Paris River Cruise: Bateaux Parisiens

Let's write something in here shall we?

To write a mindful entry..sorry, I just don't have the energy for that :(

Therefore, I will provide you with another boring review:(

My idea of travelling with my LDM-husband-whom-I-just-met-after-separated-for-months, was very simple; I just want to walk hand by hand with him, getting lost in a total strange place together without any concern in the world. Trying food in a place wherever we ended up following the direction of heart. Travelling is much more about discovery. Sometimes, we don't know what are we going to discover and it must be something that are totally foreign to us. Discovery that was beyond our imagination, are those that are priceless.

But of course people around us keep throwing us ideas of what to do. I really appreciate it, really.

Almost all, all, assumed we are going to Disneyland, Paris.

Honestly, we never, never ever discussed about wanting to go there. I don't know why..maybe we had had enough of Disneyland in here?hmm..

Among them, my MIL kept reminding us to go to the Paris river cruise.

I'm sure you guys also will think of this whenever Paris is mentioned, right?

Well, we did not ever wanting to do that. Never in the list. Lol XD.

But since my MIL kept saying that cruising is a must to do in Paris, then we felt the obligation to do that.

Trust me, she's always right. Lol XD.

We only had time for cruising on the final night. It was like..finally.hihi..

By that time, we knew Paris like the back of our hand dah..lol XD.

Like the other evening, we had a short break on the roof top of our hotel, immersing ourselves with the stunning view of Paris under the 'orangish-sky'.

The sun is about to set:)

According to our hotel reception (we got most info from them because they speak English very well), winter is not a peak season, therefore most cruise lines will be on break. Since our hotel is located only a few steps away from the Notre Dame, we could just board the cruise there if it was a peak season. Great hotel location huh!
So, they told us to go to the Eiffel tower, the pick up point of a cruise namely Bateaux Parisiens; the only cruise line available during winter.

Our glass covered cruise. 

 I would consider ourselves lucky because this was the last cruise of the day:P The only night cruise available.hehe..
Oh well, you can choose a dinner cruise, or just sightseeing like us. It was one hour cruise. Trust me, it was really short and fast ending. I said fast coz there are so many things to see!!!Paris is so beautiful!!You just don't have time to take pictures, most of the time you just want to have the moment for yourself and feel grateful for the time and opportunity granted to you by Allah to see all of that:)
I thanked hubby so many times too for this gift and for his willingness to stay for years with me:') *excuse me..hehe*

The jetty..it was one deras sungai..pening kepala kalau tenung lama-lama ..hehe

My seat. We sat at the most front, oh well, we were the first to board (hubby memang besemangat kalau berkaitan dengan seating -__-"). So, because it's winter kan, the boat we were on is fully covered with glass. It's like being in rumah hijau tu.
Every seat is provided with a radio connected to the chair by a wire. The radio has to be detached from the seat (like a remote in the flight-seat) and put on your ear. The instructor will teach you on how to operate the radio. The radio will tell you many stories as you cruise along the river. It was very interesting I could not afford to miss even a second to pose for a photo. Unfortunately, my radio was faulty for the english version. So, I have to change it with hubby coz he could listened to it in Japanese. Nevertheless, he was not into this educational programme as much as me -__-" Bagus jugak..so, he could snap away:)

It was started in twilight.

Slowly becoming night:)

The longgggg building of what else..the biggest museum in the world, The Lourve. Patutla kami sakit kaki jalan dalam tu T___T

"N" for Napoleon.
Among many fascinating things to see; the bridges with many histories behind them.

When the cruise has over; approaching jetty, in front of the Eiffel Tower:)

The night just began. We spent another night around the Eiffel:) Getting as many image of it as much as possible before we leave the next day:)

From our experience, we learned that, we actually has made a mistake.

If you guys have plans to visit Paris someday, river cruising is one of the activity that you have to consider to do first. I tell you, cruising is somehow a way for you to be introduced to the city and helps you to get a picture of what to do first and later.

When we were on cruise, we saw much much more than we know and all sounds interesting! >,<

Oh well, I am after all not a person who lives in proper sequence and this did nothing less, but more to "sayang, we have to come back again..we haven't yet see that, that, that that (while pointing at many many more landmarks I just knew by cruising)." hehe... So, itu adalah hikmah:D

Ok sayangness, that's all for today.

Jya matta ne!

Paris: The best part:)

The best part in Paris? 

Besides Eiffel tower (of course), we found it not far from our stay.

Apparently, it's just a minute away ^_^

It was our hotel roof top:')

We got private access to the roof top:')
And from there, you see everything!! Every major landmark in Paris!!
Look at the above picture, where the Eiffel and Invalides are beautifully captured:)
Since we were so near to the Notre Dame de Paris, yang itu lagila jelas terpampang depan mata :')
Even the much farther Grande Arche could also be seen from here!
Besides, this spot is a good location to have a sneek inside those Parisien house:P

Since it's private, most of the time only two of us were there. It's a good place for us to spend some quality time and have a rest after long walk everyday:)

Since our hotel is near to everything, we will go back for solat, and went here to feast our eyes with view of sunset:D It was indeed a dream came through. Oh, look!!it's the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur behind us! If you would like to have a view of the whole Paris for free, go there!
*p/s to honeymooners: Here, they provided you with dim light and romantic French song too!Lol XD!

Also, sunrise while having breakfast ^_^ *On our left side, you can see Notre-Dame*

One fine morning in Paris:)

So, the secret is revealed!Now you know where to go to have it all in one place; in my case, the rooftop of Holiday Inn Notre-Dame. Lol XD!

Paris:Holiday Inn Notre Dame

As the name implies..

So, today I'll serve you with another entry; review on my stay in Paris. A hotel purposely selected to fulfill the requirement of honeymoon itself. Lol XD

The first thing to consider finding for a stay is location. So, let's see where this hotel is located :)

Image source

1. Located at area no.6. Very near to the notre dame. About 5 minutes walking. The Notre Dame is one huge, magnificent church, so, 5 minutes away is like it was just in front of your eyes >,<

2. As you can see, it is in the heart of Paris :') We are in the middle of everything!yey!

3. Lagi best, metro is one minute away (if you walk berlenggang kangkung). The station's name is St. Michel/St. Michel Notre Dame. Yang lagi best, RER (train which travels further to suburb also, airports)  stops at this station:) So, we never have to worry about our trip back to the airport:) 

Senang sangat!!Especially when you go travel with a wife who has so many suitcases with her :P 

Apart from that, RER also stops at main attractions. So, we usually opt for RER coz lagi cepat, tidak perlu tukar train:D hihi.

4. Without further ado, let me show you around the hotel we stayed in the longest; Holiday Inn Notre Dame.

The bed. Nampak classy la juga. The color choice plum and black..hmm..like they knew we were on honeymoon:P
p/s: this bad is such a 'spoiler'. I suspected this bed was sort of spelled? It's like you will easily fall asleep whenever you land on it. It's too cozyyyyy >,< so, we had hard times waking up each other :/

There are LCD TV (all programs in french, even hollywood movie pun alih suara macam di Jepun. Bosan betul tgk movie mulut lain, bunyi lain ni:/), work station (turn to my make-up table:P) and movement-sensor equipped closet (which we like to play with :P).
p/s: Can you see the toilet already? Actually, toilet was separated by a glass door. Maybe I had already crash into the toilet when hubby busy snapping around:P

The bathroom. This is important to ladies, k. Photos of toilets are important for people who do hotel surveying :D So, I provide one :') so, toilets are fine. It was indeed better than my expectations.
p/s:Typical Parisian toilet, they are fixed higher than those in Japan and Malaysia:/ 

The shower cubicle. We love it!Their shower tu boleh keluar ikut ceiling (yes, like rain), walls (up and down). Also ada shower yang mcm telifon tu. Lol XD
p/s: But we hate the knob!very difficult to turn:/ 

I love this. Hiasan di kepala katil. Simple and classy. I should save this for my home deco later ^_^

Special bantal-apa2 swan ntah :/ I don't really appreciate this though. But I think I should highlight this point for those who are looking for comfortable night stay in Paris and very fussy about their pillow (yeah, I've met such people:|)
p/s: Oh yes, the label can be removed:P

After seeing what they served us, we immediately threw away our own soap:P  Products from Yves Rocher y'all!!sukke la kite ngutipnye hari2..hehe

sofas and fridge (back of the sofa).
p/s: they are used to be the landing space for our jacket. Lol XD

Plum color for the hallway too ^_^ 

The lobby

Reception. Yang bestnya, all the receptionist could speak english very well.  But don't expect hospitality like those Japanese, k.
p/s: They reminded me of my childhood memories going to BSN when those times pretty face was one of the condition to be the counter person:P They were gorgeous!!

The drink bar lobby.
p/s: Guests, you'll get free welcome drink here ^_^

Our veranda where we usually had our breakfast at:D
p/s: Those milk and cookie? We import them from London :D

Hotel front. There are many Holiday Inn around this city. So, this is one in Notre Dame. Most Holiday Inn are either 3 stars or 4 stars.
p/s: Next to the hotel, kedai runcit. So, senang la nk beli daily needs;)

This is the best part; view from our veranda:) a stay overlooking the Eiffel Tower:') 

5. Other things I like would be;
a. The 3in1 hot cocoa. I usually hate hot cocoa. Susah nak dapat yang sedap. Oh, of course, I was in Paris:p
b. There's kettle. That wasn't a good news. The good news was, apparently I packed along the 3in1 campbell soup with me:P
c. Among these many credits, they missed one point; a free wi-fi service :/ For wi-fi service, you will be charge 5euro/day. And it could only be accessed in the lobby:| what the..
But according to hubby..itu adalah sangat murah:/
Ok, look at the bright side, this situation will do nothing less but more bonding time with your loved ones:D so, in conclusion, hotel ni memang sangat sesuainya nk pergi honeymoon^_^
*provided if the TV does not mostly show football related stuff like what I had experienced watching Parisian TV. But I still don't know it's whether the TV or the person who has the total control of the TV (I just don't know how to use remote:S) :/In this case, I recommend you to ask the hotel to remove the TV as well :P

Did I have enough reviewing this hotel?
No, not yet. The best part is yet to come ^_^
So, stay tuned :P

From Paris to London

I hope my reviews will help you all, dear readers to get the pictures for your visit later:)

Now I'm done with my ultimate aim to visit Paris, the Eiffel tower.
So, we moved to London on the 3rd day.
A night before our departure to Paris, we purchased the Eurostar ticket, the express train connecting Paris to London.
Somehow, we didn't get the confirmation e-mail from the agent. Could it because we bought it in a very last minute?
When we arrived in Paris, the first thing we did was..settling the ticket. Apparently, that's common problem they are facing. The Eurostar tu pun annoyed by the online agent (the counter girl told us).
So, for you guys, do no worry, you can buy ticket at the counter je pun boleh..Well, except if its peak season. We finally bought the ticket from the counter since our initial purchase could not be traced.

From Voltaire (our first stay in Paris) to the Gare Du Nord (the biggest station I assume).
Here's a tip; when you arrive to the airport, first station you have to head to (if you macam clueless la)..is Gare Du Nord. Usually people will get their connecting train from here. Please be very careful of your belongings. It is a very huge station with suspicious looking people everywhere:/

Inside the Gare Du Nord. Classic sangat. Tapi in yours truly eyes, it was a gloomy, dodgy and dirty?:/

Checking out from Hipotel Voltaire.

In front of Gare Du Nord. 

 Please take note that, London and Paris located in different country ya..so, there will be immigration procedure that you have to passed before you can board the train. So, it's like checking in for airplane, this intercity train also requires you to check in latest by 30 minutes before departure. I advice you to come earlier la sebab bukan ko sorang je kot yang nak ride..Ramai gila >,<

Inside Eurostar. Okla, comfortable. Shinkansen is of course way more comfortable.

Hubby is studying while his wife 'pengsan'. Seriously..I suffered the most of jet lag. Beliau tak affected langsung. Nasib baik..he is my protector after all..:) I couldn't open my eyes at all..T__T
Oh, forgot to mention, our supposedly 2 hours journey was extended to another 50 minutes due to technical problem. We were given discount for next ride. cehh..tapi tiket return dah beli :/

Sampai King's Cross St. Pancras station. Lihat mata yours truly still bengkak :/ oh, and lihat!!!London is so much 'terang' and clean!!can you see the difference??Welcome to the 2012 Olympic City :)

Undeniably cantik gila kot station derang. and not to forget..clean!The people also tak adala garang-garang semacam je :/

Our stay located in Paddington. Just 15 minutes from King's Cross :D and Paddington is also one of the biggest:) yey! That's yours truly at the Paddington station. HUGE.

Lega dah sampai London coz finally we didn't anymore berteka teki looking for direction.

Now I can communicate with..people and understand what they said! hahaha..English everywhere..aduh senangnya..semua bende tanya walaupun tahu dah. haha..

Our hotel pun alahai dekat sangat dengan Paddington station. 

Malaysia Hall juga located in Paddington:) I heard there are food court in Malaysia Hall. But we tak sempat nak pergi coz this one Malaysian restaurant IN FRONT OF our hotel was sooo irresistable!!

After bag drop, and rehat kejap, we decided to hunt for food.

For muslim, Paddington would be one easy place. KFC, Subway halal. And there are so many other halal restaurant around. Basically, yang halal lagi banyak daripada tak halal..hehe..

So, baru setapak jalan, kami nampak perkataan "Tukdin, flavor of Malaysia." 

kami tanpa berlengah..terus je masuk.haha..

Our first dinner in London, makanan Malaysia. bahaha..Masak lemak cili padi daging salai..tell me how on earth could you resist that. Especially when you came from Japan yang memang makan daging 6 bulan sekali. Inikan pulak daging salai masak lomak T___T

Kami suami isteri memang suka makan nasi minyak. And there was one of the best nasi minyak we ever tasted :') Oh, itu terung bercili. Sedap T____T memang patutla restaurant ni ramai orang and banyak table! 

I'll review about the hotel we stayed in the next entry. Among all stays, this one in London is so far our favourite. Nothing minus point I could give to this hotel:)

Till then, see you in the next entry:) 

Grande Mosquee de Paris

Our first day of sightseeing, Grande Mosquee de Paris has already been included as one of main attraction for us:D

From Charles de Gaulle Etoile station to Censier Daubenton. Mosque was about 5 minutes walking from the metro.

Let's look at the mosque shall we?^_^

Can you see the mosque? My advice, when you go out of the metro station, you'll see a huge church . Go the opposite way, and you'll find the mosque. 

We finally here ^_^ 

As you stepped into the mosque.

Prayer space.

This was the only visit we had. We had the opportunity to be the ma'mum for maghrib prayer too.

Every single details about the mosque tu sangat beautiful just like what you expected to find in Paris.
However, I think they have to do something about the cleanliness of this holy place. My face turned blue when I came out from the ablution area..my husband told me, my experience was nothing compared to him in men's ablution area o.O Seriously T_____T
One of the reason we think one time is enough, except if you just wanna come and pray with wudhu' already on. Hopefully they'll do something about it.

Do you think our day ended here?

Arc de Triomphe

Our next stop after a half day visit to Eiffel tower was; the Arc of de Triomphe.
Emm...I think by direct translation means; Arc yang melambangkan triumph?:P

I  bet most of you have seen this big arch thingy anywhere before.
Check out my version pula ok?:D

From the Eiffel (Bir Hakiem) to Arc de Triomphe (Charles de Gaulle Etoile). Dekat kan??So, bolehla habiskan sehari:)

As the escalator approaching the higher ground, my eyes were feast by this sight. Its just that, by the eye everything looks so majestic! Tapi ni actually a monument. Macam tugu negara kot :D

Adoiyai sapela arkiteknya yang buat tugu peringatan cantik-cantik gini T____T ceiling pun ukir cantik-cantik T__T

Names of the defeated armies engraved.
This arc was built to remember those who were defeated during wars. 

I don't know..haha

One of the many 'senonoh' picture of us to be shared:) More pictures in fb :)

This place tak ada romantic value for honeymooners pun.
Tapi is a must place to savor your eyes during the visit. Second most beautiful landmarks in Paris for yours truly:)
Actually, you can climb up the arc and see Paris from the top of the arc. But we passed. We just dislike the idea. Its not like you can see a thing :P

Arc de Triomphe is located very near to those of high branded head quarters. Maybe, after you finished capturing every single details of the arc, you can walk around and visit all those stores.
Before that, stop by macaroons shop to relieve your almost cramp foot :P

We didn't do as proposed sebab nak cari masjid untuk solat. Hampir masuk maghrib when we finished with this arc.

I'll tell you about the masjid we visited in the next entry.

Jya matta!