Day 6 : Amsterdam

Sebelum bergerak ke Amsterdam, kami sempat menikmati sarapan di restoran hotel. Actually masa booking online, I was informed that the room price offered would not include breakfast, which I didn't really mind because the price offered was the cheapest I could get online for a decent hotel like this. But not only did we get breakfast for two adult, the kids got the breakfast for free too! I really like this hotel....the staffs were friendly, the room was lovely and clean and free Wifi was provided too. For the price I've paid, I think it was really worth it.

Bilik hotel yg sgt memuaskan hati

Breakfast time...not much though - typical European breakfast - breads, jam, cheeses tp kopi super sedap!

From Lisse to Amsterdam, it was supposed to take half an hour by driving but unfortunately, our route as suggested by Garmin was interrupted when one of the road was closed by police and we were directed to use another route. Tapi si Garmin ni asik suggest suh buat U-turn utk ikut the original route. So kami terpaksa buat our own decision, just follow the heavy traffic (with assumption semua org nak pegi Amsterdam!) sampai la at last Garmin recalculated the route plan. Akhirnya sampai ke destinasi yg dituju 1 jam kemudian.

Dari awal lagi, sy dah buat plan mmg x nak drive masuk Amsterdam City tapi sebaliknya park kereta kat satu P&R (Park & Ride) yg terletak di pinggir kota Amsterdam. Sebabnya sy baca dr Internet, pelancong amat la tidak digalakkan drive di dlm city due to many reasons. Besides, when you park at P&R, you'll be provided with a travelling ticket to the city which valid for 5 people at 6 Euro. I thought at first the tickets and the parking cost was two different things, but later found out that the 6 Euro includes a 24-hour parking time and the travelling tickets as well! Isn't it so cheap?

From this P&R we travelled to Amsterdam Centraal Station by train. It only took us 10 minutes. I was so glad that the train station provides free tourist information booklet. Kat Paris satu info booklet pon x nampak. Sampai Centraal Station, kami simply wandered around. It says, Amsterdam tourist attractions all located within walking distance from the Centraal so kami pon belasah je la jln ikut suka.

Looking at the traffic conditions, lega sgt rasanya kami buat decision utk tidak drive masuk city. Jalan2 Amsterdam adalah kecil dan kebanyakan jalan adalah jenis sehala. Parking pon sgt limited. Yg ada pon, sgt mencabar nak parking. Betul2 tepi canal! Kalau I yg parking, harus la selamat masuk canal kot!

Kereta kecik camni mmg sgt praktikal di Amsterdam!

Tgk la...mencabar ke x parking disini?

Amsterdam mmg terkenal dgn canal boat ride nya. Dr mula kami keluar dr Centraal, mana2 pon boleh nampak signboard Canal Boat Ride. Ada pelbagai pakej dan harga disediakan. At first, we thought we should get the boat ride later, but then when we saw some more cheaper price offered, we couldn´t wait anymore, hence we bought the ticket. The price of ticket for one-hour ride was 8€/adult.

The canal boat ride was quite interesting. We travelled along the canal where we could see Amsterdam´s famous landmarks and the boat captain gave English narration about the landmarks throughout the journey. The twins got excited at first but then became bored and fell asleep...which was good! I didn´t have to answer a lot of questions. Then we completed the 1-hour boat ride, the moment we stepped out from the boat, we saw all the passengers´postcard-like-photos pasted on a board . The photos looked so nice, that most passengers bought it including us. It was a bit pricey (3€/piece) but heck, the memory is priceless, isn´t it?

Us...on the boat

Some of the views from the boat

After the boat ride, we walked along the streets and got excited with the city´s panorama and the souvenirs shops. I found Amsterdam is really a tourist-friendly city. The souvenirs are much cheaper here than anywhere places in Europe than I´ve been to. Then all the local people I´ve met not only able to speak English but were so friendly. There was this one time, I was taking photo of my family when suddenly this one old lady greeted me and offered to take our family photo. I would want to say ´no, thank you´but seeing her so friendly, smiling all the way and because she was so sweet to offer, I accepted her offer. She even asked her friend to hold her handbag and stick (ye, ini makcik jalan pakai tongkat ye...how could u want to say NO?) while she´s taking our photo. And after she was done, she even insisted to see the photo, whether it looked nice or not. Oh yes, it was lovely.

Gambar yg makcik tu snapped!

