First ever trip report, Babymoon#2 MEL-HKG-CDG-KEF-HEL-HKG-MEL
Sep 3, 2018, 11:19 pm
#16
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Bonvoy LT Titanium ANA Diamond
Posts: 763
Well yes, living here for the last 16 years I had heard mention of Fukushima !! I also heard of Chernobyl but don't worry too much about visiting Europe ! Never heard the advice not to eat raw fish, certainly not something widely known in Japan.
Is breathing OK during pregnancy !!
Is breathing OK during pregnancy !!
Sep 4, 2018, 12:58 am
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 47
Well yes, living here for the last 16 years I had heard mention of Fukushima !! I also heard of Chernobyl but don't worry too much about visiting Europe ! Never heard the advice not to eat raw fish, certainly not something widely known in Japan.
Is breathing OK during pregnancy !!
Is breathing OK during pregnancy !!
The raw fish thing is weird because I have read that pregnant people in Japan continue to eat raw fish/sashimi during their pregnancy. However, it seems like this is considered a big no-no in Australia.
I guess we'll just have to visit Japan once I save up those frequent flyer miles again.
Oct 3, 2018, 10:16 pm
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 47
Ok sorry for the delay in writing this up. I've recently returned from my holiday and will be slowly writing up this trip report. Unfortunately I had no time to open my laptop while i was overseas as each night was pretty exhausting. Next time I'll choose to relax on a resort in some island with warm weather and nice beaches.
Day 1
Our CX134 flight was scheduled to depart Melbourne for Hong Kong at 7.35am and arrive at 3.10pm local time. I generally prefer this flight because a) its on an A350 b) i arrive in HK with plenty of time to do things c) its generally the flight with most award availability. Given our 3YO daughter sleeps well overnight, I might try looking for the red eye flight next time if it is an A350.
The Melbourne Airport check in counters have undergone a slight renovation since the last time I used the facilities in November 2017. On our CX flight, CX had moved their check in counters to what looked like an area for self check in, with only 2 desks staffed to help business class passengers. There were other CX ground staff around to help with using machines to check in and load checked baggage onto conveyor belts etc. Overall experiences makes it look like a process taken from a budget airline. I'm not a fan, but it beats waiting in line if flying economy. I forgot to take photos of this, but its nothing special.
As we were flying business, we headed straight for the business/priority counters and ground staff immediately helped us check in, print boarding passes, tag our luggage and were provided express path security passes. Before long we were headed towards security and immigration and en route to visit the lounge for some breakfast. It was very early in the morning and we had to wake our 3YO (Z) so she was super cranky by the time we went through security. We took our $20 stroller with us, and she was sitting comfortably within it when we had to pull her out to pass through the metal detectors. Z decided right here she wouldn't get out of the stroller and we basically had a standoff with her for a good 5 minutes. So much for express path.... With some convincing, we managed to pry Z from the stroller and managed to get through security without much further hassle.
We decided to head towards the QF J lounge simply because the CX lounge in Melbourne is very small. Breakfast spread was average, but I do recall fresh barista coffee being made on order. This alone already beats what CX lounge can offer. I had no time to visit the Amex Centurion lounge or the Priority Pass lounge. Guess i'll have to wait for next time.
Boarding commenced soon, and we found our seats quite quickly. Turning left after entering a plane never gets old. Z was occupied with the IFE while waiting for pushback until all the safety announcements were being made and interrupted her cartoons. This made her cranky again (lack of sleep makes the kid irritable...geez who would have thought...). So out came the tablet with preloaded cartoons and she was happy again.
Mrs Dark8 is a pharmacist and thought it was a good idea to give Z some Phernergan which is usually used to treat allergies. It is also a sedative so add this together with Z's early morning, she was super cranky right after take off. Taking the tablet off her took some convincing but she was soon fast asleep.
We have flown CX J before but this was the first time Mrs Dark8 was flying in an A350. She was slightly amused by the fact the toilet had a window. I guess its not everyday you get to look outside a window while doing your business at 38,000 feet.
We landed in HK and passed through immigration without any issue. Collecting bags was easy and we called a taxi to our hotel, Cordis in Mong Kok (part of the Langham Group). I forgot to take photos of the room, but my wife did so i'll upload them at a later date. We were upgraded to a studio room due to having some status with their loyalty programme. Very spacious corner room with a rollaway bed.
After we arrived at the hotel, we decided to go out for a bit of a walk. We went to the TST area for a walk around before heading back to the hotel for Z and Mrs Dark8 to rest. I then headed out for some drinks with old friends. All in all, a very long day, and I ended up fairly drunk.
Day 2 to come.
Day 1
Our CX134 flight was scheduled to depart Melbourne for Hong Kong at 7.35am and arrive at 3.10pm local time. I generally prefer this flight because a) its on an A350 b) i arrive in HK with plenty of time to do things c) its generally the flight with most award availability. Given our 3YO daughter sleeps well overnight, I might try looking for the red eye flight next time if it is an A350.
The Melbourne Airport check in counters have undergone a slight renovation since the last time I used the facilities in November 2017. On our CX flight, CX had moved their check in counters to what looked like an area for self check in, with only 2 desks staffed to help business class passengers. There were other CX ground staff around to help with using machines to check in and load checked baggage onto conveyor belts etc. Overall experiences makes it look like a process taken from a budget airline. I'm not a fan, but it beats waiting in line if flying economy. I forgot to take photos of this, but its nothing special.
As we were flying business, we headed straight for the business/priority counters and ground staff immediately helped us check in, print boarding passes, tag our luggage and were provided express path security passes. Before long we were headed towards security and immigration and en route to visit the lounge for some breakfast. It was very early in the morning and we had to wake our 3YO (Z) so she was super cranky by the time we went through security. We took our $20 stroller with us, and she was sitting comfortably within it when we had to pull her out to pass through the metal detectors. Z decided right here she wouldn't get out of the stroller and we basically had a standoff with her for a good 5 minutes. So much for express path.... With some convincing, we managed to pry Z from the stroller and managed to get through security without much further hassle.
We decided to head towards the QF J lounge simply because the CX lounge in Melbourne is very small. Breakfast spread was average, but I do recall fresh barista coffee being made on order. This alone already beats what CX lounge can offer. I had no time to visit the Amex Centurion lounge or the Priority Pass lounge. Guess i'll have to wait for next time.
Boarding commenced soon, and we found our seats quite quickly. Turning left after entering a plane never gets old. Z was occupied with the IFE while waiting for pushback until all the safety announcements were being made and interrupted her cartoons. This made her cranky again (lack of sleep makes the kid irritable...geez who would have thought...). So out came the tablet with preloaded cartoons and she was happy again.
Mrs Dark8 is a pharmacist and thought it was a good idea to give Z some Phernergan which is usually used to treat allergies. It is also a sedative so add this together with Z's early morning, she was super cranky right after take off. Taking the tablet off her took some convincing but she was soon fast asleep.
We have flown CX J before but this was the first time Mrs Dark8 was flying in an A350. She was slightly amused by the fact the toilet had a window. I guess its not everyday you get to look outside a window while doing your business at 38,000 feet.
We landed in HK and passed through immigration without any issue. Collecting bags was easy and we called a taxi to our hotel, Cordis in Mong Kok (part of the Langham Group). I forgot to take photos of the room, but my wife did so i'll upload them at a later date. We were upgraded to a studio room due to having some status with their loyalty programme. Very spacious corner room with a rollaway bed.
After we arrived at the hotel, we decided to go out for a bit of a walk. We went to the TST area for a walk around before heading back to the hotel for Z and Mrs Dark8 to rest. I then headed out for some drinks with old friends. All in all, a very long day, and I ended up fairly drunk.
