KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL/KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL - A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

Last November, we spent more than two weeks in Europe. It was an amazing holiday as we went to three different cities: Paris, London and Barcelona. So I shall break our itineraries into three parts and now we are starting with Paris in 5 Days! Enjoy browsing through the pictures.

One of the Best Creperies in Paris:

Breizh Cafe
Address: 109 Rue Vieille du Temple, 75003 Paris, France
Phone:+33 1 42 72 13 77
Hours: Wed-Sat 12 pm – 10 pm, Sun 12 pm – 11 pm

Getting Here:
Nearest Transit Station: Saint-Sébastien – Froissart, Filles du Calvaire, Chemin Vert

Best French Gourmet Butter:

Jean-Yves Bordier Butter
Available in Breizh Cafe, Galleries Lafayette, Le Bon Marché (euro 3-3.50) and Jaya Grocer Intermark KL (RM 19.90)

Most Value for Money Accommodation/Holiday Rental:

Airbnb Vacation Rentals (our apartment link) – We paid only 80 euro for this cozy little apartment located in the heart of Le Marais. Excellent value for money! Key in referral code wchin1 for RM 82 discount.

World’s Most Photographed Landmark:

Eiffel Tower
Address: Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007 Paris, France
Phone:+33 892 70 12 39
Hours:
From 15 June to the 1st of September: Lift-9 a.m. to 12:45 a.m, Stairs-9 a.m. to 12:45 a.m.
The rest of the year: Lift-9:30 a.m. to 11:45 p.m., Stairs-9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Admission:
Lift entrance ticket (valid to 2nd floor): €9
Lift entrance ticket to top: €15
Stairs entrance ticket (valid to 2nd floor): €5

Getting Here:
Line no.6, metro station “Bir-Hakeim”, Line no.9, “Trocadéro” station, Line C : Champs de Mars – Tour Eiffel station

One of the World’s Largest Museums:

Musée du Louvre
Address: 75001 Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 40 20 50 50
Hours:
Monday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Friday: from 9 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.
Closed on Tuesdays
Admission: €12, from October to March: access to the permanent collections is free for all visitors on the first Sunday of each month.

Getting Here:
Metro: Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre station and Louvre Rivoli station

Entrances to the museum
– Pyramid and Galerie du Carrousel entrances: open every day (except Tuesday) from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays; and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays.
– Passage Richelieu entrance: open every day (except Tuesday) from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays)
– Porte des Lions entrance: open on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Opening hours: please contact us at +33 (0)1 40 20 53 17 (except Tuesday).

Paris’s Most Romantic Bridge:

Ponts des Arts

Getting Here:
Metro: Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre station and Louvre Rivoli station

Our Favourite Museum in Paris: 

Musée d’Orsay
Address: 1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris, France
Established: 1986
Hours:
Open from 9.30am to 6pm daily, except Mondays. Late night on Thursdays until 9.45pm
Admission: €12, access to the permanent collections is free for all visitors on the first Sunday of each month.

Getting Here:
Metro: line 12, to Solférino, RER: line C, to Musée d’Orsay

Most Overrated Steak Frites in Paris: 

Relais de l’Entrecôte (Saint Germain)
Address: 20Bis Rue Saint-Benoît, 75006 Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 45 49 16 00
Hours: Opens 12:00 – 2:30 pm, 7:00 – 11:30 pm daily
Branches in Champ Elysees, Montparnasse

Getting Here:
Nearest Transit Stations: Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Mabillon, Saint-Sulpice

Most Famous Cathedral in Paris: 

Notre Dame Cathedral
Address: 6 Parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul II, 75004 Paris, France
Hours: Open every day of the year from 8:00 am to 6:45 pm (7:15 pm on Saturdays and Sundays).
Admission: Free, Visit Towers of Notre Dame Cathedral – €8.50

Getting Here:
RER B / RER C : Saint-Michel Notre-Dame Metro 4 : Saint-Michel or Cité.

