On day six I woke up early and went down and had some breakie at the hotel. Tip: Sometime if you have a breakfast buffet included with your accommodation you may be able to pinch a few whole pieces a fruit to take though out the day on your adventures. Since today was the day I needed to check out I went and packed my bag and my carry on bag to get ready to leave.
The night before my phone died and I did not have UK electrical plug for my Australian charger. I honestly thought my ipad external battery case would of lasted that long. Apparently not. I ended up asking the hotel receptionist if they had a plug, apparently they have heaps of them and they lent one to me for a 2Pounds. And when you return it you get the 2 Pounds back.
After I was all packed ready to go I went down and waited in the lobby for my transfer to the airport. My transfer arrive (that I had prearranged when I was back in Aus) and it took roughly half an hour to get to the airport. We made a stop and picked up this lovely Chicago lady and her son. Once I got to the airport I checked in gave them my bag and went through customs.
London air port is pretty crazy. It took me about half an hour to get through customs. When you got to the body scanner, you have to remove your shoes, jackets, belts, jewelry, take anything out of your pockets and put it on the tray. If you have a bottle of water or any liquid over about 30ml it has to get thrown out. Than when you get through customs they have alot of designer shops, cafes, restaurant and news agency so there is alot to do there. Since I was about to board a plane to Paris where the currency changes from Pounds (London) to Euro's (Paris) I changed over any excess money I had left over from my stay in London. Tip: They do not exchange coins. Try and get rid of your coins before you leave for your next destination.
Tip: At London airport (Heathrowe) they will not call you to your gate until about 45mins- 1 hour before you depart. And when they call you to your gate all it will be is a gate number that will appear on your screen.
You will wait at the gate for awhile until the attendants than call you up and put you on a bus to take you out to your plane. Weird... yes I know. The bus doesnt have many seats so your quite possibly will be standing. Try and get on last so you get near the door to be first off. I traveled on British Airways. They werent to bad. The flight took about 1hr and 15mins. Which was nothing and they served us a packet of chips and a soft drink. Tip: If you can book your seat online the night before because they are a popular airline and get very full.
When I landed in Paris they put us on another bus and took us to the terminal. I then walked through to customs and collected our bags.
This is probably the biggest tip I can give you if you are travelling to Paris: Learn some french. Nobody spoke English. I had pre arranged when I was in Australia my transfer for the airport to my hotel in Paris and called them up the day before to confirm. When I called them they gave me a point to meet them. I came out from collecting my bag to see no body waiting with a sign with my name on it. I walked around for 30mins trying to find my transfer car, asking people who couldnt speak English. There is alot of taxi drivers who stand in the airport asking if you want a ride. Its a little bit intimidating. I ended up ring the transfer company and asking where my transfer car was. Turns out the guy was not waiting there but was waiting out side with the transfer company sign and not a sign with my name on it. Seriously I was pretty pissed off at this point. You would think it would be pretty simple. But I jumped in the mini van with the driver. I tried to make small talk with him but it turns only spoke two words of English.
We were driving along in the van to the hotel and it was only me and the driver. When you think about going to Paris you think of beautiful scenic drive in. And that you can see the effiel tower from the air port. Biggest lie. We were driving along past all these old gratified buildings. And because it was my first time to Paris I started to panic. Looking for the Effiel tower out of the window. Flash backs of the movie taken were running through my head. I started to think about if he stops at the lights I can jump out of the car, that I could replace everything in my suit case if I had to. Yes it was probably a bit dramatic my thinking. But I was alone and it was nothing like I expected.
It took us about 45mins of a panic filled drive until we reached the hotel. As I jumped out of the car I kicked my self for being so stupid.
I arrived just before the sun went down...around the 3pm mark. Hotel Montparnasse was beautiful, modern and clean. The receptionist spoke English. Not fantastically. But they spoke a bit of it. I checked into my room.
I got up to my room and it had ajoining doors to the next room and it was unlocked. Travelling alone as a female I called down to the reception desk to ask them to lock it. It took me 15mins until they finally realised what I meant. They started by saying "We cant open the door you have only paid for one room." I than would reply with "Yes, I understand this but the ajoining door is allready open can you please send someone up to lock it?" Than they would reply with the same thing. But than they finally worked out what I said after they handed me on to someone else.
After that I had a shower and got ready to catch up with some friends I went to school back in Aus because it was New Years Eve. I text my friends on viber. Tip: Viber is a free app that you can buy for your phone. If you are connected to wifi you can send free text messages and make free phone calls off your phone. You just have to make sure the person you are trying to contact has it too. And this app will only work if you are connected to the internet either by 3G by your phone (note this is expensive) or via wifi (your hotel may offer wifi for free)
Being new years eve we thought that there would be alot of activities going on like fire works at the effiel tower or bars, or clubs pumping. Apparently Paris shuts down on New Years Eve. NOTHING was open. So we ended up heading back to their hotel and having dinner and cocktails in their restaurant. Another friend who was also staying in Paris on New Years Eve celebrated it near the Champ Eyeless. They had no count down or anything. After midnight soldiers told them to go back to their hotel.
If you are going to spend New Years in Paris. Make sure you either are heading on a tour or just have some drinks in your hotel. Boring I know. But seriously nothing was open
Miss C xx
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