an_asker

To overcome inertia, I will make this an exclusively pictorial report, just like global traveller DanielW. For each photo, I will try to add a sentence by way of explanation.

This was our first formal Europe vacation (prior to that, our exposure to the continent comprised of a) DS and I had spent a night in Zurich and b) I had spent 10 hours in London).

I will split the report into each day of travel (will add links as I go along).

Day 1: MCO to OSL (overnight), then OSL to ORY (reaching in the evening)
Day 2: Paris sightseeing (Sacre Coeur, Trocadero area, Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde, Louvre)
Day 3: Paris sightseeing (Palace of Versailles, Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysses)
Day 4: Paris to Berlin by trains - Paris-Frankfurt Hbf TGV, Frankfurt Hbf-Hannover ICE, Hannover-Berlin Hbf ICE
Day 5: Lost (and frozen) in Berlin - Museuminsel, Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate
Day 6: Berlin - East Side Gallery, more Museuminsel
Day 7: SXF to OSL, then OSL to MCO

an_asker

It was a rainy evening. Though we had ample time for our connecting flight out of Oslo, we were a bit apprehensive, first because we had heard mixed reviews of Norwegian (about flights not showing up on time and/or cancelled at the last minute) and secondly because of the weather, which could delay our flight.



But the flight arrived and departed on time, and within a short while, we were all asleep. When I woke up, though I could see the sun streaming in, the cabin felt dark even without the blinds. Then I realized how the Dreamliner operated (remember, it was our first flight on that aircraft).



Though I thought it was maybe about 6 am or so, it was well past 8 am local.



Don't tell that to the sleepyheads though! BTW, I liked the decor of the cabin (maybe also because Red is one of my favorite colors?).



Seems like we're flying right about a slab or two of ice!



And that would be one of the fjords of Norway, I would guess.



Getting closer to civilization ... and landing. It is past 10 in the morning, I believe.



Almost there.



Landed in Oslo. That's the bird that brought us here.



Having stepped right outside the airport, we could see what appeared to be the sunset. Was it, at about 11 am or so?!! Of course not! It is the angle of the sun's rays. If you notice, the sidewalk that leads to the terminal is oriented pretty close to N/S. And the sun is so far to the south that it just skims the horizon through the course of the day. And, needless to say, it was pretty cold for us "Floridians"!

lamphs

Thanks for the report. I'd like to see some commentary on the long-haul Norwegian product, including the layover at OSL. Norwegian has some great fares, but I wonder about seat pitch, loads, and service.

an_asker

With the fares that Norwegian offers, for economy travel and if you can fit your luggage efficiently, it is a great deal. When we went, they were one of the few airlines that even had the 787 Dreamliner. That is what really tipped the scales in favor of this trip because DS was fully on board, and so convincing DW and DD was a piece of cake.

Re: seat pitch, I won't be a good source, given that I (Indian origin) am less than average height compared to most Americans! It's been a while, so I don't really remember even if they had assigned seats or if they were assigned with the boarding cards (don't even remember if they had these).

Remember, these are really budget airlines. But that makes the flight crew - ours were from Indonesia (reminds one of cruise ships crew) - much more cheerful and available. Other than water, everything else was for sale. And most folks were well prepared, so the flight crew didn't really have to do a lot.

Layover at OSL was a piece of cake. While going, we had about 4 or 5 hours IIRC, and about a couple of hours on the way back. If we wanted to push it, we could've gone to the main city (about 30-45 minutes one way by the express trains Flytoget) but we decided just to get out of the terminal and spend some time outside. It was about 26 degrees (Thanksgiving week Wednesday) outside, so I just took a small stroll to the connected train station (lower level) and watched a few of the trains (both local trains and long distance trains use the station - one of the photos coming up shows the Lillehammer train listed).

The airport is very nice and not too busy (stuff is pricey, but it is Norway, so that is to be expected). You should be easily able to transit from one flight to the other, especially if it is Norwegian.

