Firstly, relating my last 24 hours in France. Written at CDG airport on 22June13.
I started yesterday (Friday 21June) in Dompierre sur Mer, near La Rochelle, 450km from Paris. Mary was in Paris with her old friend Josie. Our plan: I had to get to Paris to reunite with Mary and then we three, Mary, Josie and I, had to get to CDG airport this morning.
Mary had booked a small hotel for one night for the three of us near the Latin Quarter so she and Josie had only to move a short distance from the apartment that she, Josie and Peggy had stayed in for a week.
Getting to Orly airport (car drop point), southern edge of Paris, me, alone, in “rental” car
No real problem. Had Tom Tom nav system, backed up by iPad. Left 0800, in drizzling rain, headed NE. Being a tightwad, I was reluctant to refuel the car if possible (the trick is to get it back to the depot with as little fuel as possible in the tank as there is no refuelling charge, unlike normal rentals) so calculated that I already had enough fuel to go the distance. Besides, I was aware that the motorway toll charges would be around 40€! Consequently I travelled at 100-110 kph instead of the permitted 130kph. My onboard food supplies consisted of three Spanish peaches and a pack of five Mars Bars. Readily at hand was cash to pay the tolls in case my card was not accepted (it wasn’t).
The Tom Tom made the trip feasible, bearing in mind that I had no human companions and had never driven the route before. It was relatively easy until about 20km from the target when a convoluted route is required to turn through 180° on various motorways to access the one-way streets within the Orly airport complex. What a mess that area is! If you have to go there or from there by car, reconnoitre it thoroughly by map before setting off. Car hand over time: 13:30. No problem.
A small bus from the car depot dropped me and backpack plus my two other bags (one containing some items of Mary’s, other containing fishing clothing and equipment) at Orly Sud, which is connected by rail shuttle to the nearby RER (Paris outer rail system) station of Antony. Fare from Orly to Saint Michel Notre Dame: 11.30€, by shuttle and RER line B. On the way into Paris on the train I was able to monitor my progress northward on the iPad, thus confirming that I was travelling in the correct direction. Also, I was able to have a written dialogue with Mary using Message, telling her of my progress. She was using her iPod connected to the Hotel WiFi, which she’d set up herself. Love the iPad and iPod combo!
My target station, Saint Michel-Notre Dame arrived, as expected. As is common on Parisian rail stations, there is no provision or foresight for people carrying baggage. The RER station is about three levels below ground, so by the time I emerged into the daylight I was cursing the French rail station facilities for forcing me to climb stairs carrying my bags instead of wheeling them. I knew that I was somewhere near Boulevard San Michel but as there are numerous exits from the warren of pedestrian tunnels below my feet, my precise location when I emerged was unclear at first. Again the iPad came to the rescue, showing me precisely where I was and also that the hotel was five minutes walk away, just along the BSM. Several minutes later I was i our room at the Hotel St Pierre, our base for the night, and reunited with Mary and Josie. Surprisingly, our room had a view of the Eiffel Tower, if you opened the window and leaned out a little.
Room with a view, fifth floor, tiny lift
That evening, the longest day in the northern hemisphere, we three walked the surrounding streets which were thronged with people. We discovered that there were many musical acts occurring on the street around our part of the city and later discovered that the proliferation of musicians was connected with the summer solstice.
One of the many street bands nearby.
After dinner at a brasserie in the Latin Quarter we returned to our digs to find a jazz band noisily amusing the many patrons right below our fifth floor window. While the music was enjoyable the news from hotel management that it would go on until 1:00am was not.
View of the street below from our window.
Morning of 22June13. Location: Paris. Task: get the three of us and our luggage to CDG airport by 10:30am.
As we were five minutes’ walk from the RER station St Michel Notre Dame, which I’d arrived at yesterday and as we were also self portable, each hauling one wheeled bag, I opted for the rail travel option, which was cheaper than a taxi, and possibly more reliable. (On numerous occasions I’ve been the victim of taxi no-shows or taxi late and nobody knows whether it will arrive on time syndrome.) The RER B train services CDG airport (among other places) and is directly accessible from the station near our hotel.
The ladies were ready on time and we trundled the bags up the newly washed footpaths of the Boulevard San Michel, then dragged/lifted/clunked them down the many stairs to the ticket office and stations below. Why? Why don’t they put in a simple small single file ramp on each stairway as I’ve seen in other places?
Tickets secured we waited on the platform for 15 minutes before discovering that the RER B train uses the platform lower down (sign showing this obscured from our location due to bad design; only discovered after I got suspicious that train had not arrived and walked further down the platform to do a more detailed recce). Yes, I’d built in a reserve to our timings so this loss of 15 minutes was not a problem, and in fact we still had 15 minutes more up our sleeves.
Entrained for CDG and on the way was able to help a lady from the USA in the same carriage by accessing the Internet as we trundled along (I had retained a cellular Internet connection via SFR in case of issues) and finding out that United Airlines uses Terminal 1, not Terminal 2 as we were headed for (CDG has two train stations, unusually for France logically called 1 and 2, for the respective terminals).
Terminal 2 undergoing modification (so, what’s new?). Detoured around the works and found the check-in counter where we were looked after well by a Cathay Pacific employee and checked in without hassle, two hours before flight time.
Hong Kong; written 25/26June
Arrived on time 06:45 23June. With no need to hurry, bags and new cash in hand we headed straight for the Airport Express, retaining continuous free and fast WiFi from the airport onto the train into the city. No stairs. All escalators or smooth marble floors. 100HK dollars to Central Station in 25 minutes. Out of Central into a cab, at the T Hotel 15 minutes later where we found to our delight that our rooms were available for occupancy immediately, at no extra cost! This alone was most welcome as the combination of overnight flight and jetlag were wearying.
The T Hotel is different, being part of the Hong Kong Government’s training facilities for young people preparing for a career in the hospitality industry. With only 30 rooms, it is tiny in comparison with other similar standard hotels in this teeming city. Our room was huge and well appointed, with a view to the south west via an enormous window which allowed us to look directly down into the chaotic plant life cladding the steep slope leading to the road and buildings clinging to the water’s edge. Vessels large and small were traversing the sea and in the middle distance several islands were prominent. Very weary, we gladly hopped into the oversized bed.
The room
The view (being the wet season, cloudy days were the norm)
Two full days were spent visiting a small proportion of the attractions of Hong Kong, getting around by bus, taxi and ferry.
All that is left to do now is kill some time in the city before once more heading for the airport. Here in Hong Kong there is an airline check-in service at two of the city’s rail stations and at one of these we’ll get rid of our luggage and pick up our boarding passes. At the airport we’ll rendezvous with our friend Jim (husband of Josie) who will be arriving at that same airport from Paris and then departing with us on our flight home to Australia this evening.
And so this year’s big trip ends.
Kev
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