OFF TO PARIS

8th October, 2009

Most people I knew have visited Paris. For some, several times over. For my wife and I, this was the second time, compliment of our daughter. I angled this blog for friends who planned to visit Paris for the first time, and where time is limited. Our itinerary here is for 2 and half-days. We flew early morning from Dublin on Thursday 8th October on Ryan Air, Ireland's version of AirAsia. Dublin airport was already crowded when we arrived. Elderly couples rivalled the younger groups, all looked set for various holiday destinations, Paris being one.

Just like any low-cost carriers, Ryan Air flew into the low-cost terminal at Beauvais airport, roughly 80kms from Paris. An efficient bus service provides shuttle service to Porte Maillot in Paris for Euro 13 one way. One will take the same shuttle service to return to the airport for the flight out from Paris, if one flies via Ryan Air.

First destination on arrival in Paris was to go and hunt for our rented apartment. Mimi had booked an apartment located in a place called Simplon. So, from the bus station at Port Maillot, we immediately went underground. No, we were not illegal immigrants seeking a better life in France. We are very blessed back home. We went underground to the Porte Maillot metro station. From there, we would go by the metro to Simplon. Simple!

Well, not that simple really. First task was to locate the routes within the maze of metro underground routes found at the Porte Maillot metro station.

Pressing the Simplon button on the interactive map, our first stop to change the metro line was at Barbes-Rochechouar station. I really don't know how to pronounce this station. Mimi said in her blog, one must have a lot of phlegm to do so!

From here, it was a "simple" route to Simplon. We bought a 2-day pass, each costing Euro14.40 which allowed unlimited travel within the metro stations.

Exiting Simplon, we were pleasantly greeted with these Halal signs. Immediately my gut went into overdrive mode.

So we ate "tanpa was-was".

I am sure there are other areas within Paris that have Halal outlets. For us, Simplon was simply the place. The apartment we stayed in was about 5 mins from the metro station. We would recommend friends to consider Simplon for their stay. You will get a hang of the metro lines quite easily to move from place to place.

The apartment we rented had 1 double bed and 1 living area which converts into a 1 bed. It had a kitchen. It was perfect for a 3-some, though it was a walk-up to our 4th floor apartment. Damage (to Mimi of-course) was Euro 156 for the 2 nights.

We decided to take a short rest before going back underground, this time to the city for some sight-seeing.