We saw Madame Tussaud too. It is located the Dam Square. At first we thought of going in, but we were not sure whether we had enough time to venture Amsterdam later on. I insisted Kak Ti and Abg Lan to go in, because I was thinking, maybe I could go to Madame Tussaud in London or in Berlin (mungkin je la...berangan2 saja la dulu ye!) But then they also decided not to go in because venturing around Amsterdam was more tempting.

Dam Square....depan Madame Tussaud

Amsterdam shopping walkway

Few things about Amsterdam: selain dr canal merata2, basikal juga terlalu byk. U can see bikes everywhere u go. Diorg angkut brg2 pon pakai basikal. I was so amazed when I saw this one lady, dia bawa baby dlm umur below 6 months (i guess), letak kat depan dia, then belakang dia ada toddler dlm umur 2 thn gitu, dah tu pulak pompuan ni kayuh basikal laju2 di celah2 org ramai. Fuh...confident sungguh! Then byk coffee shops, only thing is these coffee shops are not selling coffee the drink, but they sell drugs - which is legal in Holland! Nasib baik I knew about this long ago, so xde la kes tersilap masuk kedai nak order kopi....hehehehe.

Kedai Kopi? NOT............

Kami actually berangan2 nak makan nasi padang kat Amsterdam. So berpandukan Garmin, kami cari satu restoran Indonesia ni but then bila sampai, restoran tu dah tutup for good. Aiseh! Sbb dah lapar sgt, kami makan kat satu restoran kebab yg halal yg sebaris dgn restoran yg ditutup tu. Tapi kebab dia x sedap mcm kat Jerman punya.

Makan kebab....

Lepas makan, kami pegi Flower Markt. Oh, lagi best tgk souvenirs kat sini. Tapi sy x beli byk pon, again setakat 2-3 benda utk kenangan di masa depan. Lepas tu ronda2 lagi. Dalam dok jalan2 tu kami nampak satu lagi restoran Indonesia. Kebetulan pulak ada menu diletak kat luar restoran. So sy saja2 la pi tgk. Bukan nak makan pon. Semua menu dlm bahasa Indonesia so syok la tgk. Dlm dok browsing menu tu sekali nampak "BABI KETJCAP". There you go...walau indonesia, x semestinya halal ye! Kak Ti kata even kat Indonesia itself pon kena berhati2. She went to Indonesia couple of times, so give it Bali ka, Bandung ka, Jakarta ka, better la check for the halal confirmation.

At Flower Market

At 5pm, kami pon dah penat dan it was time to end our Amsterdam day trip sbb nak balik hotel nak kejar waktu solat. But then since it was time org2 balik keje, train sgt penuh and jalan jam sama je mcm kat KL, maka kami sampai hotel pon dah kul 7pm.

Last episode: Keukenhof & Kinderdijk

Day 5: Throughout Belgium

It was the day Kak Ngoh had to end her holiday with us and flying back to Ireland to resume her life as a student. We left Varredes at 6am (the only time we managed to follow the itinerary schedule! selalunya behind the schedule aje...hehehe) and headed to Tille, where the low cost Paris Beauvais airport located. Bukan dekat ye, amik masa 1 1/2 jam juga nak sampai. But fortunately kami x sesat lagi. So by the time we arrived, it was just the nice time for Kak Ngoh to check-in and we all can sit down for coffee and breakfast.

Twins sgt sedih bila tau kak ngoh dah nak kena balik Ireland....

Coffee at the airport was amazingly expensive. For a small cup and only half of it filled with coffee, the price was 1.50 Euro. I wonder how is it in Charles de Gaulle international airport. Luckily I managed to make some sandwiches before we left our mobile home.

After Kak Ngoh had boarded her flight, we started our journey to Brussels, Belgium. We arrived at Atomium at 12.30 noon and had our packed lunch and then took photos around the big monuments until we got bored after half an hour. We didn't take the tour inside the Atomium because we must leave for Lisse in Holland by 3.30pm. I booked a hotel there and since I did't book using credit card, the condition for our hotel room to be confirmed, I must reach the hotel by 6.00 pm. Brussels was just a stopping point.

If you wonder what is Atomium is all about, here some info i extracted from Wikipedia:

The Atomium [1] is a monument built for Expo '58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Designed by André Waterkeyn, it is 102-metres (335 ft) tall, with nine steel spheres connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.

Tubes which connect the spheres along the 12 edges of the cube and all eight vertices to the centre enclose escalators connecting the spheres which contain exhibit halls and other public spaces. The top sphere provides a panoramic view of Brussels. Each sphere is 18 metres in diameter. Three spheres are currently (2008) closed to visitors, others are easily reachable with escalator. The vertical vertex contains a lift which was considered very fast and advanced at the time of building (the speed is 5 m/s)^[1].

