From Paris With Love

From Paris with Love - Alhamdulillah we had a wonderful family vacation in Paris last weekend. Ummi and Abah really enjoyed spending the quality time with Farah & Sofea. Both of you behaved very well - congratulations!! Ummi bagi mark "A+" for this trip!

Ok, let's see what we did this summer...

1st day- Friday 1st Sept 2006
We were planning to leave on Thursday (Merdeka Day), but unfortunately Abah had to complete his project and Ummi was so exhausted after working like donkey last weekend. So we decided to take our own sweet time, prepare for the trip, take a good rest and first thing first after Subuh on Friday - we leave to Paris.
"Anytime after Subuh, BEFORE Zuhur is okay," that's Abah's definition of living 'after Subuh'!
Ummi wanted to leave at 7am (real meaning of after Subuh). Finally, we left home at around 10am, the weather was perfect...so Paris, here we come!


2pm - We stopped for lunch kat R&R highway, Farah Sofea played at the playground. While Ummi and Abah tengah dok syok2 makan, suddenly a big fat dog leaped happily at us! Luckily tak sentuh or terkam Abah. Ummi was shocked, but did not scream. From far we heard the dog master shout, calling his dog. Kurang hasam betul!!

5pm - Arrived in the City of Love. Bonjour!The first tip I got from the Dutch about Parisian is the way they drive. Far cry from The Netherland. So many cars, big huge roundabout, slow moving traffic, cilok sana-cilok sini, busy lively roads - my Dutch office collague could not stand driving in Paris. But for my F1 husband driver, it was fun! Abah kan terror drive kat KL tu, cilok sana-cilok sini...so apalah sangat Paris nie ha ha. We stayed at Ibis, Rue Combrone. Close to Eiffel Tower, 2 mins walk to the train station, cheap halal restaurant behind the hotel, small but clean and practical room overlooking the city - great!

7pm - Lepaking at Eiffel Tower. Wow!Fantastic view. We strolled along the green park, towards the magnificent giant tower. Built in 1800s, Ummi and Abah could not stop admiring the knowledge & technology those people had at that time to build this strong tower. We went up to 1st Floor, ticket was not too expensive and the crowd was small. Wow!A bird's eye view...soft wind, twinkling stars, bright lights, small little people like ants walking below. Sungguh kerdil manusia ini...

2nd day- Saturday 2nd Sept 2006
Today Abah decided to go to La Fayette. Yes, the trendiest shopping centre in Paris - equivalent to Harrods in London. We took the train/tram at Combrone, switched at Torecado and arrived betul2 bawah La Fayette Gallery. Spent half a day kat situ, mainly at La Fayette Maison (home department). So huge, 3 different buildings along Rue La Fayette to cater for 3 main departments ie Women (7 floors tak silap), Men and Maison. Belek punya belek, Ummi ended buying plastic rose flowers ajer he he. Kunun nak beli container garam yg stylo, but to pay Euro30 for that little thing, urrr...not my cup of tea. We had that big ice-cream before leaving La Fayette, satu kon tu ada minimum 5 big scoops...sampai Farah Sofea dah tak larat makan.

Along the road, ada orang jual kat kaki lima. We bought some souvenirs for our house in Voorschoten. What else kalau bukan the magnet and Eiffel Tower.

3rd day- Sunday 3rd Sept 2006
Exciting journey to Versailles (20 mins by train) to Chateau de Versailles. Istana King French zaman dolu2. Huge vast estate, syurga seorang Raja di atas dunia. We felt like going to a ball dancing, macam Cinderella gitu going to the castle. Farah Sofea siap menari2 macam princess. Many people, but the queue was not too bad. There were sooo many rooms, galleries, chapel - all with high ceiling (which I like), and over-crowded art on the wall/ceiling/door ie everywhere (which I could not stand). After a while, Ummi dah pening walking in the semi-dark room, with too much gold/bronze embroideries and patung. Abah tanya,"Where is the King's toilet?? Bertatahkan emas jugak ker?" Tak tunjuk pulak.
And the garden was thousand and thousand of green acres, with fountains, canals, beautiful flowers and another Chateau at the end of the garden, a huge Estate belonging to the Queen.
Ini memang kaya dunia tahap maksima, tapi nothing compared to the Heaven of Jannah Firdaus. We had a quick picnic lunch, and then...yahoo!Disneyland Paris

4pm - Disneyland Paris. Actuallynyer, Ummi did not really plan to go there. Not yet. The final year before we leave Malaysia, baru we go again to play at the park. Masa tu Farah Sofea dah BiG girls, baru you will enjoy. But alang2 dah sampai Paris, might as well singgah to jalan2 and take pictures. It was about 30 mins by train, but worth it. Langit macam nak runtuh, nak hujan. Alhamdulillah, it did not rain and we had a jolly good time taking pictures, shopping souvenirs from Disneyland Paris (which mainly made of China!). Our next trip we will stay minimun 3 days here and explore this fairy-tale land, ok? Siap duit ajer...


4th day- Monday 4th Sept 2006
We decided to go to La Fayette (again?!) he he sebab Ummi nak shopping lagi. Macam la banyak duit nak shopping, just nak check price Biotherm lotion ajer. True enough, Ummi ended buying 3 Biotherm products instead of 1 and some toys for Farah Sofea. This time we explored all the gallery floors for women/children. After that, we went to Musee du Louvre and Arc de Triomphe to snap more and more photos. Next visit, Ummi nak masuk Musee du Louvre to say Hello to Monalisa.


5pm - Au Revoir Paris! We shall come again. Return to Voorschoten, The Netherlands. Home Sweet Home.

Learning Points from our Paris Trip :

1. Stay near the train/metro station - very2 convenient to jalan2. The public transport here is 3x better than Malaysia of course, and more frequent that Holland.
2. Halal food (Arab) behind Ibis Hotel, Rue Combrone. Cheaper than Hague for a set of meal.
   
3. Solat on the move is not a problem. Toilet kat highway very clean. Just bring your sejadah/telekung, empty bottle and COMPAS along; pray kat open space at the park. Wonderful!
4. Preparation before the trip...urrr, we really have to improve on this Abah. We took 2 days to study the map, prepare the food bla bla
5. Don't underestimate Farah & Sofea. 2nd day onwards we didn't even need the double stroller! ha ha beriya2 beli 'new' stroller for Paris trip. They walked and walked and jumped and danced and ran...phew!Catch them if you can.

Ummi and Abah seronok sangat bercuti dengan Farah Sofea in Paris! Hope you both had a great time too. Look forward for our next trip...