Onwards to Paris

Well here we are in Paris – and had our first view of the Eiffel Tower.

But first, our last day in Kuala Lumpur. We had the day to kill as we weren't flying out till midnight. Time to go shopping at Low Fat Plaza for a couple of techo things. We were 3 strikes against us to shop here – at least 2 generations too old, wrong ethnicity, and didn't speak the language – geek speak that is. But we overcame these obstacles and managed to buy a power pack to charge the phone. We wonder how all these shops survive as there are so many of them all selling the same thing, and they all seem to have plenty of staff to assist as soon as you walk in. Getting service is never an issue but we did notice that a lot of these shops advertising for staff offered a basic wage, plus commission. That would explain the service. We also enjoyed another meal in Jalan Alor and look forward to more of the same on the return home journey.

So now we have arrived at the start of the European adventure part of the holiday. The flight from KL was on the A380 which carries about 700 passengers I think – 100% full with mostly French speakers to be heard as we boarded the flight. Our flight arrived at 7am this morning and getting out of the airport was a breeze compared to arrival in Australia – no queue at immigration and he barely glanced at the passport before stamping. And after collecting the bags, you just walked out the door. No real issues figuring out the transport to Paris and when we got to the station the travel was free as an incentive due to the heavy pollution. Glad we didn’t pay 33 euro each for a transfer. We took the train to Gare du Nord and from there it was a 20 min walk to the hotel.

We were able to check in early thankfully so were able to have a shower and sleep before heading out for a walk. We found a large shopping centre which had a rooftop area where we were able to get our first view of the Eiffel Tower – not a great photo due to the heavy pollution and also it was 6pm when we took the photo. 

We had our first French meal and took advantage of the Plat du jour – entrée and main or main and dessert, a set choice. There are plenty of restaurant choices in the immediate area and if we are desperate there is Starbucks and McDonalds just a block away. And we have found the Laundromat so that will be a job to do before we leave Paris.

 

 

Tomorrow we have tickets for the hop-on hop-off bus so will hit some of the tourist spots. Hopefully the weather will be a bit brighter – it is 11 C and gloomy today.