Day 5: Rest Day in Paris

We got up really early to catch our Easybus to Luton Airport. We were scheduled to leave the hotel at 5:30, catch the bus to Baker St where we will get picked up at 6:15am. But it took a while to get ready and fix up so we just asked Nicky to call us a cab. In London, when you call a cab, they usually get to your place ten minutes after the call is made. So at a little past six, we were already zooming through the streets of London (the sun has not risen yet at this time) trying to make it the stop before 6:15. A minute or two after we alighted, the bus came, whew!

The trip to Luton is like a trip to the Clark Airport. You also go through an expressway and it takes about an hour to get there.

At the airport, checking in was painless. There weren’t any long lines and they briefly checked ticket and passport. We noticed too that dimensions for hand carry were very specific- if it can’t fit into the slot then you can’t hand carry it. They also have a separate check in area for “oversize luggage” so better if you have a bag that’s around 70L only so you can check it into the regular check in area.

We had brunch at the food court area, eating our stash from the grocery and just buying chicken poppers and onion rings at Burger King with the rest of our sterling. We waited for another 30-40 mins then it was time for boarding (we noticed that the boarding gates were not pre-determined and only flashed onscreen upon actual boarding). Flight is just two hours to Paris.

From the Charles de Gaulle Airport, we were supposed to take the RER B to Paris. RER is a train from outskirts Paris to Central Paris. From where we got our baggage, it was a bit far to get to the train area. Before boarding the train, Gabby got us tickets through a machine. The machine said “RER, Bus, Metro”. There are several types of machines, depending on mode of payment – card, notes, coins. Gabby got us two tickets “To Paris”. We didn’t exactly know what it covered but we got it anyway.

We were supposed to take RER B to Gare du Nord then transfer to another line to get to Stalingrad where we had to transfer again to a line that will take us to Crimee, the metro closest to our hotel. It seems a bit complex but it is not since the metro system in Paris is not that difficult to navigate.

Our hotel (thanks to Kathleen and Philip!) was a five-minute walk from the metro. The street is lined with Sandwich shops, restaurants and stores. Hotel Paris Villette is along Rue Curial and is a quaint hotel. Our room at the 6^th floor is simple with all the basic elements that you need in a hotel. It is clean, has a decent bathroom and even has desks, side tables and a closet. The staff is friendly and speak English (of course they are friendlier if you try to greet them in halting French).

As soon as we got to our room, we felt the exhaustion from the past few days of the trip take over us. We decided to just take a nap but ended up sleeping till late at night, too late already to go out so we just slept again. And good thing we did because it was an investment for the activity-packed days to come!

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