The Penultimate Stage

A casual start to the day with a glorious sleep in. Jet lag hit the both of us last night as we were both wide awake at 2am. Thinking this can’t be good as we will be up for hours, we both had a brain wave and decided to turn down the air conditioning to make it very cold and it did the trick as we both fell asleep fairly quickly under the doona. Ventured down to breakfast at about 9am and wow, a huge buffet was on offer. Didnt know where to start but we did manage to gorge ourselves including a try out of the strawberry chocolate fondue that was running next to our to table.

After that we ventured to Chinatown to do the shopping part of our trip to pick up the obligatory fake clothing. Got very tired very quickly of the crowds and hawkers so we caught a taxi out of there to the peace and tranquillity of our hotel. Chilled in the room for a while and then by mid afternoon the hunger pangs started and we ventured outside to a Belgian Beer bar near the hotel. A couple of Becks beers, chips and squid rings, the NRL grand final and that was us for the day as we had to get back and pack up and book out by 6pm.

A quiet hour ride in a taxi to the airport as being Sunday afternoon there was not a lot of traffic around. Had Malaysian Maccas followed by a hot chocolate each for dinner and now we are waiting at the airport for our flight. A lot of time spent at airports this holiday but that part of the experience of cheap flights so it doesn’t worry us.

Time to go now as the battery is very low so Au Revour ( I know the spelling is wrong but not enough battery life to look it up or a Jenny close by to ask, and plus Larry cannot be bothered)  J

Our own personal Shangri-La

Although the plan was to just have a couple of hours sleep, we somehow didn’t manage to set the alarm correctly so it was more like midday when we woke up.  Forced ourselves to get up and then had a fantastic hot shower and a cuppa.  A comfy king sized bed, air conditioning and a luxuriously large bathroom and we felt like different people thanks to the Shangri-La.  The AFL grand final was on the telly so watched the first quarter of that and then decided we had to go out and get something to eat and convince our body clocks that it was daytime and that we should be up and about.  Walked out into the warm mugginess of Kuala Lumpar and walked up the road to the KLCC mall – part of the Petronus towers with a big shopping mall.  Lots of designer stores and the prices were not any cheaper than Perth so just headed to the Nando’s for a chicken burger and chips.  A Nando’s with no chips!!  The Malays had bowls of rice instead but we had yummy corn on the cob.  We asked for mild peri-peri but the burgers were jolly hot – hate to think what extra spicy would be like.  Luckily we had ordered nice drinks to go with it – mine was a mint fresher and Larry’s was pomegranate cola – a bit more exciting than the drinks available at Nando’s Duncraig!

Wandered around a few more shops and bought some disgustingly decadent donuts then back to the hotel just as it started to spit rain to find Geelong had beaten Collingwood – yippee!  Typed this up whilst poking Larry to keep him awake.  Decided the only way to keep him awake was to head poolside where I could splash him if he dozed.  Very balmy outside and nice to just sit by  the pool with an ice cold drink, a good book, good company and chill.  Back inside for a shower and a change of clothes (I have run out of hot weather clothes!!!) and popped over the road to the Hard Rock Cafe where we could be guaranteed a quick and easy meal.  Had a nasi goreng with satay chicken though so still had something a little bit authentic to Malaysia.  Back to the hotel and gave up the fight trying to keep Larry awake – got him through to 9pm though so hopefully he will have a good night’s sleep and we will have fought the jet lag.

Air Asia Australia

Once again, to placate Jenny who stresses if we have to rush, we headed off to Paris Nord about 7.00am.  That way we had plenty of time to find where to buy our train tickets to Orly and to find the right platform and train.  It was a bit complicated so it was good to have plenty of time.  We were on a train by 7.30am and boy was it crowded!  We got our suitcases and us off though  and onto the Orlyval shuttle as the sun was finally rising and got to the terminal by 8.20am.  We checked in the suitcases and were JUST on our allowable kilos, then headed upstairs to the departure lounge for breakfast – the last of the croissants/pan chocolats and hot chocolates.  Through multiple passport checks etc and then finally onto the plane.