Hope this helps.

lamphs

Thanks for the response. I think I am going to first try DY (slightly different product from DU) from BWI to FDF or PTP and then consider it for a long haul flight.

an_asker

Control tower at the airport


The Flytoget express train to town


Train schedule


Schematic map of regional trains


A landside bookstore in the airport


Tog, Spor in Norway = Zug, Gleis in Switzerland :-)


A familiar place name


I liked the touch of clouds


See what I mean? The sun was barely above the horizon


Nice arrangements just outside the building (beats me as to what they represent, if anything)


Norwegian adds a nice touch to the tail of their aeroplanes - each of them is identified by a photo of a famous personality


Nice arrangement of perfume bottles in the shopping area inside the terminal


More of the duty free shopping


Approaching the City of Lights


Exiting Orly Airport


We took the Bus 183 out of Orly Airport towards Paris' Porte de Choisy terminal (and then a tram from there to near Michel Bizot)


After leaving the rest of the family at our Airbnb near Michel Bizot, I went out for a walk. No one else was willing to accompany me. I walked back along the route that our tram (T3A) had come, so as to not get lost.


Bridge over the river and the reflection of the lights was nice. On the other side of the river is (I am assuming) the Francois Mitterand Library (we didn't visit), aka Bibliothèque François Mitterrand


... as were all the fast trains snaking toward Gare de Lyon (though there was not a lot of train action compared to, say, Frankfurt in the middle of the day, I did see a few trains leave the station - this was at about 11 pm local)


Subway toward the ticket booth at Porte de Charendon where I purchased the tickets for the next couple of days. Got a couple of carnets and a couple of mobili (sp?) passes


On the way back to our accommodation. Coming from USA, most cars in Europe appear post box sized (at least, that is based on my impression from England and France), similar to the Fit and Smart cars

an_asker

The Seine river near Chatalet on one wintry drizzly morning (family is still asleep while I get my feet wet in Paris)


Entrance to Saint Chappelle - though it was among my things to visit, at this time it was yet to open, and we later didn't have time to come visit




Frescos at Bastille station


Was this covered by graffiti and need cleaning or is there supposed to be that gap between his upper torso and his legs?!!


That one has a nice 3D feel to it (maybe because it was actually 3D? I forget now)


It was certainly a wet morning


Second trip out for the same morning; this time with family. At Michel Bizot station


Outside the Paris Gare de l'Est station, from where ...


... we walked past a church ...


... until we reached the Paris Gare du Nord station, from where we took two metro trains to get to Anvers station to the Sacre Coeur


To Anvers we go


When we were at Sacre Coeur ...


... the clouds were so low, I doubt we could've spotted the Eiffel Tower, even had we known which direction to look


We watched as folks took selfies with a well made up "statue" ...


... walked past (and into some) an array of shops in the Sacre Coeur area that did contain many souvenirs worth possessing


After a couple more train rides, we emerged into the open at Trocodero, and went into the architecture museum (Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine)


The museum is definitely airy and well maintained!


Loved this replica of the Arc de Triomphe, talking of which I remembered something. There appeared to be more than one similar structure around Paris (one I specifically remember being near the Louvre). Was this a pretty symbolic concept around that time, in the sense that the structures all look pretty similar?










A sample of the intricate little pieces/replicas around the museum










Loved the designs around the building




Eiffel Tower as seen from inside the museum


A puzzle to end this segment - are the stairs leading up or down? Take a guess!!

offerendum

Like to go since I watched the series.

an_asker

I am unfamiliar with the series. I was referring to the fact that Lillehammer hosted the Winter Olympics a while back!

an_asker

No, I don't think they are taking photos of one another! :-)


Wedded in the rain


Saw many of these red-nosed figures (yes, I googled them ... but don't remember anymore what they signified)




Looking back at the architecture museum as we walk toward the Eiffel Tower

After spending an hour or so in the architecture museum, we decided to head over to Eiffel Tower. Here is where I realized my mistake in getting the Eiffel Tower tickets online. The tickets I had got were for 2:30 pm, as I had determined that it would give us enough time to look around by sunset (4:45 pm or so) and we could watch the sunset. However, we were already nearing noon. Did not want to go too far away from the place as we might get delayed coming back. On the other hand, had we not purchased those tickets, we could've just queued up and gotten in within 30 minutes. Lesson learned; but for now, we still have a coupe of hours to kill. I had heard of a Statue of Liberty somewhere close by. However, the only Statue of Liberty the locals seem to have heard of was in New York. Unfortunately for us, I was only semi-smartphone-smart, so was unable to figure out how/where on it I had stored the maps that I had so painstakingly downloaded before heading out of MCO! Long story short, no one else in my family wanted to accompany me on my quest to meet with the French-citizen Statue of Liberty ... and though no local was interested in helping me with my quest, I surprisingly did go off in the right direction.