Twins @ Atomium Park

But we still had a couple of hours, so we decided to get to some other tourist attractions in Brussels. During my planning, I only considered Atomium and I didn't include other places in Brussels as I thought about the time constraint. So I really did not have any idea where we should go. We only wanted to get some Brussels souvenirs and the ones in Atomium were not impressive. I did ask some passers-by where the places to get the souvenirs and they told me it was far away from the Atomium.

So we used Garmin. Garmin has this facility that can indicate to you the shopping places, fuel station, tourist attractions and some others in the vicinity. So we checked under the tourist attractions and noted this particular place called Grote Markt - located some 22km away from the Atomium. I did remember during my research of this place called Grote Markt in Brussels. So I believed this must be the place where we could buy some souvenirs.

So off we went there. As we moving away along the highway, I had this kind of feeling that we were not going to the right place because all the signboards showed we were leaving Brussels. But I was still optimist.

Then we arrived to this town area. We were surprised to note that the area was rather quiet than the hassle-and-bussle the normal big city would have or the tourist-area-look. Finding a car park also was very easy. The twins were sleeping at the time, so since we only wanted to get some fridge magnets and Belgium chocolate, my BIL said he would wait in the van to watch them while Kak Ti, cik HB and I go check out the place.

The area no doubt was surrounded with historical buildings but then it seemed like we were the only foreigners there. People were looking at us and the look were not friendly, I tell you! I greeted (because I wanted to ask for info) some passers-by with "Bonjour" and they ignored me. I thought they speak French because in Atomium, it seemed they do. But then I realized that all the signboards are in Dutch and then I remembered from my internet reading that some part of Belgium speak French, some Dutch and some Deutsch. Oh my....no wonder I was being ignored!

Fortunately, we saw a small signboard "Tourist Information Office" on one of the historical buildings. So we went to the office and met this one lady who spoke good English and very friendly (surely they do, they deal with the tourists, right?). So we told her our situation and then found out that we were no longer in Brussels. We were actually in this small town called Aalt. She told us to get to Grote Markt in Brussels. And I told her that our navigator told us that the Grote Markt located here. She checked Garmin and noticed that the Grote Markt in Brussels is called by different name in this navigator. Haih.....

Kak Ti & I @ Aalt

So we couldn't get to buy any fridge magnets or Belgium chocolates. Kak Ti managed to get herself some beautiful postcards of Aalts at the tourist office. We definitely couldn't get back to Brussels because we had to start travelling to Holland. So forget Brussels!

Then as we were leaving Aalts, we encountered another problem. Cik HB wanted to reload fuel but all the fuel stations we found, had no attendants and you have to use either your debit card or credit card. CikHB tried his German debit card but was not valid. Then he tried his credit card but then the machine asked for PIN number. The problem was, he couldn't remember his credit card's PIN . In fact none of four of us who have credit card knew our PIN. In Malaysia you can always use credit card for fueling or anything without having to use the PIN number except when you want to withdraw cash from ATM machine, no? It just never occurred to us that we would ever need to get cash using credit card, that was why we couldnt be bothered to remember. Bad..bad habit!

Anyway, after travelling quite sometime looking for fuel station that would accept cash (and worrying whether there was enough fuel to go around before we succeed), we saw this one fuel station with attendants. And she accepted cash after finding out our problem. Fuh!!! Lega....

I like houses in Belgium....so clean, so nice-looking...

In the meantime, I called the hotel and told them we couldn't make it on time and will be late about an hour or so but still want them to secure our rooms. Ok, they said....lega lagi. So we didn't rush. Couldn't actually...with the drive speed limit and traffic jams. Holland's highway were packed at the time ok! We arrived in Lisse at 7.30pm and glad to find that the hotel was nice and the staffs were friendly.

Next episode: Amsterdam

Day 4: Disneyland Paris

Yey!! It's Disneyland day!!!

The day we planned for Disneyland was such a beautiful day....the weather was very nice. It took half an hour from our rented mobile home in Varredes to Disneyland. We reached there at 10 am, the exact time of the opening. There were no hassle at all buying the entrance ticket (which I heard would be a long queue to get to the counter in summer). Entrance ticket for adult is 52 Euro and child is 44 Euro.