Paris Most Beautiful Chapel:

Sainte Chapelle
Address: 8 Boulevard du Palais, 75001 Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53 40 60 80
Hours:
Open every day from 1 March to 31 October : 9:30 am to 6 pm , 1 November to 28 February : 9 am to 5 pm.
Admission: €8.50

Getting Here:
Metro: Cité, St-Michel, or Chatelet-Les Halles RER: St-Michel

Paris’s Most Famous Book Store

Shakespeare & Company
Address: 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris, France
Phone:+33 1 43 25 40 93
Hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 am – 11:00 pm, Saturday & Sunday 11.00 am – 11.00 pm

Getting Here:
Saint-Michel station

Paris’s Best Pastries:

Grenier à Pain
Address: 38 Rue des Abbesses, 75018 Paris, France
Phone:+33 1 46 06 41 81
Hours: Opens daily from 7:30 am – 8:00 pm, except Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Getting Here:
Metro/Bus : Abbesses station (line 12), Anvers (line 6)

Paris’s Most Beautiful Mural:

Mural of Je T’aime
Address: Square Jehan Rictus, Place des Abesses, 75018 Paris, France

Getting Here:
Metro/Bus : Abbesses station (line 12), Anvers (line 6)

Paris’s Most Artsy Square:

Place du Tertre
Address: Place du Tertre, 75018 Paris, France

Getting Here:
Metro/Bus : Abbesses station (line 12), Anvers (line 6)

Church Sitting on the Highest Point in Paris:

Basilica of the Sacré Cœur
Address: 35 Rue du Chevalier de la Barre, 75018 Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53 41 89 00
Hours: Opens daily from 6:00 am – 10:30 pm
Admission: Free

Getting Here:
Abbesses – Line 12 (green), Anvers – Line 2 (blue), Lamarck Caulaincourt – Line 12 (green)

Most Famous Cabaret in Paris:

Moulin Rouge
Address: 82 Boulevard de Clichy, 75018 Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 46 06 60 00

Getting Here:
Blanche on Metro Line 2.

Paris’s Best Hot Chocolate:

Angelina Cafe
Address: 226 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
Phone:+33 1 42 60 82 00
Hours: Tue-Fri 8 am – 7 pm, Sat-Sun 9 am – 7 pm
Branches in Palace of Versailles

Getting Here:
Nearest Transit Station: Tuileries, Pyramides, Concorde

France’s Most Beautiful Palace:

Palace of Versailles
Address: Place d’Armes, 78000 Versailles, France
Hours: Opens daily from 9am to 5:30pm (6:30pm in high season), Closed on Mondays.
Admission:
-The Passeport ticket lets you in anywhere at Versailles. It costs €18, or €25 on the days of the Musical Fountains and Gardens shows.
-The Palace ticket lets you into the Palace of Versailles only. The full price is €15; the reduced price is €13.

Getting Here:
Versailles Rive Gauche (RER C from the Saint-Michel and Champ de Mars stations if coming from Paris)
Versailles Rive Droite (Transilien from Saint-Lazare and La Défense stations if coming from Paris)
Versailles Chantiers (Transilien from Montparnasse station if coming from Paris)

Top Rated Duck Restaurant in Paris: 

Au petit Sud Ouest
Address: 46 Avenue de la Bourdonnais, 75007 Paris, France
Phone:+33 1 45 55 59 59
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9:30 am – 12:00 am

Getting Here:
Nearest Transit Station: École Militaire, La Tour-Maubourg

Most Delightful Souvenirs from Paris: 

Pierre Hermé Paris
14 Branches across Paris

Best Fallafel in Paris:

L’As du Fallafel
Address: 34 Rue des Rosiers, 75004 Paris, France
Phone:+33 1 48 87 63 60
Hours: Tue-Thu 12 pm – 12 am, Fri 12 pm – 3 pm, Sun 9 am – 12 am

Getting Here:
Nearest Transit Station: Saint-Paul, Pont Marie, Hôtel de Ville

Best Department Store in Paris:

Galeries Lafayette
Address: 40, boulevard Haussmann, 75009 Paris, France
Hours: Monday through Saturday : 09:30 am to 07:30 pm, late night opening every Thursday until 9 pm, close on Sunday.

Getting Here:
Metro : Chaussée d’Antin, Opéra, Trinité/RER A : Auber/RER E : Haussmann St. Lazare

KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL/KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL - A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL/KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL - A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

Our three weeks holiday to Europe ended just like that. It is finally time for us to pen down our thoughts and experiences on this amazing holiday. Let’s start with our flight experience to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

Mobile check-in opens 48 hours before our flight departure and we got to choose our preferred seat 48 hours before our flight. The whole web check in process is seamless, enabling us to save time when arriving to KLIA. Malaysia Airlines is also very generous on baggage allowance – 30 kg for economy and 40 kg for business.

A great start to our trip begins with a great welcome by the MH crew, and of course seeing our own faces in Malaysia Airline’s Going Places inflight magazine. We flew on MH 20, a midnight flight departing from KLIA. It is a Boeing 777 plane and we felt really comfortable and at ease for the whole 13 hours flight.