Day 2 to come.
Oct 7, 2018, 4:17 pm
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 47
Day 2-4 in HK
As HK is pretty much my home town and I visit almost every year, we really don't do much of the tourist sight seeing. Instead, our HK trips generally consist more of catch up with friends and family. We were leaving HK for Paris on Monday at about 7pm so we were aiming to get to the airport at about 4pm to make use of the lounge and walk around a bit. This meant we still had a good half a day in HK before we needed to check out. I had arranged for the EK chauffeur service to arrive at about 3.30pm so we'd have plenty of time to catch up with some more friends.
We ended up at a restaurant called "Social Place", which is located in Central with a few friends who were originally from Melbourne. At the time I was unaware, but we soon realised that it was a "hipster yum cha" restaurant, and the place was filled with young office workers around lunch time.
"Prawn toast"
These mushroom looking things were actually buns made to look like mushrooms. The filling inside was actually mushrooms and truffle.
These black buns were filled with a runny salted egg yolk custard. Very tasty.
We left Central around 2.30pm and made our way back to Cordis via the MTR. EK booked two cars for us as we had too much luggage to fit into one, so we looked fairly important when we were leaving the hotel in two Mercedes S class, with one just carrying our luggage. We made good time and arrived at the airport around 4.00pm. Walking down the sloping ramp towards the check in counters, I could feel my excitement starting to build. In my mind I had already established that the next 20 hours would be the highlight of this trip.
We found the Emirates check in counters and the lines were super long. I guess when your flight carries about 500 people you expect a bit of a queue.
Massive queues at EK check in counter in HK
Luckily we were flying at the pointy end, so there was a line especially reserved for us.
We were actually booked in F, so we went to the wrong line, but it wasn't a big deal because there was no one else lining up there anyway. We were served promptly, handed our boarding passes for both the HKG-DXB and DXB-CDG legs and made a bee line straight for immigration. Security and Immigration in HK is never a big problem and we were through within 20 minutes.
Having done my research earlier, I was determined not to go to the Emirates Lounge and went directly to the QF lounge which I read offered more variety of food and a few dishes which were made to order. None of this impressed Zoe though, so I had to make my way out again to McDonald's and buy her some french fries. The walk from QF lounge to McDonald's and back again was pretty far and the queue was horrendous. Nevertheless, I persisted (at the behest of my daughter) and we eventually made it back to the lounge with a Happy Meal.
The wonton noodles at QF lounge weren't too bad either.
We then had a shower each to freshen up and had unfortunately run out of time to look around the shops. Having said that, Mrs Dark8 wasn't too interested in any shops here because we were headed for Paris. We soon headed out of the lounge and made our way to boarding gate 62, which required the use of those autonomous trains.
We eventually got to the gate as boarding commenced and boarded immediately. Will have to get back to work now, so i'll leave the photos and reporting of the F flight later.
As HK is pretty much my home town and I visit almost every year, we really don't do much of the tourist sight seeing. Instead, our HK trips generally consist more of catch up with friends and family. We were leaving HK for Paris on Monday at about 7pm so we were aiming to get to the airport at about 4pm to make use of the lounge and walk around a bit. This meant we still had a good half a day in HK before we needed to check out. I had arranged for the EK chauffeur service to arrive at about 3.30pm so we'd have plenty of time to catch up with some more friends.
We ended up at a restaurant called "Social Place", which is located in Central with a few friends who were originally from Melbourne. At the time I was unaware, but we soon realised that it was a "hipster yum cha" restaurant, and the place was filled with young office workers around lunch time.
"Prawn toast"
These mushroom looking things were actually buns made to look like mushrooms. The filling inside was actually mushrooms and truffle.
These black buns were filled with a runny salted egg yolk custard. Very tasty.
We left Central around 2.30pm and made our way back to Cordis via the MTR. EK booked two cars for us as we had too much luggage to fit into one, so we looked fairly important when we were leaving the hotel in two Mercedes S class, with one just carrying our luggage. We made good time and arrived at the airport around 4.00pm. Walking down the sloping ramp towards the check in counters, I could feel my excitement starting to build. In my mind I had already established that the next 20 hours would be the highlight of this trip.
We found the Emirates check in counters and the lines were super long. I guess when your flight carries about 500 people you expect a bit of a queue.
Massive queues at EK check in counter in HK
Luckily we were flying at the pointy end, so there was a line especially reserved for us.
We were actually booked in F, so we went to the wrong line, but it wasn't a big deal because there was no one else lining up there anyway. We were served promptly, handed our boarding passes for both the HKG-DXB and DXB-CDG legs and made a bee line straight for immigration. Security and Immigration in HK is never a big problem and we were through within 20 minutes.
Having done my research earlier, I was determined not to go to the Emirates Lounge and went directly to the QF lounge which I read offered more variety of food and a few dishes which were made to order. None of this impressed Zoe though, so I had to make my way out again to McDonald's and buy her some french fries. The walk from QF lounge to McDonald's and back again was pretty far and the queue was horrendous. Nevertheless, I persisted (at the behest of my daughter) and we eventually made it back to the lounge with a Happy Meal.
The wonton noodles at QF lounge weren't too bad either.
We then had a shower each to freshen up and had unfortunately run out of time to look around the shops. Having said that, Mrs Dark8 wasn't too interested in any shops here because we were headed for Paris. We soon headed out of the lounge and made our way to boarding gate 62, which required the use of those autonomous trains.
We eventually got to the gate as boarding commenced and boarded immediately. Will have to get back to work now, so i'll leave the photos and reporting of the F flight later.
Oct 9, 2018, 6:21 pm
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 47
Day 4 - EK F from HKG to DXB
The aerobridge separates into an "upstairs" and "downstairs" portion about halfway. We obviously headed towards the "upstairs" area, and were greeted by about 4-5 FAs, but I presume 2 or 3 of them were for the J class passengers. We had 2 FAs attend to us and show us to our seats. I had a window seat for Mrs Dark8 and Zoe, with myself in 2E so i could run across the aisle and tend to the little one if required. Upon getting on board, the FA advised my wife (assigned to 2A) that the IFE was not loading up properly. They were trying to do a reset, but she was free to choose any other seat in that aisle apart from 1A and 2 others on the other side of the plane. We basically had a choice of 6 out of 7 seats. Wife took 4A, Zoe stayed in 3A, and I sat in 2E, whilst my bags were placed in 1E. My wife placed her bags in 3E. The FA advised my wife that she could take 2A after take off if the IFE started working again.
We then took a brief tour of the top deck, walking back into J class and the bar at the back of the plane before heading back to our own seats up the front. My wife couldn't have any alcohols so she had to make do with a juice, while I had the pleasure of trying the 2009 Dom. It wasn't the P2 but its my first Dom so I'm not complaining. Just grateful to be here.
I'm sure everyone on FT has seen enough photos of EK F so I won't post too many here.
Zoe had plenty of leg room. There was also heaps of Disney cartoons to keep her occupied. We drugged her (again) and she fell asleep soon after takeoff.
I had read about dine on demand, but concept was still new to me and due to the relatively short flying time (around 8 hours from HKG to DXB) and the fact I stuffed myself with McNuggets before the flight, I was a little confused as to when I should order my food, which led me to be a little unprepared about when I wanted to book my shower. I decided quickly that soon after takeoff, I'd have my dinner and then shower straight after.