Entrance to parking zone

I decided to rent strollers for the twins to reduce level of crankiness due to exhaustion for that day. The rental rate was acceptable, 7.90 Euro for a stroller. It was a good decision.... the strollers were not only functioning as a child carrier but our bags carrier as well. We did not have to carry all our backpacks whenever we got on a ride, we just simply left it on the strollers. But of course we didn't leave anything valuable there. It seemed everybody also comfortably leaving their bags and strollers outside every ride and there were these Disneyland staffs who would go around helping to park the strollers in the right manner.

We had a chance to watch a live performance of Sleeping Beauty musical show. After the show, the parents fought the crowd to get their kids photographed with Sleeping Beauty character. We did too, we were so closed but then she walked to another side so we decided to give up. Nabihah was disappointed of course but we coaxed her into riding the carousel and several other rides.

And here some parts of the Sleeping Beauty show we managed to record:

Check out below the video cik HB recorded during our ride:

The good thing about coming to Disneyland at this time (early spring), is the park was not so crowded. There were still many people around but yet you don't have to queue very long to get a ride. We even rode twice this one boat ride where I feel like being in a set of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. I heard that starting April and the whole summer, Disneyland would be so packed that one has to queue such a long time for a ride.

I didn't check the price of food stuffs in Disneyland but I guess everything was pricey. We brought our own food for lunch and drink/snacks. However, we did buy Disneyland lollipops at price of 3.90 Euro for 3 sticks and some souvenirs, just Disney T-shirt for the twins and 1 fridge magnet for myself.

We decided to end our day in Disneyland at 5.30pm, right after the Disney Parade ended. Though the park is closed at 7pm, most rides end their operation at 6pm. And we too had solat time to catch. Even though we spent like the whole day in there, we actually only managed to cover 1/3 of the Disney Park. There were so much more rides to enjoy but we just didn't have the time!

Ok dah! Jom balik..

On the way back to our accommodation, we stopped at Carrefour and shopped some groceries. I was really impressed with the Carrefour as it has a halal section. Anyway, things were again very pricey. It's Paris ya!

That night, instead of canned food, we had a fresh prawn meal for the dinner and enjoying our last night in Paris.

Next episode: Belgium

Selamat Pulang

We call them the Siegeners. Because all of them stationed in Siegen while furthering their study in Germany. In one house. There were 6 of them, one couple, Didie & Nazrin with their 3-year-old daughter, Ainaa, another couple Dylla & Md Nur and the most eligible bachelor, Rusdy.

I guess for those who have been reading my blog religiously for more than a year ago, should be familiar with these people.

The unique about their relationship is, they were in the same Uni, same course and graduated at the same time when they did their first degree in Malaysia and then they got job at the same institution, then further their study at the same Uni (again!) and managed to stay together in one house in harmony. Impressed huh?

They are among our close friends here in Germany. The ones who always turned up when we had events in the house, and the ones who always invited us over to attend their events. The ones we had trips together for couple of times and the ones who would have long endless chat until dawn whenever we gather.

And yesterday they went home to Malaysia for good. We are going to miss them. Hopefully the warmth of our friendship remains forever. We are going to meet again next year, insyaallah in Melaka.

Last gathering with Siegeners sebelum diorg berangkat pulang ke Malaysia

Dan antara kenangan2 kami di bumi Germany:

Siegen BBQ party

Raya 2009 - Dylla, Md Nur & Paan (pon sudah pulang hujung thn lepas)

Trip NRW bersama Frankfurters & Siegeners

Along with the leftover groceries and some other house appliances the Siegeners gave to me, they also gave me this rack and Dylla has requested if I have used it, put the photo in this blog. So Dylla, akak dah pasang dan dan letak brg2 pon smlm. Thank you korang....it really helps my kitchen storage crisis ya!

Beautiful Blogger Award

Mari berehat sebentar dr kisah kembara Europe sy dan mari lihat ini!

Sy telah menerima Beautiful Blogger Award dr 2 rakan bloggers yg buat masa ini menetap di Abu Dhabi. Mereka adalah Azma, ex-housemate sy masa zaman uniten dan Irma, biras kawan baik sy Liza yg sy penah jumpa thn lepas masa Irma berkunjung ke Germany. Tup-tup Azma pon kenal Irma dan sy kenal mereka berdua....alahai, keciknya dunia walaupun kami duduk di dua benua berbeza.