This is as far as I got; had I gone a bit further along that road then hung a left, it would have put me on the island that houses the local Statue of Liberty. However, I was unaware of this fact and so, after about fifteen aimless minutes of wandering, I just returned to where family was waiting for it to turn 2:30!

We decided to walk away from the Eiffel Tower for a few minutes, to while away the time quicker and ...


One thing the French appear to love is drama. Here is some - some farmers(?) were on some protest and, having created a staging area, dumped a herd of sheep right there!!


Sheep and the Eiffel Tower

It was a long wait even after we got into the queue to go up the elevator. For some reason, it appeared that one or more of the elevators (on our leg of the Tower) had seized up, and so it took a while before we were packed - like sardines - into the one that came down next. And finally, we were climbing.

Looking towards Trocodero


Finally, I spy her!!


I had only walked up to the left anchor of the bridge in the foreground. It would probably have taken me twenty minutes or so more (one way) to get close to the Statue. So, maybe it was all for the better that I didn't know where exactly she was situated.


Though we could not see the Eiffel from Sacre Coeur, at least we were able to do the reverse!


"South Bend, Paris" anybody? :-)


Somewhere out there was Roland Garros


Looking out toward the Montparnasse tower


King Kong at Eiffel Tower ...


... or Gulliver in Lilliput? ;-)

an_asker

On to Notre Dame, where kids were having fun feeding pigeons


One of the entrances, I believe


Cavernous interior


Nice paintings ...


... and statues


The love lock bridge is not the only one with love locks! We thought this was IT, but later research revealed that we were a ways from the real McCoy!


But these locks glistened as much, nevertheless!


Next we visited Place de la Concorde


With its giant ferris wheel


The circle ... from another angle ;-)


One of the fountains


Next, we were at the Orsay Museum where we were not supposed to photograph any of the paintings or artifacts. However, when asked, the museum staff told me that it was OK to take a long-range shot and/or photos of the ceiling. So, here we are :-)


Later, we had a good south indian dinner at a Sri Lankan restaurant near Gare du Nord (many Indian restaurants are located in the area between this station and La Chapelle, but because it was past eight, most of the shops in the area had already closed for the day, so we did not have a lot of places to choose from)

an_asker

Descriptions to follow :-)


After the rain on the first day (morning), the sun was up bright on the second morning when we made our way out of our accommodation near Michel Bizot. We were connecting from near Invalides to our RER C train to Versailles. There were two Versailles stations listed on the platform monitor - enquiring around revealed that one station was close to the palace whereas the other one was a good walk away. The train arriving next was the one to the farther station.

At this point, I really needed to use the toilet/restroom but I had learned that there wasn't one in the metro station. So, I was resigned to using the one in the RER which - I was told - would have them. When added to the fact that the direct train was about 15-20 minutes later, we decided to take that first train then walk the walk! Once in the train, I was a bit disappointed that our carriage did not have a toilet; fortunately for me though, I was able to find the toilet in the carriage adjoining ours. Much relieved!!


One of the palatial hotels enroute to the palace from the farther Versailles station (don't ask me to name the station now!)


A statue - right outside the Versaille palace grounds. Louis the IVth I believe it is


Look maa! No lines ...


... and just like that, we are inside the Palace


A model of the palace area


Statues here were more discreetly clothed than the ones from yesterday!


Glittering paintings inside the palace ...


... while the non-touristy areas are not that well maintained (comparatively speaking)


Yuuge ornate door(s)

an_asker

offerendum

Nice pictures^

an_asker

Thanks. I will add a description (one liner!) to each photo, but wanted to put the photos out there first before I get too lazy!