I chose the Caviar as my starter, and steamed salmon with wasabi cream as main. No mother of pearl spoon with the caviar which was different to the last time I had it on CX F, but again, not complaining. I'm no caviar connoisseur and I'm one up on the Mrs as she couldn't have any caviar on advice from her obstetrician. Too bad! Should have taken her portion too!
Caviar - I had asked EK online chat previously if the caviar was pasteurized or not. They confirmed it was, which meant it should have been safe for pregnant women, but obstetrician said no. Wife had sad panda face when this was served to me.
Bread basket all to myself! Too much carbs for me though, so I didn't touch those.
Salmon was ok. Champagne was awesome.
After dinner, I was ready to sleep. EK give you this massive tote bag as part of the amenity kit which included slippers and pjs. FA guided me to the shower/bathroom and explained all the features etc.
It was simple enough to use, and 5 minutes of water was plenty as I had taken a shower already at the QF lounge. The pjs were a little big though.
After my shower, I returned to my seat to find a plate of fruit waiting for me. Lucky I hadn't brushed my teeth yet! I finished the fruit and ordered a Hennessy Paradis before asking the FA if they could possibly make my bed in 2A with the non working IFE. They duly obliged and I had about 4 hours sleep before landing in DXB.
Fruit was great after the shower.
Henny for nightcap
Bed made with window view. Really couldn't ask for more....
I woke up an hour before landing at which point I felt awake, but not quite refreshed. Our departure time of about 7pm meant we landed in DXB around 11pm local time but due to the time difference, my body (and my watch) was telling me it was about 2am HKG time. I had to wake up Zoe which is never a fun experience but she was surprisingly ok, just a bit clingy and didn't want to walk. Not surprising - I didn't want to get off the plane either!
We were one of the first passengers to exit the plane and made our way towards the connections area. Our connecting flight to CDG was T3, but we were told the F lounge there was not as big so we decided to stay in the T2 lounge until closer to departure time. We had a 4 hour layover so had plenty of time to get some more food and a bit more sleep.
More on the CDG leg later.
The aerobridge separates into an "upstairs" and "downstairs" portion about halfway. We obviously headed towards the "upstairs" area, and were greeted by about 4-5 FAs, but I presume 2 or 3 of them were for the J class passengers. We had 2 FAs attend to us and show us to our seats. I had a window seat for Mrs Dark8 and Zoe, with myself in 2E so i could run across the aisle and tend to the little one if required. Upon getting on board, the FA advised my wife (assigned to 2A) that the IFE was not loading up properly. They were trying to do a reset, but she was free to choose any other seat in that aisle apart from 1A and 2 others on the other side of the plane. We basically had a choice of 6 out of 7 seats. Wife took 4A, Zoe stayed in 3A, and I sat in 2E, whilst my bags were placed in 1E. My wife placed her bags in 3E. The FA advised my wife that she could take 2A after take off if the IFE started working again.
We then took a brief tour of the top deck, walking back into J class and the bar at the back of the plane before heading back to our own seats up the front. My wife couldn't have any alcohols so she had to make do with a juice, while I had the pleasure of trying the 2009 Dom. It wasn't the P2 but its my first Dom so I'm not complaining. Just grateful to be here.
I'm sure everyone on FT has seen enough photos of EK F so I won't post too many here.
Zoe had plenty of leg room. There was also heaps of Disney cartoons to keep her occupied. We drugged her (again) and she fell asleep soon after takeoff.
I had read about dine on demand, but concept was still new to me and due to the relatively short flying time (around 8 hours from HKG to DXB) and the fact I stuffed myself with McNuggets before the flight, I was a little confused as to when I should order my food, which led me to be a little unprepared about when I wanted to book my shower. I decided quickly that soon after takeoff, I'd have my dinner and then shower straight after.
I chose the Caviar as my starter, and steamed salmon with wasabi cream as main. No mother of pearl spoon with the caviar which was different to the last time I had it on CX F, but again, not complaining. I'm no caviar connoisseur and I'm one up on the Mrs as she couldn't have any caviar on advice from her obstetrician. Too bad! Should have taken her portion too!
Caviar - I had asked EK online chat previously if the caviar was pasteurized or not. They confirmed it was, which meant it should have been safe for pregnant women, but obstetrician said no. Wife had sad panda face when this was served to me.
Bread basket all to myself! Too much carbs for me though, so I didn't touch those.
Salmon was ok. Champagne was awesome.
After dinner, I was ready to sleep. EK give you this massive tote bag as part of the amenity kit which included slippers and pjs. FA guided me to the shower/bathroom and explained all the features etc.
It was simple enough to use, and 5 minutes of water was plenty as I had taken a shower already at the QF lounge. The pjs were a little big though.
After my shower, I returned to my seat to find a plate of fruit waiting for me. Lucky I hadn't brushed my teeth yet! I finished the fruit and ordered a Hennessy Paradis before asking the FA if they could possibly make my bed in 2A with the non working IFE. They duly obliged and I had about 4 hours sleep before landing in DXB.
Fruit was great after the shower.
Henny for nightcap
Bed made with window view. Really couldn't ask for more....
I woke up an hour before landing at which point I felt awake, but not quite refreshed. Our departure time of about 7pm meant we landed in DXB around 11pm local time but due to the time difference, my body (and my watch) was telling me it was about 2am HKG time. I had to wake up Zoe which is never a fun experience but she was surprisingly ok, just a bit clingy and didn't want to walk. Not surprising - I didn't want to get off the plane either!
We were one of the first passengers to exit the plane and made our way towards the connections area. Our connecting flight to CDG was T3, but we were told the F lounge there was not as big so we decided to stay in the T2 lounge until closer to departure time. We had a 4 hour layover so had plenty of time to get some more food and a bit more sleep.
More on the CDG leg later.
Oct 14, 2018, 8:28 pm
#24
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 47
The F lounge lift was immediately ahead of us as we deplaned and after asking for directions to the dining area, we sat down and ordered some food. Our (or my) body clock was still sync'd to HKG time so it was about 2-3am for me. However, in Dubai it was "only" 11pm-ish so we decided to have "dinner/supper" instead of "breakfast". Unfortunately, I was too tired and forgot to take a photo of the menu. The buffet spread had changed to a selection of cold meats and salads. We sat down for a "dinner" - Mrs Dark8 had a Laksa. She thought this was a full laksa and was complaining how small it was until she re-read the menu and realised it was meant to be a laksa "soup", and therefore should have been an entree. I had a steak while Z didn't feel like eating and had nothing but a bit of bread from the bread basket.
I was pretty dazed from the lack of sleep, and Z was getting cranky. Luckily the F lounge had a very quiet "rest area" with sofas/lounges that were almost lie flat. I couldn't take any photos of that because the lights were too dim in that room, but we dozed off for about 2-3 hours before my phone's alarm clock woke us up and we had to make our way to T3.
It was our first time at DXB and we had no idea T3 was sooooo far away. There were some notice boards etc which gave us an estimated time as to how long we'd need to walk before we got there, and it was about 30 minutes! To make matters worse, we were boarding at gate 5, and when we got to T3, I saw that the gate numbers were in descending order, that meant our gate was right at the other end of the terminal!! Thankfully, one of those golf carts stopped for us and we hitched a ride up to the gate. By the time we arrived, boarding had already commenced so we quickly unloaded our stuff off the cart and walked into the now familiar F cabin.
I had assigned seats 2A, 3A and 4A again, and this time around all the seats were in perfect working order. I found the service on this leg to be more "warm" and not as "mechanical" as the first leg.
Plane spotting before pushback - I think that might be an EK777?
Palms outside our window after take off
Zoe was enjoying all the little gifts and snack basket she was given.