Every seat around us was filled with Australians  - the most Australian accents we have heard for a while – most people had taken advantage of the cheap Paris airfares like us but had gone off all over the place – whilst we had done western France and England, others had done Germany/Austria and the snow or just enjoyed Paris.  Unfortunately we had a couple from Queensland with their three young sons right behind us who did not shut up for the whole flight – Darcy and Austin (3? 4?) continually kicked the seat, banged their trays, shouted, cried and whined for the entire 13 hours whilst Daddy put his headphones and ignored them and Mummy cajoled them with either cries of “Look, look out the window!” or with chips, lollies and books.  (I felt like saying ‘Enough with the sugar and additives for god’s sakes give them some Phenurgen!!!”)  Suffice to say we didn’t get a wink of sleep and felt absolutely shattered by the time we finally arrived in KL.  I would have paid any money to get a taxi and get to a bed so we coughed up and 45 minutes later were on the steps of the Shangri-La by 7am.  THANK GOD they had a room available so we stumbled upstairs and prayed the bell-hop would stop showing us where everything was and then fell into bed.

Cramming it all in

This  morning we faced the daunting task of packing.  Although we had been pretty good and bought lots of small stuff, there was lots of it and it took a fair bit of jiggling to get the suitcases to close – thank goodness for expandable zips!

Feeling reasonably organised we headed back into London for a couple of hours.  Apparently Larry had felt rushed through the M&M store and hadn’t seen all four storeys (!) so we headed back there and the last of the shopping to fill the last little corner of Larry’s suitcase was done.  We wandered off with the vague idea of squeezing in the British Museum in half an hour but in the end decided we didn’t want to rush so had a cup of coffee/tea instead and then walked through Covent Garden and down to Temple tube station.  Decided at the last minute to try and find the Temple church but it wasn’t very clearly marked on any map and as it was heading towards midday, we decided to abandon the attempt and just make sure we caught our train instead. 

Back to Glen and Jeremy’s and finished the last of the packing.  Martin was not at all impressed by the sight of packed suitcases and placed himself between us and the door in an attempt to stop us leaving.  A doggy treat and a hug to placate him didn’t really do the trick but probably helped and then we were off on our own again taking the first steps on the long trip home.  Got to Kings Cross/St Pancras without incident and with plenty of time so had time to have some lunch and buy some snacks for the train.  Lucky we did have plenty of time as the Eurostar people wanted to pull EVERYTHING out of Larry’s beautifully packed suitcase in the hunt for the D-day bullets.  Eventually convinced them they were harmless souvenirs and with a rather more bulky suitcase than previously, were allowed on our way. 

The Eurostar left right on time and flew through the English countryside and before we knew it we were through the tunnel and back in France.  The bloke opposite us consumed a whole bottle of red wine by himself and became quite chatty in the last half hour of the trip – he was on his way to Paris for the Arc d’Triomphe horse race and therefore, being into horse racing, knew about ‘So You Think’ and wants to go to the Melbourne Cup one day.  We were soon at Paris Nord where we realised that the paper with the hotel booking and directions on it was nowhere to be found – must have left it at G&J’s when we were writing out the directions this morning. Not too big an issue though as the directions were still fresh in our mind and we had a map so found the hotel without too much drama.  As the whole area around Paris Nord is pretty grotty and seedy and the street the hotel was on wasn’t much better we weren’t expecting much but the minute we stepped through the doors into the lobby it was nice and cool and quiet and we felt instantly much better.  The room was quiet and much bigger than the one at the Royal Magda and with the plastic sheets on the beds we felt safe from bed bugs (apparently most of the hotels around Paris Nord are infested with them). 

We headed out for dinner whilst it was still light and, as in London, the weather was warm and balmy so we sat alfresco in a little restaurant down the street and had steak and yummy garlicky potatoes and crème caramel for dessert.  A perfect ending to our holiday.  Back to the hotel and Larry repacked his suitcase (again) and then we forced ourselves to stay up until at least 10pm as we have gained an hour but have an early start tomorrow.