Ok, mari kita tgk syarat penerimaan award ni:

1. Thank and link the person that gave you the award

Vielen Dank Azma & Irma. Eh..eh...nama korang mcm rhymes la pulak....hahaha

2. Pass this award to 15 other bloggers you've recently discovered and think are fantastic:

Ala, sy noticed rata2 rakan bloggers sy dah dpt dah award ni dan dah buat recently tapi xpelah sy bagi jue ok. Sapa dah buat sila ignore ye!

- Nana

- Mis

- Durra

- Adzue

- Iu

- Kak Azie

- Suharti

- Jalak

- Zetty

- K. Dalia

- Dalina

3. Contact them and tell them that they've won the award.

Ok, will do

4. State 7 things about yourself:

- I like to plan things ahead to the tiniest details walau utk simplest things like having people dining in the house. Kadang2 apa yg dirancang tak semesti jadi seperti sepatutnya tapi as long as I list down what to do, I am comfortable.

1. I consider myself an avid reader. I don't limit my preference - romance, historical, politics, legal issues, horror, scientific semua sy baca. Masa zaman belajar dulu, time xde duit nak beli buku, kedai india kat Central Market tu port utama sy utk sewa buku. Sy akan sewa 5 biji at least mengikut budget yg sy ada. Skrg kalau jumpa buku2 English yg murah di flohmarkt sy angkut jue. Tapi baca bab2 teknikal sy still malas....hehehe

2. Sy adalah jenis x suka nak marah2. Berleter and perang mulut i guess is not my thing. I would prefer being in cold war when I'm not happy with someone. But I can be sarcastic when necessary. So don't tempt me!

3.Sy suka try resepi2 baru dan juga suka makan! Kalau dpt any kind of sambal tumis, selera sy menjadi tidak terkawal ok!

4. Mak dan suami sy selalu kata, sy seorg yg degil tapi sy tak nak mengaku....hahaha

5. Sy suka adventures and challenges. Dulu2 time belajar sy suka naik gunung, masuk hutan, berkayak sampai sy bercita2 nak masuk Eco-Challenge. La ni sy doubt sy boleh buat tu semua lagi. Kalau dpt buat back pack travelling pon cukup la kot.

6. Sy suka shopping (window aje sepanjang masa sebenarnya) walau hanya utk groceries. Sy tahan keluar masuk kedai utk survey harga brg dan lihat2 sahaja utk angan2....hehehe.

7. Sy amat tidak berbakat when it comes to crafting. Tapi sy bertekad sy nak belajar segala domestic skills supaya sy dpt jadi mcm Martha Stewart.....

Day 3: Pahit Manis di Paris

Warning: Entry ni adalah sgt panjang ok! Byk sgt nak share!

Setelah dijamu dgn bihun goreng yg sedap oleh tuan rumah, kami bergerak dr Homburg menuju Paris pada pukul 8 pg. Plan asal adalah bercita2 nak bertolak pukul 6 pg (konon!) sbb perjalanan ke Paris dijangka mengambil masa 5 jam (campur ngan stopping time) dan ingin sampai awal tapi pung-pang2 ngan nak menyiapkan budak2, mak budak, bapak budak maka terlewat la 2 jam dr perancangan.

Keluar dr Homburg, Garmin menunjukkan arah melalui highway tapi selepas beberapa ketika, Garmin memberikan arahan keluar dr Highway. Tapi kali ni kami dah learnt from lesson..selepas 2km dan tidak menunjukkan tanda2 yg kami akan masuk semula ke highway, cik HB checked semula setting. Ya! seperti dijangka, Garmin berada di setting shortest distance. Teori kami, whenever Garmin is off and then on again, setting mungkin terus diautomatikkan ke pilihan ´shortest distance´. So, sapa2 pemilik Garmin, bolehkah anda komen utk situasi ini?

Maka sekali lagi kami tukar setting ke fastest time, dan kami berjaya masuk semula ke highway. Kali ni sy bertekad (as co-pilot), xkan hanya mempercayai Garmin 100 peratus tapi perlu juga merujuk kpd papan2 tanda di atas jalan.

Highway Paris x byk beza ngan highway Malaysia....ada had laju dan juga TOL! (Highway Jerman in general tiada speed limit dan tiada tol ok!). Tapi sy berpendapat bagi highway yg berbayar, highway PLUS Malaysia adalah lebih cantik dan terjaga (bangga menjadi rakyat Malaysia walaupun sedar hakikat nilai yg perlu dibayar utk highway secantik itu!)

The moment kami entered France border, terasa seolah2 cuaca pon berubah. Di France, tiba2 suasana adalah sgt spring. Langit biru dan matahari memancar2. Ketika di Luxembourg dan Germany just the day before, masih lagi terasa musim winter. In fact, kat Frankfurt pd hari jumaat sebelumnya (kami bergerak ke Paris hari Isnin), snow masih turun!

