Paris -1

Let me begin at the beginning (I have lost the knack of writing travel posts!) - our train was at 8.20pm and we (Ashvini, Palash and I) were supposed to meet Kunal at King's Cross International station - from where we would catch the Eurostar (train through the tunnel under the nadi) to Paris. Since we had to leave directly from office and friday dressing is a dream here, in our enthusiasm we went through the whole process of changing dress, shoes, jackets etc - which made us pretty late and thus we arrived at the station excited and hungry. I was all for first looking for food but A and P were focused on getting us checked in. To my relief, Kunal had a M&S food packet in his hands and I quickly relieved him of it only to find that it had just a bottle of water! Imagine going to a store 1) in the evening 2)you are going to travel 3)people joining you are bound to be hungry. If, in face of these three arguments, you still end up buying only a bottle of water.....then I have nothing left to say.

After we were all settled and had dinner, I started teaching 29 to the others. I realised that I am a very poor teacher for this game. In my defence I can only say that, till now, I have played this game only with 'The Teacher' and he always had the responsibility of teaching new recruits. I had never appreciated his teaching excellence more. Neither have I missed his excellent company in the game more! A and P caught on pretty quickly but K seemed hell bent on 'not getting' the game and he made some pretty funny moves! Of course when we royally beat the boys, P started finding numerous indications of foul play and every look, every smile exchanged between Ashvini and I was supposedly full of cheating intentions!

In front of Paris Nord

Well, we got down at Paris Nord. And then started the French saga. Memory came rushing back on seeing the long forgotten signs - each mundane word carrying a host of scenes (most of them involving Manghani doing his stunts!) 

After the usual round of following the map wrong, getting lost and going around in circles, we reached our hotel. And, in typical french fashion, first the doorbell refused to ring and when finally it did, the receptionist did not seem to want to open it. Finally we entered the hotel and got the room key. The lift was so small that more than two would be a crowd while it proudly proclaimed 8 people 630 kgs! As Palash said, there was no volume for the 8 people. Our room was ok but had a lovely walkin balcony. And there was no lock in the bathroom! Leading me down another memory lane to our hi fi hotel in Zurich.

Since we had to leave pretty early in the morning for Disneyland, we quickly got ready for bed. Palash took over the task of allotting the order for getting up and ready (a duty which he assiduously followed right till the end). I got the privilege of getting up last in deference to my age! The rule for Disneyland said that admission would be based on capacity so we decided to leave by 7 and reach there by 8 so that we would be the first ones when entry started at 9.30....Dont ask me what we planned to do for the 1.5 hours! I was not too keen on the early part and on missing breakfast (supposed to start at 7.30) but manager sahab ke orders ko to obey karna hi tha.

Oh yes, somehow I ended up relating our trip to Corsica.....Thus ended our first evening in Paris.....

Next day we were up and ready on time. At 7.00 we walked down 5 flights as the lift was not working (it also needed its sleep). The door was closed and locked (not surprising since everybody gets up late). What was surprising was the absence of the receptionist! We tried knocking, banging and creating all sorts of noise. We looked in the basement floor and all around....I tried using my meagre french and located the switch to open the door but it was locked and there was no key to be found. We even went back up 5 floors and tried calling the reception from the room phone. No luck. Finally, after 20 minutes of fruitless waiting (I had started turning over the idea of going back to bed) when somebody came and rang the bell. And then comes the guy with the key - he had been sleeping in a room on the first floor! Perfect example of french efficiency.....

We reached disney by 8.30 where we were greeted by a 'Casino' (I will leave people to figure this one out - Shivi no need to yell!) There we came to know that the park would open at 10.00 and since we had already booked our tickets, we would not need to stand in the line! I missed my missed brkfst! 

Disneyland was good but it was very small as compared to the one in LA. However disney being disney, it was wonderful and fun. Watching Ketan take snaps was even more fun. I think he would need a separate hard disk for all the pics he took and I wonder if he would be able to remember the ones he took! I think it is smthg to do with that particular camera which makes its owner go berserk. AG had the same camera and I remember the poses we had to maintain for his camera and the angles in which he twisted himself!

Disneyland in the morning

Some rides were pretty fun and a bit scary one of which was Space Mountain which was the last. Palash and Kunal came but started getting cold feet when they realised that it would twist and turn in the darkness! K even suggested getting in from one side and out from the other as a way of escaping. Imagine the future of the team whose manager so fearlessly leads the team into the unknown!

I learned a new thing that day. Ladies, your New Zealand visa can be rejected if you are good looking!! Now, I dont think I will ever have the himmat to apply for one! What conclusions I would have to draw if mine was NOT rejected! I would have to drink one full day to forget the humiliation - esp after I had seen a sample of what New Zealand considers good looking. And considering the sample, an ordinary looking girl would have to work pretty hard to get the visa!

Disneyland at night

Our day ended with the return train journey. We were thinking of a game to play and P suggested "knee checking" which involved hitting the other person's knee with a pen. We told Ketan he would have to play it with his neighbour. In keeping with the Indian guys fascination for gori mems, he did not even think about Ashvini (sitting on one side of him) and seriously remarked that he would not 'check the knee' of the angrej lady sitting on his other side as she might react unpredictably! My stomach still aches when I remember the scene!

The whole group

P.S - I hope everyone has noticed the young, handsome, good looking guy in the group!