She had something from the kids meal before we took her for a shower and then drugged her (yes again!) and she fell asleep soon after. Now that I'd flown EK F already, when the FA asked if I knew how the shower operated, I was very proud to say "yes".
The flight was pretty much the same as previous leg, but even shorter this time. I had one meal and showered again before sleeping (without a Henny this time) and woke up about an hour before landing. CDG wasn't as hectic as I thought, and we made our way out to collect our luggage and met our EK chauffeurs. My wife was very impressed with these French drivers as they were tall, young and handsome....thanks wife.....EK arranged for 2 cars for us, one for the luggage and one for us. We sat in the Audi, and the Merc followed behind.
I had booked an AirBNB in the Bastille area, and it took about 1 hour for us to reach our destination. By then, it was around 11am Paris time, and check in wasn't until 1pm. We had a bit of brunch downstairs and waited until check in time before heading to our apartment.
More writing up a bit later on
I was pretty dazed from the lack of sleep, and Z was getting cranky. Luckily the F lounge had a very quiet "rest area" with sofas/lounges that were almost lie flat. I couldn't take any photos of that because the lights were too dim in that room, but we dozed off for about 2-3 hours before my phone's alarm clock woke us up and we had to make our way to T3.
It was our first time at DXB and we had no idea T3 was sooooo far away. There were some notice boards etc which gave us an estimated time as to how long we'd need to walk before we got there, and it was about 30 minutes! To make matters worse, we were boarding at gate 5, and when we got to T3, I saw that the gate numbers were in descending order, that meant our gate was right at the other end of the terminal!! Thankfully, one of those golf carts stopped for us and we hitched a ride up to the gate. By the time we arrived, boarding had already commenced so we quickly unloaded our stuff off the cart and walked into the now familiar F cabin.
I had assigned seats 2A, 3A and 4A again, and this time around all the seats were in perfect working order. I found the service on this leg to be more "warm" and not as "mechanical" as the first leg.
Plane spotting before pushback - I think that might be an EK777?
Palms outside our window after take off
Zoe was enjoying all the little gifts and snack basket she was given.
She had something from the kids meal before we took her for a shower and then drugged her (yes again!) and she fell asleep soon after. Now that I'd flown EK F already, when the FA asked if I knew how the shower operated, I was very proud to say "yes".
The flight was pretty much the same as previous leg, but even shorter this time. I had one meal and showered again before sleeping (without a Henny this time) and woke up about an hour before landing. CDG wasn't as hectic as I thought, and we made our way out to collect our luggage and met our EK chauffeurs. My wife was very impressed with these French drivers as they were tall, young and handsome....thanks wife.....EK arranged for 2 cars for us, one for the luggage and one for us. We sat in the Audi, and the Merc followed behind.
I had booked an AirBNB in the Bastille area, and it took about 1 hour for us to reach our destination. By then, it was around 11am Paris time, and check in wasn't until 1pm. We had a bit of brunch downstairs and waited until check in time before heading to our apartment.
More writing up a bit later on
Nov 4, 2018, 10:58 pm
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 47
Sorry for the long delay between updates. I've been super busy at work and trying to fix some bits and bobs around the house too.
So i left off with us arriving in Paris and having just checked into our AirBNB in the Bastille area. It was right above a cafe so we had some food before heading upstairs. The lift was super tight so i had to run about 4 times before i could get all our luggage into the apartment.
The furnishing and layout was very nice, but unfortunately I failed to read the fine print and didn't notice the apartment didn't have air conditioning!! Paris was very nice for early autumn (about 23-29 degrees) but it was uncomfortably warm inside the apartment. Not sure why, because out in the hallway it was super cool. We couldn't really open the windows because there were renovation works going on and so scaffolding was built right up next to the windows. We were on the 1st floor so pretty much all street noise would come straight through to the apartment if we left the windows open for some fresh air.
Lounge area included a sofa bed which little Z slept comfortably in.
I had to get the fan out of the wardrobe to keep us cool.
The good thing about staying in an AirBnB was that we had access to a washing machine to wash our clothes. The bad thing is there was no clothes line and I refused to use the dryer in case it shrunk all our clothes. We (I) improvised by putting the laundry on heated towel rack. Thinking this was a great idea, and since it was a beautiful day outside on our first day of arrive, we decided to go for a bit of a stroll.
First stop was the Eiffel Tower. We've been to Paris two times before, the last time back in 2013 but a lot seems to have changed since then. Obviously there has been some security concerns and whereas in the past we could walk right under the Tower even if we had no intention of climbing it, it is now blocked off and requiring security checks before you can actually walk underneath it. We weren't going to try and climb it as I doubt Z was going to be impressed anyway so we just walked around a bit and took some obligatory tourist photos
Z really wanted to go on the carousel so we obliged and let her ride. Mrs Dark8 wasn't feeling too well with the warmth and all the walking so she took a seat on one of the benches under some shade. We walked around until sunset and went to look for a local restaurant for some dinner.
The weather was simply perfect and there were many people just camped in the grass to the south of the Tower. I remarked to my wife that a majority of those who were sitting were enjoying a nice glass of wine or some beer and some snacks and reminisced the days when we were young and carefree. She chided me and said that we didn't meet until we were 28 to which I said, "oh, sorry, must have been another girl".
(ongoing joke between us). She didn't like that one.
Sunset at the Eiffel Tower. Z was getting a little cranky so we looked for a restaurant to grab some dinner. My guess was we weren't going to find anything that wasn't a tourist trap, but most of the restaurants in the area were similarly priced. We opted for one which had a special for an entree/main/dessert. By the time we'd finished dinner it was about 8pm and given Z didn't have an afternoon nap that day and she had broken sleep the night before (albeit on two F flights), we figured we'd head back early and call it a night.
We arrived back at the apartment to find it was stinking hot. My great idea of leaving the heated towel rack on to dry the clothes worked to our benefit and detriment. The clothes were about 90% dry, but the apartment itself was at least 5 degrees celsius warmer than outside! I had to open the windows to let some fresh air in, but it was becoming quite noisy downstairs as the bars started getting a bit busier. Z slept well because she was flat out tired. Mrs Dark8 and myself...not so well.
Day 2 consisted of me waking early for a 3 hour round trip to London. I had purchased a watch for my director in Hong Kong and had to deliver it to him in London. I caught an early Eurostar from Gare Du Nord to St Pancras over and made it back to Paris by 1pm.
Mrs Dark8 and Z had headed off to Jardin d"Acclimatation during the morning so as soon as I arrived back in Paris I headed straight over to join them. It was glorious weather again and for those who have small kids, I highly recommend going to this park. Apart from some kiddy rides, it also had "water" area where kids could run through water fountains and cool off a bit. Mrs Dark8 didn't know there was a water area so she didn't pack swimwear etc. Mrs Dark8 didn't want to go too close to the area in case Z was going to throw a tantrum if we didn't let her in. However, being in France I said that we could just let Z run half naked and it wouldn't take long to let her clothes dry in the sun. Mrs Dark8 was a bit hesitant but I reassured her that it will be fine and i'm sure plenty of other kids would be like that. Sure enough, as we got closer almost all the kids were semi naked (or totally starkers) and running around having an awesome time. I wanted to film/photograph my child having a great time, but it felt awkward at times because there were some older children there (maybe as old as 8-10) who were also butt naked. I had my camera firmly pointed at my own child at all times but it did feel a bit weird that no other parents yelled at me for taking a phone into an area full of semi naked children. Only in Paris? Or maybe us Australians are a bit over protective?