Two meals were served on board; supper and breakfast 2 hours before we land. We were so glad that local food such as nasi briyani and nasi leak options were available; as we tried to stuff ourselves with as many local food as possible before the start of our 3 weeks long trip.

On top of that, Malaysia Airlines also offers up to 20 Special Meals to suit your religious, medical and dietary requirements. Furthermore, all meals served on Malaysia Airlines are halal and prepared in strict compliance to halal requirements. Remember to order online!

We took the opportunities to catch up on some of the latest movies available on the in-flight entertainment system. After a couple of sleeps; it is time for to prepare for landing!  

We quickly fresher up ourselves – I even made the effort to put on make up. There’s no time to waste when you are traveling! We were ready to explore the cities instead of spending the first few hours of our trip recovering from a flight. 

Malaysia Airlines and French high speed rail company SNCF TGV have agreed to a codeshare on flights plus rail service which will allow those traveling to Paris on MAS flight to connect to 19 destinations beyond Paris. I’ll share our experience on board the SNCF train to Lyon in subsequent posts.

Note: Our return flight to Paris is sponsored by Malaysia Airlines. However, opinions are of my own. Other trip expenses are on blogger’s own account. Malaysia Airlines flies between Paris and Kuala Lumpur once a day on the Boeing 777-200. Make your flight reservations today on www.malaysiaairlines.com.

KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL/KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL - A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL/KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL - A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

Lyon, for 76 years, has been recognised as the gastronomic capital of France and the world. Every year, gourmands from around the world flock the city’s Michelin-starred restaurants as well as its humble bouchons. How could we missed out the opportunity to visit Lyon when we were in France. It is also made possible with Malaysia Airlines Codeshare Agreement with SNCF.

Malaysia Airlines’ tie-up with French national railway SNCF has made travelling around France more convenient. A single booking will fly passengers from Malaysia to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport, and straight onto the high-speed TGV train to 19 French provinces, and vice versa.

You just need to check in once from KLIA, if you are flying out from KL. Then at the CDG Airport TGV station, board onto the next train to 1 out of 19 TGV train stations available for this train/flight bimodal service.

The new service is available to Malaysia Airlines passengers from the following TGV train stations : Aix-en-Provence TGV, Angers-St-Laud, Avignon TGV, Bordeaux St Jean, Champagne-Ardenne TGV, Le Mans, Lille, Lorraine TGV, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, Nîmes, Poitiers, Rennes, St-Pierre-des-Corps, Strasbourg, Toulon and Valence TGV.

For our case, we did Lyon towards the tail end of our trip. So from Lyon’s SNCF TGV train station, we can check-in to their final destination which is KL. This way, they are already pre-checked in when arriving at CDG Airport.

If we miss our flight or train because one or the other is delayed, we will be supported.

I love how the first class train cabin emphasise on comfort. The spacious and adjustable seats with headrest, footrest and fold-down tables is god sent after a tiring journey. There are also wower outlets for your electronics and individual reading lamps.

TGV trains also offer an impressive food service, featuring a wide selection of snacks, sweets and full meals to satisfy all everyone’s cravings.

I slept like a baby in the peaceful, quiet train carriages.

If you’re travelling to France:

• At the check-in desk of the foreign departure airport, tag baggage with ‘CDG’ instead of the IATA code of the French train station.

• Upon arrival at CDG, retrieve baggage after passport control.

• Walk to SNCF Station located between 2 C-D and 2 E-F by following the ‘railway station’ signs: (use the CDGVAL to go from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2).

• Go down to Level 2 and proceed to the dedicated TGV AIR counter. Produce e-ticket or ID card to receive a TGV boarding pass.

• Validate the pass at one of the yellow validation machines located near the departure platform.

• Board train with baggage.

If you’re departing from France:

• At the departure train station, proceed to TGV AIR counter. Produce e-ticket or ID card to receive a TGV boarding pass (at least 20 minutes prior to departure).

• Validate the pass at one of the yellow validation machines located near the departure platform.

• Board the train with baggage. For safety reasons, SNCF is not allowed to check in baggage.

• At CDG, proceed to the Malaysia Airlines counter at Terminal 1.

• Drop off baggage.

• Proceed to departure gate and board flight.

Malaysia Airlines flies direct to Paris daily, with the train/flight bimodal service departing from 19 TGV train stations. For more information, visit malaysiaairlines.com

It is only a two hour journey to Lyon from CDG terminal. Next up: Top Things to do in Lyon.

Reservation for the Air + Train ticket must be made via Malaysia Airlines reservation office or authorized agents.

KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL/KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL - A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG