After almost two weeks of hell week in Nimes, before we went home, we visited Lyon, Paris, and Disneyland. It took 10 hours drive by bus to get back to Paris CDG from Nimes. So went from our hotel at the evening around 5 pm and would arrived at 4 am at paris. Back then I couldn’t believe what’s happening before it really happened, i mean, me going to Paris?! And to be honest, in Asia I could travelling solo, using train to go everywhere, and being carefree, using google maps and reading sign. But here in France, nobody speaks English, literally nobody. My phone didn’t even have a cellular data, I bought new sim card twice, none of them work in my iphone for no reason. Such a weird connection.
Then our journey back began.
First stop Lyon.
At dinner we stop at the nearest city to Nimes, to grab some take away and strolling around. Though it just a quick stop but we managed to visited Stade de Lyon, the home of French football team; Olympique Lyonnaise.
Wondering around Lyon at night, at winter, I remember it reached zero degree celcius, it was fun thar we gotta battle the cold. Window shopping here, and imagine myself in that cafe shop, would be so elegant.
Tour Eiffel
Then we continue our Journey to Paris.
At dawn maybe, the cobblestone stone road woke me up, as it wasn’t a smooth drive. I open my eyes, i saw a giant monument on my right; it was Arc de Triomph. I’ve seen it before in a movie, but never thought it would be so huge! I was amaze by it; I’m in Paris!! Around 5 am, still cold and dark, the stop by near Arc de Triomph. We got off the bus to grab some breakfast. Guess where we were having breakfast at? Oh McDo it is. Yes, that’s how they say in France.
After breakfast, sightseeing around the city was astonishing. They have palace gate made out of gold?!! Cos if it was in Jakarta, rebellion would’ve already cut and sell it into pieces.
And ohh stopping by the The Avenue des Champs-Élysées, where cafes and luxury shopping area are a long the way. You know what, I’ve been planning months before to buy my second Louis Vuitton handbags in Paris! What an incredible experience. Entering in LV store in Champ-Elysees, all my dream handbags was there in the three story building. But I didn’t have much time, i already knew what I wanted to buy, grab the bag, and gave it to sales associates, payed, and Viola! The limited editon LV bounderaler is mine! Just so you know, buying LV and other French handbags are a lot more cheaper in Paris than in Jakarta. It could be $100-$400 cheaper thou.
Time is money, we get on the bus quickly for our next tour; Tour Eiffel. Ohh seeing Eiffel tower was magical. It was bigger than Monas! Thou we didn’t get to the top, we were fine taking Pictures from a far and beneath it. The tower made of steel, strong, beautiful, and romantic I might say. Ohh Paris, je’taim.
Musee de Louvre.
I wished I went inside the museum to see Monalisa but I could see the waiting line was very long. So we just walking around the museum, seeing that Louvre Pyramids and The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel across the street. Then on the evening, the tour ended at galleries laffayett. A shopping center with also more luxury brand inside. I only bought a longchamp travel bag, pretty cheap thou for a bag that big.
Disneyland Paris
At night we drive to our hotel that close by Disneyland Paris. And you know what it means? Yes! Disneyland by tomorrow. Disneyland Paris is at Marnee-La-Vallee, one hour drive from downtown Paris. We stayed at BnB hotel at Disneyland Paris, they offered free shuttle bus to the Disneyland. And it’s the day I’ve been waiting for! One of my bucket list checked. It’s the happiest place on earth. From the outside it’s much bigger than HK Disneyland. They bigger merchandise store and also Disneyland Studios, which we didn’t get the chance to visit. But Disneyland park was the best!
We burst in Disneyland like a kid. Didn’t know which one we should try first. So many attractions, shows, and activities inside. The park was a little bit crowded, I thought i was peak season. Sometimes we had to wait thirty minutes for a roller coaster attractions,everything was worth the wait. I did try almost every high speed and challenging attractions. But when night approached, some attractions got little less waiting line, like the buzz light year laser blast we rode three times! You have to try everything here and walking around, because it’s so much different than the HK Disneyland. If you visit Disneyland, you gotta stay till the very end. In HK at 7 pm there would fire work shows (like in the Disney movie intro) at main disney palace. But in Paris, it started at 10 pm. To be honest I was a little disappointed, because there were only a quick fireworks at the end, most of the it just LED light, not as good as HK thou. Well at least we lived that moment until the end and making unforgettable memories. Then the show ends at around 11 pm, at almost midnight we went back to the hotel by free shuttle bus.
To me, being at the National team, wasn’t always bad and do the hard work. You never know if one day they want you to join swim camp in Nimes and free trip to Paris. I’m forever grateful. Au revoir!
