to try DH keycard and it wasn’t also working. I don’t know if am being paranoid but our magnetic strips for cards seem to stop working. Anyway, we were starving then but too tired to go back to the village to have sommat to eat so we opted to eat at the hotel restaurant. I had Caesar Salad for starters which was a big portion, Pan Fried Beef for Main Course which was half the size of my palm and was charcoaled and Coke. DH had Tomato Soup, Salmon and Banana Split, DD had her baby food which I brought because after Café Mickey am not taking any chance and we also had 3 cokes which came to 72 euros. OUCH!!! After Dinner, we went back to the room and changed DD and went outside for 20 minutes and put our pjs and went to bed ourselves.
It was a really nice day out but would love to explore Paris more but with an 18 month old baby and a pushchair that you have to fold everytime you hop on and hop off, it can be very tiring and the tourist spots are a bit far from each other so walking isn’t an option for us, maybe if its just me and DH, we would but with DD errr guess not. Am just glad that the weather was really nice, actually too nice that DD got a bit of a sunburn.
I guess that sums up our day in Paris.
That day, woke up at around 8 am and the first thing I did was jump to the window to peep, I was holding my breath and praying that I would see sunshine and surprise! surprise! The sun is up and bright! After the other day, I was sooo convinced that we will give Paris a miss because of the bad weather but all the pixie dust worked! We have sunshine!
Woke up DH and DD was awake anyway doing silly noises like ahhhh.... baba… and giggling trying to entertain herself. We got ready and headed off to the Breakfast hall. I was hoping to find a different set of breakfast but it was the same as yesterday, I’m not complaining though because for some reason I really liked the chicken sausage although DH find it a bit odd to his taste buds. After breakfast we headed back to the room to get our things and went to the hotel lobby and the waiting area and is nearly empty. There are like only 3-4 families waiting, the bus came and there were plenty of space. I was really delighted although when it stopped at Explorer’s the bus again was fully packed! We got to the bus station and headed off to the train station across the street. We were there around 10:20 and we queued up to get our tickets, I have asked for the mobilis tickets. As we were heading to the escalator we saw a train just closing the door and there was a lady tried to push her way on one side while DH was holding the pushchair on the escalator, I shouted “That’s very rude, don’t you think?” and she did apologized. We waited for 10 mins and another train came by. There were 14 stops before the Auber station and took about 40 mins to get there. On the way, there were a lot of graffiti’s and when we got to the station, the state of it was pretty bad and in need of a lot of TLC! (I will include the photo of the subway when I finish my Photo Installment for Paris). We went up and had to carry the pushchair through several flights of stairs and it was heavy!! There was a lift but in only goes so far then you have to make your way further up by stairs which was a nightmare! When we went out of the station we saw the Opera and walked down a bit and saw a red double decker bus which we boarded. We paid 22 euros per person which I thought was a bit expensive and when I scrutinized the ticket it was valid for 2 consecutive days. The company was Les Cars Rouges Bus by the way. We first saw Champs Elysees, Grand Palais and Trocadero on the upper deck of the bus, the next stop was Eiffel Tower and we decided to hop off. The queue was very long for the both buying the tickets and the elevator. DH was determined to go to even atleast the 1st floor so he decided to take the stairs up but I have read somewhere that there is a restaurant on the first floor where you don’t need to queue up to the elevator as there is a special access. I went to the booth for Altitude 95 restaurant and there the lady asked me to pay 9.50 for the elevator and we went straight infront of the long queue and was given priority. For a minute I felt like a VIP. Hehehe!
We got on the first floor and saw that there is another restaurant which offers a buffet style and less expensive but I feel cheeky if I go there instead of the Altitude 95 so we went as planned. We got a window seat which was really breath taking. I was mesmerized by the view and yes it was pretty romantic! We had the set menue for 23 euros per person, all I can say is that the food was bad but I didn’t take much notice because I was soooo loving the idea of eating at the Eiffel tower! Hehehe. I know very petty eh. BTW, the dessert that was included was a piece of cake or a cheese and I opted for the cheese which was really stinky!!! I dunno what kind of cheese it was but it smelt like my DD nappy. (excuse me).