Langit yg biru sepanjang perjalanan (org Malaysia x heran la kan ngan langit biru)

France countryside

Suka betul budak berdua ni ngan cuaca begini...depan toilet highway pon jadi amik gambar!

Kak Ngoh yg sgt berjasa....dia la yg dok layan kerenah sikembar sepanjang perjalanan

Kami memasuki zon Paris pukul 1 tghari dan memandangkan check-in time utk accomodation kami di Paris bermula pukul 2 ptg, kami memilih menuju ke tempat penginapan dulu utk makan dan solat sebelum memulakan lawatan ke Paris City. Tempat penginapan kami adalah di sebuah campsite yg mempunyai beberapa jenis mobile home (lebih kurang mcm chalet) terletak disebuah kampung bernama Varredes, kira2 66km atau 1 jam perjalanan dgn kereta ke centre Paris dan 1/2 jam ke Disneyland. Agak mencabar jugak nak cari tempat ni sbb ianya terletak di kawasan terpencil. Siap jalan masuk ada kubur ok! Tapi xde la dekat sgt ngan campsite tu.(and don´t worry, tiada sebarang kejadian mistik sepanjang kami bermlm disini...)

Signboard Le Village Parisien

Depan mobile home kami

Ye, mmg agak jauh tapi kami pilih tempat ini disebabkan faktor harga yg murah ( maklum la low budget) tp sgt convenient dgn facilities yg disediakan. Utk 55€/day (harga adalah varies mengikut tarikh), mobile home ini lengkap dgn peralatan asas rumah - cooker, kettle, microwave, coffee maker, toaster, heater, jadinya mmg sgt sesuai utk kami sekeluarga. Ruang atur dan perabot juga sgt comel tapi space adalah limited! Semuanya cukup2 saja. And take note, tiada TV atau telefon disediakan tapi jika anda ingin menggunakan internet, Wifi disediakan tp perlu dibayar!

Dining area

Kitchen

Bedroom 1

Bathroom

Bedroom 2

Jika sy memilih utk menginap dihotel di tgh kota Paris, harga masih lagi lebih mahal walaupun sekadar hotel yg kurang berbintang atau hostel. Hostel pulak masih dikira murah tapi sy rasa condition kurang sesuai utk kanak2 . Pulak tu hotel2 kurang berbintang dan hostel2, parking tidak disediakan. Kemungkinan kami terpaksa parking di tempat2 tertentu lepas tu harus bergerak dgn public transport utk ke hotel. Sgt tidak convenient ok!

Masa mula2 survey campsites (ada beberapa campsites disekitar Paris), agak bermasalah sbb kebanyakan campsites mula dibuka penghujung March atau awal April. Hanya campsite Le Village Parisien ini shj yg mula dibuka pd 15 March, which was the date kami planned ke Paris. So masa kami checked-in, the receptionist bgtau, it was their first day of opening dan kami adalah first customer on that opening season....which sy senyum aje lah sbb mmg dah agak, mana ada org bercuti time2 mcm ni...hehehe

Overall, review during my two days stay, my family and I like this place so much. Selain dr harga yg berpatutan, tempat ni jugak terletak dikawasan countryside yg cantik. Right in front campsite ni ada ladang dan sungai kecil. Scenery time awal spring ni pon dah cukup cantik, i´m sure ianya adalah lebih cantik waktu peak spring dan summer juga autumn. Sgt sesuai utk org yg dtg utk relax dan menenangkan fikiran.

View depan Le Village Parisien

Jika anda berminat dgn Le Village Parisien ini, sila click di sini (wah, siap buat promotion pulak!)

So lepas mkn dan solat, kami bergerak ke Paris City at 3pm. Oh! Sebenarnya sebelum travel ni, sy dah siap booked & bayar online car park betul2 bwh Louvre Museem (15€ utk 24 jam). Atas jangkaan, kalau kami park outside Zone 1 dan travel dgn public transport, lebih nilai perlu dibayar sbb kami ramai dan sistem pengangkutan Paris bukan seperti Germany yg menyediakan pilihan utk day & group ticket yg berbaloi nilainya. Jadinya sy budget, kalau park di Louvre, yg berdasarkan map Paris terletak ditgh2 Paris attractions, maka kami boleh la berjalan kaki saja ke tempat2 yg menarik itu.

