Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Autumn In My Heart: Fourth Beat

Thursday, 17 September 2015

I woke up early this morning and left at 0630 for a morning walk. I headed for the old town but didn’t stay long. There were a few joggers pounding the pavement when I left – what a life they have there: the sun, the sea, good food, lovely city. I’d be jogging regularly too. Here, we have to curtail our activities because of the lingering enveloping suffocating haze. Oh but I digress.

I returned back to the B&B within an hour and hit the shower. I packed and waited for breakfast. I wasn’t disappointed: it was another treat today. I decided to pack the food I wasn’t able to finish. I left at 1030 and walked to Piazza Aldo Moro and waited for the bus no. 16 back to the airport. The ticket cost €1 at the ticket office. The 1105 bus came at 1110 and left a couple of minutes later. It was a hot painful sauna-like 45-minute ride and we were all steamed up. I had some fruits before I went through security check.



A close-up of the mini tray of jam bottles and juice and milk bottles. Aren’t the mini bottles, the mini tray and the mini jam bottles just cute?


Our flight arrived late and as such we only took off at 1420. The flight was full and I had trouble finding space in the overhead compartment to store my bag. Well, actually I was among those who were asked to add our bags to those already checked in at no cost but as I was planning to rush out of the airport straight to the city, I stubbornly held on to my suitcase. And of course all the overhead compartments near to my seat (at the very last row of the plane, no less) were already stuffed. In the end, I sought help from the cabin crew and I was lucky to have a patient calm helpful cabin crew to help me out. In the end, he squeezed my back into the space behind the last row across the aisle. The space behind me was already filled with a small can of fire extinguisher.

We landed at Paris Beauvais at 1720 in the grey dreary weather - and it was indeed raining with temperature at 15C (now we’re talking autumn!) - and I rushed out of the plane (of course it took time for the rear door to be opened and for the ground officer to deem it safe for us to disembark. Murphy’s Law!). I bought a bus ticket at €17 no less (a steep increase after paying €1-1.50 in Italy, never mind that I knew the cost beforehand). My bus left at 1545 and we arrived at Porte Maillot bus station. My bag had been shoved further in the bus (yes, just as I was in a hurry) and I had to climb into the bag area to retrieve it. It’d be faster that way than stand there and wait for some knight to come and help me. I crossed over to Le Palais des Congres de Paris and followed signs to the metro.

This was where things got worse. I had been given a Paris pass and thought I could use it for the metro. Well, I couldn’t as the pass could not fit the metro ticket slot. So I queued up at the customer service for 15 minutes only to be met with a blank stare and shrugs by the woman behind the counter. She acted like she’d never seen the pass before. I was getting pretty annoyed and irritated by then so I quickly moved to the ticket machine to buy metro ticket. Well, that was another 5 minutes wasted queuing because when I finished making my selection, the machine refused to accept my note. It would only accept coins. I was already fuming by then and rejoined the slow customer service queue. It took another 15 minutes before I was served and it was already past 7 p.m. Definitely too late for me to go to Goyard at Rue St Honore. I decided to head for Printemps de la Mode Haussmann but when I arrived there at 1950 (it closes at 2000 on Thursdays), I was told they no longer have Goyard shop in the store. Say what??? I was too pissed off to do any shopping so I left and rode the metro back to Porte Maillot. By the way, I really hate Paris Metro. It’s not disabled- or traveller-friendly. Forget it if you have a bike, a stroller, a wheelchair...

I arrived back at Porte Maillot, well, Le Palais des Congres de Paris actually, well after 8 p.m. and wandered there. the shops were all closed and just as I was about sit down, I spotted a supermarket and quickly hurried over. The supermarket was about to close for the day and I just about managed to grab a bottle of mineral water and some biscuits and paid for them. It was then when I realised I had been conversing in Italian with the locals haha.

I made my way back to coach station for my 2215 megabus back to London Victoria. Unlike the bus I rode from Ghent to London, this bus was packed. We also stopped at Lille to pick up a few more passengers before arriving at Calais to clear both French and UK passport control. And unlike the bus ride from Ghent to London, this time, we waited a long time (more than an hour) before we could re-board the bus. Some fellow travellers were sharing similar stories of being delayed by more than 6 hours on their way to Paris because the bus missed the connecting ferry. 6 hours! I saw the immigration people checking the bus thoroughly – the bag hold, the tyres, the seats... when we finally re-boarded the bus and I was getting myself comfortable, a policeman (or border guard?) passed by with a main in handcuffs and brought him down the bus. I exchanged looks with a girl across the aisle, our eyes wide. Such drama!

Friday, 18 September 2015

The bus made the ferry and we had to get down from the bus and get into the ferry. We reached Great Britain 90 minutes later and had to reboard the bus. I slept, well, tried to. We got caught in the traffic in the City of London and only arrived at London Victoria at 0810. I had planned to take a bus to my hotel then thought about it. I had planned to ride the tube a bit today so I decided to take the tube to Finsbury Park instead and joined the thronging crowd.

The Arsenal store at Finsbury Park was already opened when I got there shortly after 9 a.m. Unfortunately, there was no sale so I left empty-handed. I walked to Arsenal station and rode the tube, changing at Holborn for the Central Line. I arrived at the hotel at almost 10 a.m. and went to freshen myself first. Finally, I felt somewhat human again! I left my bag at the porter and took the tube to Leicester Square for Chinatown. From Chinatown, I walked to Oxford Street and did some shopping. I returned to the hotel after 3 p.m. and checked in (I had requested for a double room instead of twin room when I arrived in the morning and thankfully the hotel was able to meet my request).

After shower and prayers, I went out to get some confectionery and crisps to bring home. I also had dinner outside at a halal fast food restaurant.


To be continued