Dinner was at a restaurant my wife chose with some friends who were also in Paris at the same time. Their daughter is 1 month younger than Z so they get along and play together. Night was warm and the restaurant had no air conditioning. It was a super long day for me, having travelled to London and back so we called it quits early again and caught an Uber back to our apartment.
So i left off with us arriving in Paris and having just checked into our AirBNB in the Bastille area. It was right above a cafe so we had some food before heading upstairs. The lift was super tight so i had to run about 4 times before i could get all our luggage into the apartment.
The furnishing and layout was very nice, but unfortunately I failed to read the fine print and didn't notice the apartment didn't have air conditioning!! Paris was very nice for early autumn (about 23-29 degrees) but it was uncomfortably warm inside the apartment. Not sure why, because out in the hallway it was super cool. We couldn't really open the windows because there were renovation works going on and so scaffolding was built right up next to the windows. We were on the 1st floor so pretty much all street noise would come straight through to the apartment if we left the windows open for some fresh air.
Lounge area included a sofa bed which little Z slept comfortably in.
I had to get the fan out of the wardrobe to keep us cool.
The good thing about staying in an AirBnB was that we had access to a washing machine to wash our clothes. The bad thing is there was no clothes line and I refused to use the dryer in case it shrunk all our clothes. We (I) improvised by putting the laundry on heated towel rack. Thinking this was a great idea, and since it was a beautiful day outside on our first day of arrive, we decided to go for a bit of a stroll.
First stop was the Eiffel Tower. We've been to Paris two times before, the last time back in 2013 but a lot seems to have changed since then. Obviously there has been some security concerns and whereas in the past we could walk right under the Tower even if we had no intention of climbing it, it is now blocked off and requiring security checks before you can actually walk underneath it. We weren't going to try and climb it as I doubt Z was going to be impressed anyway so we just walked around a bit and took some obligatory tourist photos
Z really wanted to go on the carousel so we obliged and let her ride. Mrs Dark8 wasn't feeling too well with the warmth and all the walking so she took a seat on one of the benches under some shade. We walked around until sunset and went to look for a local restaurant for some dinner.
The weather was simply perfect and there were many people just camped in the grass to the south of the Tower. I remarked to my wife that a majority of those who were sitting were enjoying a nice glass of wine or some beer and some snacks and reminisced the days when we were young and carefree. She chided me and said that we didn't meet until we were 28 to which I said, "oh, sorry, must have been another girl".
(ongoing joke between us). She didn't like that one.Sunset at the Eiffel Tower. Z was getting a little cranky so we looked for a restaurant to grab some dinner. My guess was we weren't going to find anything that wasn't a tourist trap, but most of the restaurants in the area were similarly priced. We opted for one which had a special for an entree/main/dessert. By the time we'd finished dinner it was about 8pm and given Z didn't have an afternoon nap that day and she had broken sleep the night before (albeit on two F flights), we figured we'd head back early and call it a night.
We arrived back at the apartment to find it was stinking hot. My great idea of leaving the heated towel rack on to dry the clothes worked to our benefit and detriment. The clothes were about 90% dry, but the apartment itself was at least 5 degrees celsius warmer than outside! I had to open the windows to let some fresh air in, but it was becoming quite noisy downstairs as the bars started getting a bit busier. Z slept well because she was flat out tired. Mrs Dark8 and myself...not so well.
Day 2 consisted of me waking early for a 3 hour round trip to London. I had purchased a watch for my director in Hong Kong and had to deliver it to him in London. I caught an early Eurostar from Gare Du Nord to St Pancras over and made it back to Paris by 1pm.
Mrs Dark8 and Z had headed off to Jardin d"Acclimatation during the morning so as soon as I arrived back in Paris I headed straight over to join them. It was glorious weather again and for those who have small kids, I highly recommend going to this park. Apart from some kiddy rides, it also had "water" area where kids could run through water fountains and cool off a bit. Mrs Dark8 didn't know there was a water area so she didn't pack swimwear etc. Mrs Dark8 didn't want to go too close to the area in case Z was going to throw a tantrum if we didn't let her in. However, being in France I said that we could just let Z run half naked and it wouldn't take long to let her clothes dry in the sun. Mrs Dark8 was a bit hesitant but I reassured her that it will be fine and i'm sure plenty of other kids would be like that. Sure enough, as we got closer almost all the kids were semi naked (or totally starkers) and running around having an awesome time. I wanted to film/photograph my child having a great time, but it felt awkward at times because there were some older children there (maybe as old as 8-10) who were also butt naked. I had my camera firmly pointed at my own child at all times but it did feel a bit weird that no other parents yelled at me for taking a phone into an area full of semi naked children. Only in Paris? Or maybe us Australians are a bit over protective?
Dinner was at a restaurant my wife chose with some friends who were also in Paris at the same time. Their daughter is 1 month younger than Z so they get along and play together. Night was warm and the restaurant had no air conditioning. It was a super long day for me, having travelled to London and back so we called it quits early again and caught an Uber back to our apartment.
Last edited by dark8; Nov 29, 2018 at 2:55 pm Reason: spelling error
Nov 26, 2018, 6:02 am
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 47
Sorry all, I've been really short on time and haven't had much chance to keep writing this report.
I last left off with in the midst our our 5 day trip in Paris. That was a Wednesday and our plans for the following itinerary was Paris Disneyland on Thursday, some shopping at the outlets in La Vallee on Friday, then some free time on Saturday before we had a mid afternoon flight to Reykjavik.
Disneyland was fun, but wet. We'd been to Tokyo and Hong Kong Disneyland before, but this was the first time we'd be going with our daughter. I was super excited about it, and Z was ready to dress up as Elsa from Frozen. Unfortunately the weather took a 180 degree turn and it was miserably cold and wet.
We took the Metro and then the RER from Bastille station. I think I must have bought the wrong tickets as, although the tickets allowed us to enter the RER gates, they wouldn't let us past the gates upon arriving at our destination. Didn't matter though because somehow because we had a pram, the French were very kind to let you use a special "accessibility" gate which you only needed to press a button for the station staff to remotely let you through.
I didn't realise there were actually two separate theme parks for Paris Disney. We finally worked out which park we wanted to enter (the one with the kiddie rides obviously) and made our way into the park. First stop for my wife was the souvenir shop, where she promptly bought 2 sets of those "Mickey Mouse" ears for herself and Z. We walked quickly towards Fantasy Land, which was beyond Cinderella's castle and towards the rides.
Z had to settle for her Frozen jacket instead of her Frozen dress for the time being. We went on a couple of rides and soon it was lunch time so we ate at the restaurants inside the park. Sure it was a rip off, but we kind of expected it....
The weather eventually cleared enough for Z to wear her Frozen dress. She'd brought it all the way from Melbourne and had it stashed away in her little Trunki suitcase with her through all the flights just for today!
It had been a long day and Z was super tired so she was starting to get a little bit cranky. We put her into the stroller and she promptly dozed off. She slept so much she actually missed the parade, which had a Frozen float! Poor Z!
When it was time to leave we made sure we purchased the correct Metro/RER combo and headed home. The lines to buy tickets were packed so a tip to others, upon arriving at Disney (and if you don't hold one of those multi trip tickets), head to the machines and pre-purchase a return ticket so you can skip all the queues when its home time.
We got home quite late and ate around the Bastille area. Good food, nothing special.
Friday was more a day for Mrs Dark8. I didn't take too many photos simply because it was just a shopping mall. The prices weren't too sharp mostly due to the poor AUD/EUR fx rate, so I didn't buy anything apart from lunch. The Mrs bought a few items which she thought was a good deal, so we had to remember to find the tax return office once we left the EU region. We got home fairly late that night and had a quick dinner before putting Z to bed. Weather had been great all day but Z and Mrs Dark8 were very tired from walking all day. As we were staying in Bastille and since it was a Friday night, every bar downstairs seemed to be going off! I decided to hop downstairs for a quick beer or two and just people watch for a while.