Tapi tu la....x semua dirancang terjadi seperti sepatutnya. Parking yg sy booked tu designated utk kenderaan dibawah 1.90m shj. Kalau Transporter mmg x lepas la! So kami abaikan saja la car park itu. Sia2 aje 15€ terbang! The night before bertolak ke Luxembourg, sy dah survey car park lain yg masih terletak di Zone 1 yg sesuai utk kenderaan besar & tinggi seperti Transporter. Kali ni x book, just take note alamat shj.

By the time kami masuk Paris dah pukul 4 ptg. Owh...traffic di Paris adalah sgt havoc ok! Sgt tidak expect suasananya yg serabut (i´m not sure la kalau kami masuk tu mmg kawasan gelap Paris, yg tidak se elit kawasan Paris yg lain). Ngan org2 berniaga tepi jalan, pejalan kaki yg selamba melintas walau kereta tgh lalu lalang, kereta2 bersimpang-siur, masuk lane kiri kanan tanpa signal, mencelah2 sesuka hati. Sy yg x drive pon rasa nak gugur jantung everytime cik HB terpaksa brek mengejut berkali2 dek kerenah driver2 di Paris. (sila imagine suasana di Chow Kit, KL...lebih kurang la ngan suasana kat part of Paris yg kami sampai ni - i guess much worse!) Yg paling buat sy ternganga, ditgh2 jalan yg jam, right in front van kami, ada sebuah lori ni bg emergency signal...ingatkan lori dia rosak tapi with my own eyes, i saw the driver turun dan pegi tgk2 brg yg dijual ditepi jalan!

Boleh tak????

Tapi nak hon x berani, sbb x dgr pon bunyi2 hon. Kot kang kita hon, dia dtg belasah kita ke...naya je.So nak tak nak terpaksa la cik HB berhempas pulas cuba menukar lane. Dah ler driver2 lain kedekut nak bagi jalan. Bagi kami yg dah biasa ngan sistem org2 German yg sgt berhemah dan berbudi bahasa di atas jalan raya (walau org Malaysia pon sgt teruk dijalan raya) , ini adalah culture shock!

Market tepi jalan Paris

Camni la cara2 kereta di parked. Boleh imagine cemana diorg nak bawak kereta luar?

Ok, tu citer atas jalan...kemudian kami pon sampai kat car park yg dituju. The first entrance ok, tapi the second entrance kami blur...sbb tgk the entrance mcm rendah, mcm about 2m je tingginya and mcm x lepas je Transporter nak lalu. Ada laluan mcm reserve utk kenderaan besar tapi berpalang (mcm area reserved aje) . Tapi based on the website, it says car park ni mmg available utk kenderaan spt van. So cik HB parked sekejap kat tepi, sy lak pi tanya kat car park attendant.

Oh, nasib baik car park attendant tu boleh ckp English (sgt risau sbb org kata French susah/not willing nak ckp English). Sy bgtau dia kenderaan sy so and so and mcm x lepas nak masuk car park utk visitor. Dia ngan confident ckp `boleh lepas, try masuk slowly´.

So xde pilihan, sy pon ckp the same thing kat cik HB, kami pon try la. Sgt thrill ok sbb betul2 lebih kurang seinci je gap antara bumbung Transporter dan bumbung palang simen. Dan nak masuk kotak parking pon ada jugak palang simen tu lagi. Mmg memerlukan kesabaran dan ketelitian utk park Transporter ni di car park tu. Pulak tu yg menambahkan stress, kereta2 yg nak keluar, langsung x leh bersabar...hon x berhenti selagi kami x bg laluan. Haih.....

Pukul 5pm baru kami settle ngan parking. Lepas tu cepat2 cari stesen Metro. Target nak sampai Eiffel Tower sebelum gelap. Meraban la jugak masa mula2 nak cari stesen Metro. Garmin tunjuk direction mcm x jauh tapi still kami blur jugak la mencari. Sebabnya stesen Metro adalah underground and unlike LRT kat Malaysia, tiada papan tanda yg besar indicate Metro. Kalau x buntangkan biji mata, susah nak nampak ye!

Utk sampai ke Eiffel Tower, kami kena tukar 2 Metro. Nasib la sy dah kaji sesiap sistem tiket metro dan map Metro jadi bab yg ini xde la kami terkial2 sgt. Dan sampai2 aje kat area Eiffel Tower, decided nak beli souvenirs awal2 sbb risau kalau lambat nanti kedai dah tutup. Tapi the first kedai kitorg masuk, mak aii...mahalnya fridge magnet dia. Satu 5€. Amik jugak la satu, again sbb takut x sempat beli.

