2 nights at the “Citadines Apart'hotel Voltaire République” in Parmentier were good. For a family of 5 we ended up in a 4 beds apartment (it’s very difficult to get a unit for 5 people and we don’t want to stay in separate units during the trip). The apartment comprises 1 room, 1 bathroom/toilet, a kitchenette and a living room that double as a bedroom when the large sofa is converted into a queen size bed. The hotel also provides parking for an extra EUR18 per night.
After solat and a quick rest we started our adventure in the city of Paris. We decided to go to the one place we had been more than 10 years ago and after consulting the front-desk, we opted to take the Metro (Paris’ version of the Underground / LRT / MTR etc). We took the Metro from Parmentier station which is a short walk from the hotel (less than 200 meters away) to Ecole Militaire. We had gotten ourselves 10 single tickets costing us EUR11.60 (child pays the same cost as adult). From the station we walked across the park toward the Eiffel Tower. It was blazing hot and it’s good that we had bottled water ready.
Apart from enjoying the sight from far and walking at the base of it, Eiffel tower can be climbed (via staircase, if you are up to it or using a specially designed lift). All 4 legs of the Eiffel tower have access to the top. One of the legs was closed for refurbishment and of the other 3, 1 is for walk-up access and the other 2 are for lifts. We decided to go for the lift. For access to the 2nd floor, it costs EUR8 for adult and EUR4 for under 12 (EUR6 for 12-16).
The notice at the base said that the 3rd floor is closed but at the ticket counter we were informed that tickets may be sold on the 2nd floor for access to the 3rd floor. After a not so short queue, we got into the lift and was quickly transported to the 2nd floor, where the view was simply...magnificent. The 2nd floor is made up of two levels and there are quite a lot of facilities there (food, souvenirs etc).
We ended up buying the tickets from there to the 3rd floor and the view from there was simply....more than magnificent. The “3rd floor” is actually at the very top of the Eiffel Tower. After snapping loads of photos (lucky these are no longer the days of film photography) and a quick rest + checking the distance from there to Malaysia, we went down. A short changeover at the 2nd floor brought us back to the base and au revoir tour de Eiffel........
From the base of Eiffel Tower, we strolled across River Seine towards the.......again, trying to find the spot from where we had taken a photo of the Eiffel Tower before (and a very good spot to do so still).
By then it was nearly 8 pm and we continued along Avenue Kleber toward the Arc de Triomphe.....have to admit it was quite a walk and on a hot day like it was on the 6th of August, it was very tiring.
From there Arc, we took the metro from Charles de Gaulle station and went back to Parmentier and shortly thereafter, we were back at the Citadine. After solat and shower, with everyone being so tired, dinner ended up being instand noodles - cepat dimasak, sedap dimakan....
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