Anyway, after lunch we went out and DH was pushing his luck wanting to go to the top floor and being the kind and understanding and giving wife that I am (hehehehe!!! Ahem ahem!!) after me giving him a hard time, I gave in but I decided to stay on the first floor with DD as I am not a big fan of heights. While we were waiting, DD got a bit ratty and wanted to walk around. We ended up chasing pigeons for 30 mins while waiting for DH to come back. Btw, all in all you have to pay 11.50 euros to get to the top. You buy the tickets on each floor by card or by cash.
After Eiffel Tower, we boarded the bus again and stayed there for a while, we passed by champs de mars, the louvre museum and finally decided to stop at the Notre Dame Cathedral. There I saw little kiosk selling Crepes, I thought it was going to be a bit different but I was sooo wrong, the filling was Nuttela and Banana. Nothing special which was 5 euros each! We then took a few photos but didn’t went inside the tower to meet Quasimodo hehehe. We took a leisure walk along Seine River going to the Louvre Museum, by this time it was already 5:16 so we didn’t go inside to meet Mona Lisa. We then decided to make our way back to the station as it was getting dark and I am a bit scared of going to the RER late. On our way back, we passed by a park and there was a fountain with people just chilling and relaxing. There was a pretty laid back atmosphere and it was sooo calming. I wish we could have stayed longer there and just watch the sun set but like I said, don’t wanna stay out too late.
We got to the station and I was bursting to go to the toilet, prolly all the iced tea that I was drinking the whole day which btw was 2.90 euros ( everything’s expensive! ). I asked a lady wheres the toilet and she said there was none. A main station without a toilet?? They could definitely improve their stations!! Anyway, I inserted my ticket and it wasn’t working! Great! Bursting and everything seems to go wrong. The guy who was on duty just opened the door for us and then we went down one floor and had to lift the pushchair again and then there was the elevator going down another floor and then 2 more escalators down. We finally got in the train and it was full but as each stop a lot of people tends to get off. There was a French guy playing with DD and we heard an announcement in French and we were absolutely clueless, all we understood was Torcy which was one of the stops. Before this French Guy got off, he asked us if we were going to Disney and we said yeah and he explained to us that the last stop of the train is Torcy and we have to get another one. When we came to Torcy, we were reluctant to get off and as we just stepped out there was another announcement and people kept still on their seats so we asked the guy infront of us if that train goes to Disney and he just said, that’s what the announcement was all about. Finally a few minutes later we arrived at the Marne La Vallee station which was the last stop anyway. We got out of the train station and crossed the street and there was the number 54 bus. It wasn’t too crowded at first but the bus stayed and waited a bit longer till it was fully packed again. We got to the hotel and I was literally running in the hallway to our room only to find that my keycard wasn’t working so had to rush back to the lobby and use the toilet there! What a relief!!! We then went back to try DH keycard and it wasn’t also working. I don’t know if am being paranoid but our magnetic strips for cards seem to stop working. Anyway, we were starving then but too tired to go back to the village to have sommat to eat so we opted to eat at the hotel restaurant. I had Caesar Salad for starters which was a big portion, Pan Fried Beef for Main Course which was half the size of my palm and was charcoaled and Coke. DH had Tomato Soup, Salmon and Banana Split, DD had her baby food which I brought because after Café Mickey am not taking any chance and we also had 3 cokes which came to 72 euros. OUCH!!! After Dinner, we went back to the room and changed DD and went outside for 20 minutes and put our pjs and went to bed ourselves.
It was a really nice day out but would love to explore Paris more but with an 18 month old baby and a pushchair that you have to fold everytime you hop on and hop off, it can be very tiring and the tourist spots are a bit far from each other so walking isn’t an option for us, maybe if its just me and DH, we would but with DD errr guess not. Am just glad that the weather was really nice, actually too nice that DD got a bit of a sunburn.
I guess that sums up our day in Paris.