This laneway was packed with bars on both sides of the street and it was just downstairs from our AirBnB! I believe it was Rue de Lappe but could be wrong. Looks like a must visit if you wanted to party up in Paris!
Saturday was great weather again. One of the things my wife had me doing since arriving in Paris was registering on the Hermes website to see if she can get an appointment with a "handbag/leather specialist" to buy a bag. She'd been researching for months prior to our departure and was totally convinced that she had to win over the salespeople at Hermes FSH store and impress them with her knowledge of the bags so they would be more inclined to sell her one of the more popular models. I told her straight up that was a stupid sales model and I'd tell them where to stick their bag if I had to "grovel" or "kiss ..." for it. Anyway, it turned out that my registration on Friday morning was accepted and I was "lucky" enough to get an appointment on Saturday afternoon. So guess where we were going on Saturday? Hermes FSH.
A lot of you may have more experience than me at buying luxury goods, but this was really something else. The message said (in English) that our appointment was at 5pm but subject to change and to keep an eye out on the website. At midday, when I checked the link, the appointment changed to 4.30pm. We were at Champs Elysees and Jordan X PSG had just released so I was walking through the Nike store to see if I could get a t-shirt or something. It turns out that I was able to buy 1 Jordan X PSG t-shirt which was pretty much the extent of my shopping in Paris.
Selfie at Arc de Triomphe
Outside the Jordan x PSG Nike store. Did I tell you I'm a bit of a sneaker/shoe freak?
As we slowly headed away from Champs Elysees towards Hermes FSH for our 4.30pm appointment, we walked by other designer fashion stores such as Gucci, Fendi etc. Did some window shopping and it was close to 3pm. Did a check on the Hermes website as the Mrs was a little hopeful she might get her "dream bag". Then I freaked out. The website was saying our appointment had changed to 3.30pm. I had half an hour to push a pram and walk with a pregnant woman about 25 minutes to get to FSH. As much as I wasn't impressed by the Hermes sales method, I still didn't want my wife to miss out on her "opportunity of a lifetime". So I told my wife I'd run to the FSH store quickly since the appointment was in my name and she can catch up to us later.
I made good time and arrived at the FSH store right on time, only to be told there was no rush and I can take a seat and wait to be called.......W......T.......F?????? So I ran/brisk walked for about 20 minutes for nothing??? Anyway, no photos of me sweating my butt off trying to make it to FSH on time. My wife arrived about 15 minutes after me and we proceeded to meet the sales person. My wife was a little flustered due to everything happening so quickly so she'd pretty much lost her train of thought and just straight out told the salesperson what she wanted. Apparently, doing that is a big no no and will be met with simple rejection. And that's exactly what happened. "Sorry we don't have deliveries on Saturday" was the response. The salesperson suggested we could choose from the range they had on display in the store, but of course none of these were the more sought after models. Disappointed in her "performance" of impressing the salesperson (but to my absolute delight) my wife left empty handed. Up yours Hermes is what i'll say. Maybe its a case of sour grapes but i'd much prefer my wife to not spend thousands of dollars on a bag that might only just fit her keys, purse and phone and nothing else. Meh!
Hermes FSH was a short walk from Place de la Concorde so we walked there for a few photos and decided to take a slow walk towards the Lourve for some more snaps.
Z and I enjoyed taking some photos whilst my wife was sulking about the missed opportunity.
By the time we arrived at the Lourve everyone was pretty tired. We definitely weren't going inside as we'd been before so we just walked around outside and marvelled at the glass pyramid and awesome weather.
Sunday came about very quickly and looking back, we really didn't do much in Paris. The Metro was a pain to travel on with a child, and I swear I hardly saw any other families with strollers/prams taking that mode of transport. Uber was pretty expensive and we weren't familiar with the bus system. Maybe next time we'll stay outside of Paris and rent a car and enjoy a bit more of the countryside. We caught an Uber to CDG and saw this on the way.
its a bird? Its a plane? yep, its a Concorde! First time I'd ever seen this as the previous times we were in Paris, we'd caught the RER to CDG. I was super impressed, but Mrs Dark8 had no idea was totally not interested. I think she was still sulking about Hermes. Z obviously didn't care either....
Anyway, we had a 3pm flight out of CDG so we tried to be at the airport by 12pm. I tried to look for the Priority Pass lounge before we passed security in the old Terminal 1, but when I asked about the lounge, the airport staff told me it was beyond security. Bad move, as we'd walked through and into a very small waiting area which had absolutely no food choice. The lounge was for Frequent Flyers only and since I had no status, we weren't welcome.....We had to make do with the Pret a Manger which had a massive line and weren't serving any coffee because the coffee grinder was broken. Sigh....far cry from the EK F experience....this was reality....
We had a quick bite and still had an hour left before departure so Z and I walked around while Mrs Dark8 sat at the gate to play Candy Crush. She said she wasn't feeling well due to her pregnancy, but I had a feeling she was still sulking.
Heading to KEF on FI - still had an hour to kill.
There were a couple of PS4s set up but they were taken by some teenage kids. Luckily I found this which was more reflective of my age:
This was free to play but Z wasn't very interested. I had a few tries but just couldn't link any combos anymore. FWIW I used to be pretty good at this game. As I was playing this, I realised how old the game was and all of a sudden and for an unknown reason, I remembered a scene out of Back to the Future II where Marty McFly had travelled to the future and was playing that shooting game in the diner and the kids from the future remarked "You mean you have to use your hands?? That's a baby's game!"
My daughter knows how to use/watch Youtube without much prompting. She can skip ads and select a new video, but she'll probably never develop the eye/hand co-ordination or the dexterity to pull off the Akuma "Raging Demon" move.
So the plane boarded quickly and it was a fairly full flight. It was only a 3 hour flight from CDG to REY and FI had all baggage included in the ticket price and my research showed it was a full fare airline and it was quite respectable. Leg room wasn't too bad either.
The seat back had a IFE screen, but there were no headphones handed out. Instead, you had to use your own and I didn't pack mine in my carry on. Luckily for me, we were flying with a 3 year old and the FAs handed out some children's headphones for her. Z had no interest in wearing headphones so I took them and watched Oceans 8 and let her watch Frozen on the tablet (without sound - just the way she (and we) likes it).
We landed in Reykjavik around 4.30pm and Z was getting a little cranky due to not having had a nap. Reykjavik Airport is fairly modern, but pretty small so we walked out fairly quickly, picked up our luggage and headed for the free shuttle bus which would take us to the hire car company's airport desk. In hindsight, it would have been quicker for me to walk as its only about 300m away from the terminal. Note to self: next time we hire a car in REY, just leave wife and kids at terminal and walk to hire car service desk to pick up car and return to pick them up.
Little bit cold here, waiting for the bus.
It was pretty cold in Reykjavik and I must admit I was a little underdressed coming off the plane. I don't usually mind the cooler weather, but we had to wait outside for about 30 minutes for the shuttle bus. The bus ride only took about 5 minutes and we got off and headed into the warmth of the hire car service desk to pick up our car. I was starting to get more excited because I was really looking forward to this part of the trip.
Bed time for me now, more to come next time.
I last left off with in the midst our our 5 day trip in Paris. That was a Wednesday and our plans for the following itinerary was Paris Disneyland on Thursday, some shopping at the outlets in La Vallee on Friday, then some free time on Saturday before we had a mid afternoon flight to Reykjavik.