Map Metro

Twins in Metro

Then of course sesi amik gambar Eiffel Tower. Well...sy agak kurang berperasaan bila dah sampai bwh Eiffel Tower. Dunno why...stress ngan kejadian2 sebelum tu kot. Just mula2 masa nampak Eiffel Tower dlm Metro, adalah like`Yey! Eiffel Tower!´ But then really, besides the structure itself, the surrounding was not impressive. Supposed kat situ ada garden, tp masa tu everything was kering kontang, xde walkway yg cantik, turapan ke...probably tgh renovate kot. Kalau summer nanti mungkin cantik la kot sbb tgk gambar2 org lain yg pegi time summer mcm cantik je surrounding Eiffel ni.

Owh, sebelum ditanya, kami mmg x naik la tower. X kuasa la nyah...queue panjang, hari pon dah lewat, ngan byk lagi tempat nak pegi, kerenah sikembar lagi. Xpe la, janji sampai utk amik gambar background Eiffel, it was enough for me...One thing I appreciated about our late arrival in Paris, ialah kesempatan utk menikmati view indah Eiffel Tower diwaktu malam. Bak kata Kak Ti `It looks magical at night´.

One thing so obvious about Eiffel Tower, selain tourists yg ramai, org berkulit hitam menjual souvenirs juga terlalu ramai. Kalau layan sorang, yg lain2 akan berduyun2 mengerumuni kita dan berebut offer harga yg lebih murah utk souvenirs diorg. Murah mmg murah tapi risau jugak nak beli. Sbb selalu sgt dok dgr citer masa kita bayar tu akan ada yg amik kesempatan curi brg2 kita. Dunno how true is this tapi better la berjaga2. However kak Ti & Ngoh beli la jugak sbb dah murah sgt compare ngan yg dijual kat souvenirs shop.

Lagi satu yg menjadi kemusykilannya diorg ni kenal lak kitorg ni dr malaysia. Siap ckp `MALAYSIA´&`LIMA`2 : Apa yg lima nya x tau la. Tapi sorang mamat ni cik HB interviewed cemana dia tau kitorg dr Malaysia (sbb dia dok sibuk pujuk kitorg beli souvenirs dia, yg akhirnya kitorg beli la jugak) ckp (in his broken english) dia global, selalu round satu dunia, tu sbb dia tau. Ceh! Boleh percaya ke?

Teori kami lak : Ramai sgt org malaysia dtg Eiffel Tower kot...tu pasal mamat2 penjual souvenirs ni boleh tau...logik x?

Since waktu semakin lewat, kami tinggalkan eiffel dan sekali lagi naik Metro menuju Louvre. Again 2 kali tukar metro utk sampai kesitu. Louvre is also beautiful at night. My intention lama dulu, adalah nak masuk Louvre Museem, nak tgk live lukisan2 Leornardo Da Vinci & sejarah2 Renaissance tapi x sempat.

X dpt masuk muzium, amik gambar kat mesin tiket pon jadi la!

Depan Louvre

Dah amik gambar cukup2, we decided to get back to car park and went back to Varredes. It was 9.00 pm at the time. Cukup la hanya Eiffel Tower & Louvre sasaran kami di Paris. Ikutkan dlm perancangan ingat nak pegi Champs Elyssee & Notre Dame sekurang2nya. Tapi hanya itu masa yg kami ada.

Malangnya laluan ke Metro melalui shopping complex Louvre dah ditutup. Terkial2 mencari laluan metro yg lain dan terpaksa tanya sorang mamat ni. And again my luck, he spoke English and informed me how to get to metro. Sekali lagi naik metro 2 kali, then jalan kaki ke tempat parking. Seriously penat...budak2 pon dah cranky, campur lapar lagi. X sempat nak cari makanan disebabkan masa yg singkat, walau di paris ada byk restoran makanan halal. Since it was already late (dah 10pm) we decided balik ke tempat penginapan terus dan makan aje bekalan makanan yg ada.

Sampai di campsite, dah pukul 11 mlm and terpaksa parking kat luar campsite sbb mmg dah diberitau dr awal yg gate campsite akan ditutup dr pukul 10.30 pm -7.30 am atas sbb2 keselamatan. Tapi xde lah jauh sgt nak jalan masuk pon.

Tau kami dinner kul bape? Kul 12 mlm ok! Hahaha....

Next episode: DISNEYLAND