Disneyland was fun, but wet. We'd been to Tokyo and Hong Kong Disneyland before, but this was the first time we'd be going with our daughter. I was super excited about it, and Z was ready to dress up as Elsa from Frozen. Unfortunately the weather took a 180 degree turn and it was miserably cold and wet.
We took the Metro and then the RER from Bastille station. I think I must have bought the wrong tickets as, although the tickets allowed us to enter the RER gates, they wouldn't let us past the gates upon arriving at our destination. Didn't matter though because somehow because we had a pram, the French were very kind to let you use a special "accessibility" gate which you only needed to press a button for the station staff to remotely let you through.
I didn't realise there were actually two separate theme parks for Paris Disney. We finally worked out which park we wanted to enter (the one with the kiddie rides obviously) and made our way into the park. First stop for my wife was the souvenir shop, where she promptly bought 2 sets of those "Mickey Mouse" ears for herself and Z. We walked quickly towards Fantasy Land, which was beyond Cinderella's castle and towards the rides.
Z had to settle for her Frozen jacket instead of her Frozen dress for the time being. We went on a couple of rides and soon it was lunch time so we ate at the restaurants inside the park. Sure it was a rip off, but we kind of expected it....
The weather eventually cleared enough for Z to wear her Frozen dress. She'd brought it all the way from Melbourne and had it stashed away in her little Trunki suitcase with her through all the flights just for today!
It had been a long day and Z was super tired so she was starting to get a little bit cranky. We put her into the stroller and she promptly dozed off. She slept so much she actually missed the parade, which had a Frozen float! Poor Z!
When it was time to leave we made sure we purchased the correct Metro/RER combo and headed home. The lines to buy tickets were packed so a tip to others, upon arriving at Disney (and if you don't hold one of those multi trip tickets), head to the machines and pre-purchase a return ticket so you can skip all the queues when its home time.
We got home quite late and ate around the Bastille area. Good food, nothing special.
Friday was more a day for Mrs Dark8. I didn't take too many photos simply because it was just a shopping mall. The prices weren't too sharp mostly due to the poor AUD/EUR fx rate, so I didn't buy anything apart from lunch. The Mrs bought a few items which she thought was a good deal, so we had to remember to find the tax return office once we left the EU region. We got home fairly late that night and had a quick dinner before putting Z to bed. Weather had been great all day but Z and Mrs Dark8 were very tired from walking all day. As we were staying in Bastille and since it was a Friday night, every bar downstairs seemed to be going off! I decided to hop downstairs for a quick beer or two and just people watch for a while.
This laneway was packed with bars on both sides of the street and it was just downstairs from our AirBnB! I believe it was Rue de Lappe but could be wrong. Looks like a must visit if you wanted to party up in Paris!
Saturday was great weather again. One of the things my wife had me doing since arriving in Paris was registering on the Hermes website to see if she can get an appointment with a "handbag/leather specialist" to buy a bag. She'd been researching for months prior to our departure and was totally convinced that she had to win over the salespeople at Hermes FSH store and impress them with her knowledge of the bags so they would be more inclined to sell her one of the more popular models. I told her straight up that was a stupid sales model and I'd tell them where to stick their bag if I had to "grovel" or "kiss ..." for it. Anyway, it turned out that my registration on Friday morning was accepted and I was "lucky" enough to get an appointment on Saturday afternoon. So guess where we were going on Saturday? Hermes FSH.
A lot of you may have more experience than me at buying luxury goods, but this was really something else. The message said (in English) that our appointment was at 5pm but subject to change and to keep an eye out on the website. At midday, when I checked the link, the appointment changed to 4.30pm. We were at Champs Elysees and Jordan X PSG had just released so I was walking through the Nike store to see if I could get a t-shirt or something. It turns out that I was able to buy 1 Jordan X PSG t-shirt which was pretty much the extent of my shopping in Paris.
Selfie at Arc de Triomphe
Outside the Jordan x PSG Nike store. Did I tell you I'm a bit of a sneaker/shoe freak?
As we slowly headed away from Champs Elysees towards Hermes FSH for our 4.30pm appointment, we walked by other designer fashion stores such as Gucci, Fendi etc. Did some window shopping and it was close to 3pm. Did a check on the Hermes website as the Mrs was a little hopeful she might get her "dream bag". Then I freaked out. The website was saying our appointment had changed to 3.30pm. I had half an hour to push a pram and walk with a pregnant woman about 25 minutes to get to FSH. As much as I wasn't impressed by the Hermes sales method, I still didn't want my wife to miss out on her "opportunity of a lifetime". So I told my wife I'd run to the FSH store quickly since the appointment was in my name and she can catch up to us later.
I made good time and arrived at the FSH store right on time, only to be told there was no rush and I can take a seat and wait to be called.......W......T.......F?????? So I ran/brisk walked for about 20 minutes for nothing??? Anyway, no photos of me sweating my butt off trying to make it to FSH on time. My wife arrived about 15 minutes after me and we proceeded to meet the sales person. My wife was a little flustered due to everything happening so quickly so she'd pretty much lost her train of thought and just straight out told the salesperson what she wanted. Apparently, doing that is a big no no and will be met with simple rejection. And that's exactly what happened. "Sorry we don't have deliveries on Saturday" was the response. The salesperson suggested we could choose from the range they had on display in the store, but of course none of these were the more sought after models. Disappointed in her "performance" of impressing the salesperson (but to my absolute delight) my wife left empty handed. Up yours Hermes is what i'll say. Maybe its a case of sour grapes but i'd much prefer my wife to not spend thousands of dollars on a bag that might only just fit her keys, purse and phone and nothing else. Meh!
Hermes FSH was a short walk from Place de la Concorde so we walked there for a few photos and decided to take a slow walk towards the Lourve for some more snaps.
Z and I enjoyed taking some photos whilst my wife was sulking about the missed opportunity.
By the time we arrived at the Lourve everyone was pretty tired. We definitely weren't going inside as we'd been before so we just walked around outside and marvelled at the glass pyramid and awesome weather.
Sunday came about very quickly and looking back, we really didn't do much in Paris. The Metro was a pain to travel on with a child, and I swear I hardly saw any other families with strollers/prams taking that mode of transport. Uber was pretty expensive and we weren't familiar with the bus system. Maybe next time we'll stay outside of Paris and rent a car and enjoy a bit more of the countryside. We caught an Uber to CDG and saw this on the way.
its a bird? Its a plane? yep, its a Concorde! First time I'd ever seen this as the previous times we were in Paris, we'd caught the RER to CDG. I was super impressed, but Mrs Dark8 had no idea was totally not interested. I think she was still sulking about Hermes. Z obviously didn't care either....
Anyway, we had a 3pm flight out of CDG so we tried to be at the airport by 12pm. I tried to look for the Priority Pass lounge before we passed security in the old Terminal 1, but when I asked about the lounge, the airport staff told me it was beyond security. Bad move, as we'd walked through and into a very small waiting area which had absolutely no food choice. The lounge was for Frequent Flyers only and since I had no status, we weren't welcome.....We had to make do with the Pret a Manger which had a massive line and weren't serving any coffee because the coffee grinder was broken. Sigh....far cry from the EK F experience....this was reality....
We had a quick bite and still had an hour left before departure so Z and I walked around while Mrs Dark8 sat at the gate to play Candy Crush. She said she wasn't feeling well due to her pregnancy, but I had a feeling she was still sulking.
Heading to KEF on FI - still had an hour to kill.
There were a couple of PS4s set up but they were taken by some teenage kids. Luckily I found this which was more reflective of my age:
This was free to play but Z wasn't very interested. I had a few tries but just couldn't link any combos anymore. FWIW I used to be pretty good at this game. As I was playing this, I realised how old the game was and all of a sudden and for an unknown reason, I remembered a scene out of Back to the Future II where Marty McFly had travelled to the future and was playing that shooting game in the diner and the kids from the future remarked "You mean you have to use your hands?? That's a baby's game!"
My daughter knows how to use/watch Youtube without much prompting. She can skip ads and select a new video, but she'll probably never develop the eye/hand co-ordination or the dexterity to pull off the Akuma "Raging Demon" move.
So the plane boarded quickly and it was a fairly full flight. It was only a 3 hour flight from CDG to REY and FI had all baggage included in the ticket price and my research showed it was a full fare airline and it was quite respectable. Leg room wasn't too bad either.
The seat back had a IFE screen, but there were no headphones handed out. Instead, you had to use your own and I didn't pack mine in my carry on. Luckily for me, we were flying with a 3 year old and the FAs handed out some children's headphones for her. Z had no interest in wearing headphones so I took them and watched Oceans 8 and let her watch Frozen on the tablet (without sound - just the way she (and we) likes it).
We landed in Reykjavik around 4.30pm and Z was getting a little cranky due to not having had a nap. Reykjavik Airport is fairly modern, but pretty small so we walked out fairly quickly, picked up our luggage and headed for the free shuttle bus which would take us to the hire car company's airport desk. In hindsight, it would have been quicker for me to walk as its only about 300m away from the terminal. Note to self: next time we hire a car in REY, just leave wife and kids at terminal and walk to hire car service desk to pick up car and return to pick them up.
Little bit cold here, waiting for the bus.
It was pretty cold in Reykjavik and I must admit I was a little underdressed coming off the plane. I don't usually mind the cooler weather, but we had to wait outside for about 30 minutes for the shuttle bus. The bus ride only took about 5 minutes and we got off and headed into the warmth of the hire car service desk to pick up our car. I was starting to get more excited because I was really looking forward to this part of the trip.
Bed time for me now, more to come next time.
Last edited by dark8; Nov 28, 2018 at 11:00 pm Reason: Update text
Nov 28, 2018, 11:40 pm
#29
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 47
So Day 1 in Reykjavik.
We landed around 4.30pm local time. We headed to the rental car company called "Blue Car Rentals". I had read so many horror stories about renting a car in Iceland, but apparently Blue Car were one of the more trustworthy ones. Even more so than the larger international companies I'm more familar with such as Hertz/Europcar/Avis etc. Their hire costs included all insurances except Sand and Ash Protection (also known as SAAP - there are a billion acronyms to learn when reading up on Icelandic hire car companies.l...). I chose a Dacia Duster in manual, with a baby capsule and GPS. I was actually hoping for an upgrade but that didn't materialise. Nevermind though, as I actually preferred to drive a manual car.
We were staying at an AirBNB in an area called Garoabaer, which was about a 10 minute drive from downtown Reykjavik. Our plan was to stay in Iceland for 6 days but we'd already lost half a day on the day we landed. Due to timezone change between France and Iceland, we were pretty hungry by the time we got the car so as we were driving towards our apartment, we stopped at a Domino's in Keflavik. Little did I realise that a large pizza, 1.25l of Coke, some garlic bread would cost me around $60 AUD. For comparison, a similar meal in Australia would have cost me $20 AUD tops. Oh well....There was a supermarket next door also so we took the opportunity to buy some groceries to make breakfast and some fruit to keep Z happy in the car.
We arrived at the apartment around 8.30pm. The apartment was very modern and my wife loved all the designer furniture. It came with a large LG TV with free Netflix, super fast internet, and even a B&O sound bar. The views were pretty nice too! We were staying here for 2 nights before moving off somewhere else. Mrs Dark8 said after the trip that this was the best stay of the trip! We put Z to bed as soon as we arrived and she slept in no time, having been up all day.
Internet speeds in Iceland were off the chart compared to Australian speeds.
Nice TV. I watched Netflix for a while, hoping to see some Northern Lights later in the night.
Z had been playing with the coasters before I had a chance to take some photos.
View from the apartment towards Reykjavik.
I think we saw some Northern Lights the first night....it was a greenish patch very far off to the distance above the city. I'm not entirely certain though, but it did look green. I woke up Mrs Dark8 to confirm, and she thought it was too, but we'd never seen NL before so we weren't sure.
Anyway, we had a few long days of car travel ahead of us so I went to bed around midnight.
I've mapped out our route below to illustrate exactly where in Iceland we're heading.
So we pretty much start off on the left of the map, head towards our AirBNB in Garoatorg and we go from there.
For the day tomorrow, we planned to visit Reykjavik and have a walk around. We also had a reservation at the restaurant at the Blue Lagoon so we'd head there around 5pm. Will write up in more detail shortly.
We landed around 4.30pm local time. We headed to the rental car company called "Blue Car Rentals". I had read so many horror stories about renting a car in Iceland, but apparently Blue Car were one of the more trustworthy ones. Even more so than the larger international companies I'm more familar with such as Hertz/Europcar/Avis etc. Their hire costs included all insurances except Sand and Ash Protection (also known as SAAP - there are a billion acronyms to learn when reading up on Icelandic hire car companies.l...). I chose a Dacia Duster in manual, with a baby capsule and GPS. I was actually hoping for an upgrade but that didn't materialise. Nevermind though, as I actually preferred to drive a manual car.
We were staying at an AirBNB in an area called Garoabaer, which was about a 10 minute drive from downtown Reykjavik. Our plan was to stay in Iceland for 6 days but we'd already lost half a day on the day we landed. Due to timezone change between France and Iceland, we were pretty hungry by the time we got the car so as we were driving towards our apartment, we stopped at a Domino's in Keflavik. Little did I realise that a large pizza, 1.25l of Coke, some garlic bread would cost me around $60 AUD. For comparison, a similar meal in Australia would have cost me $20 AUD tops. Oh well....There was a supermarket next door also so we took the opportunity to buy some groceries to make breakfast and some fruit to keep Z happy in the car.
We arrived at the apartment around 8.30pm. The apartment was very modern and my wife loved all the designer furniture. It came with a large LG TV with free Netflix, super fast internet, and even a B&O sound bar. The views were pretty nice too! We were staying here for 2 nights before moving off somewhere else. Mrs Dark8 said after the trip that this was the best stay of the trip! We put Z to bed as soon as we arrived and she slept in no time, having been up all day.
Internet speeds in Iceland were off the chart compared to Australian speeds.
Nice TV. I watched Netflix for a while, hoping to see some Northern Lights later in the night.
Z had been playing with the coasters before I had a chance to take some photos.
View from the apartment towards Reykjavik.
I think we saw some Northern Lights the first night....it was a greenish patch very far off to the distance above the city. I'm not entirely certain though, but it did look green. I woke up Mrs Dark8 to confirm, and she thought it was too, but we'd never seen NL before so we weren't sure.
Anyway, we had a few long days of car travel ahead of us so I went to bed around midnight.
I've mapped out our route below to illustrate exactly where in Iceland we're heading.
So we pretty much start off on the left of the map, head towards our AirBNB in Garoatorg and we go from there.
For the day tomorrow, we planned to visit Reykjavik and have a walk around. We also had a reservation at the restaurant at the Blue Lagoon so we'd head there around 5pm. Will write up in more detail shortly.
Last edited by dark8; Nov 29, 2018 at 4:01 pm Reason: spelling