Escargot from Esmeralda Restaurant, Paris

After a long journey from the hotel to the heart of Paris from morning, we came to this restaurant randomly. This was a great choice for lunch after visiting Notre Dame.

As we walked towards a few restaurants across the street from Notre Dame Cathedral, most of the restaurants and cafes are selling breads. We wouldn’t want to have bread for like every day, so we walked and walked till we met Esmeralda. Yes, very sexy name. Always remember, when you travel, do not be afraid to try their local dishes or cuisine. You may not know when will be your next trip back!

The first important mission for us to have lunch is to try the Escargot. It’s funny when you listen to a Malaysian and a French talk. I tried to blend in for the sack of my tummy and 3 other tummies that are starving.

We have ordered ½ dozen of Escargot. First bite, addicted. Second bite, I WANT MORE! But we can’t you see as we have a budget. Blame on the conversion. Buttery sauce when some herbs, it doesn't smell bad at all.

 After all, friendly and hard working waiter, delicious food, great environment for us to feel "to be a local a day" best combination! 

Esmeralda

15 Rue Lamartine, 75009 Paris, France

01 42 81 58 08

The new Oyster Card in London

Oyster is the cheapest way to pay for single journeys on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground and most National Rail services in London.

Travelling in London is convenient. You can travel easily, only you know where you want to go. North or South, East or West, it’s all in your hands. Oyster Card is really useful as you stay or travel around London. It’s like a touch-and-go card in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, and many more. Well, sadly we don’t have those kinds of services in my state – Sabah, but still we have our heritage remain, which is the steam train. Anyways.

Back to Oyster Card. As I stayed in London for about a week, I decided to purchase the Oyster Card. Lucky enough, I got myself the limited edition Oyster Card which is the Jubilee version where you can see the Buckingham Palace, Horse guards, Thame River, Tower Bridge, Local delicacies and beautiful people. Well, there’s this open deal for anyone. You have a choice either to return your Oyster Card before you leave the country and get a refund, or you keep it. Of course, I brought it back with me to my home land for remembrance.

It’s also easy to purchase the Oyster Card every station has counters or machines. To top up the credits – “Top up as You Go”, this also can be done at the counter (but trust me lots of people there lining up), or top up at the machines. On the other hand, you can also top up online https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/link/0002.do or just visit their website at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

From London to Paris by EUROSTAR

Leaving home for Europe was a big decision to make. Plus, when we are on a trip, money is always the first issue and the second will be time. Or, maybe it’s the other way round. Well, depends.

So, as I am traveling all the way from Sabah, North Borneo, Malaysia to Europe, money will be the first issue due to the conversion; the exchange rates are crazy. To travel that far from home, most of us will think of the best way to travel, which is valuable.

There are few of my friends who have suggested EUROSTAR for me. It’s is the most convenient way to travel around Europe. But it’s not everywhere in Europe; just certain location such as to or from London, Paris, Brussels, etc.

I always love to enjoy sceneries and I found out this is the best way to travel too. Since we are traveling by train, I am able to see what’s outside. If I am boarding on a plane, I might not have the same experience as what I’m going to get on the train. It’s actually the fastest way to reach Paris. By the way, I am actually departed from London. Approximate 2 hours to reach my destination – Paris.

On that night, I stayed at a budget hotel (will feature this in my next post) nearby to St. Pancras, King Cross, so I can walk to the train station within 6 minutes. The problem is you will need to pull your luggage all the way from your hotel. No worries, it’s not a shame thing to do because everybody did that. Yes, you may not see that often in Malaysia but you just need to blend in. ;)

There are few things that make me comfortable by traveling with train:
1. Comfortable sitting arrangement

2. Luggage area prepared

3. No worries of transportation on ground; Arriving in the airport (expensive and time consuming)

4. Great sceneries

The only thing which I’m uncomfortable was the pressure. The train was moving too fast until I need to pop my ears constantly. Also, you might encounter with guests who will make lots of noise.

Well, I hope for those who read this, good luck on your journey!

Love,

Chloe Tiffany Lee

Paris in Two Days.

Remember my last post? Yep, reaching Paris. Boujour!

Well, we arrived Paris around 7.30pm (Paris time) from London by Eurostar. Along the way, I enjoyed the view outside the train window. Nice green grass blew side to side. Whilst others are actually sleeping.
It is really funny when we reached Gare du Nord. We were confused of the time because in the ticket written that we will arrive in 3 hours. But due to the time difference from London is +1. Well, you will understand when you are in my situation.

Reached Gare du Nord, we prepared ourselves for safety purposes as Gare du Nord is one of the main train station. We took a taxi to our hotel and it costs about €20. The taxi driver is nice and friendly. He gave us a brief idea of where is most of the attractions located. Once we reached our hotel, checked in, then get ready for dinner. It was raining that night and we can't do much. So, we just rest for the night and we planned for our Plan B because most of the business owners here told us to be careful.

As I have took lots of brouchers, lucky we manged to figure out something. Since we only have one full day in Paris, we have decided to take Hop on Hop off buss tour. To be easy, really. We took L' Open Tour (Lime Green Bus) and followed the green line. Green line visits most of the main attraction.
Now, this is how we start our day.

Walk to the nearest Metro Station and we visited Musee du Louvre (Louvre Museum). Its better to visit the Louvre in the morning because there are a lot of people lining up! You will be 'amazed'. Let me give you an idea, if you really wanted to visit The Louvre, better planned which floor/ section that you want to visit because you can't visit all floors! Its too big. So, I brought mom to visit Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities, Egyptian Antiquities, Italian Paintings, Spanish Paintings, and more. After that, we just took a rest outside the Piramid.

After visiting Musee du Louvre, we followed L' Open Tours as we have planned the night before. We were so lucky because the bus just stopped in front of The Louvre. Oh ya, we bought the ticket on board. You can try it too next time! No worries. And before we go on board, we saw few polices were arresting pick pockets. So, beware.

Sitting on top of the bus is quite hot as the sun is quite strong yesterday but it was windy. Enjoying Paris view on top of the bus is quite interesting and I managed to get few nice shots. Next stop, we decided to stop at Cathedral Notre Dame. This is the church that I long to go since young. Visiting inside was a bless and silent prayer are made. Interior of the Notre Dame is really nice. You can stay there longer for prayer if you have time. We left early and had lunch nearby where we finally found d'escargot.

The restaurant is located at the back of the church on the left. Esmeralda is the name of the restaurant. First, we were attracted by the sandwiches displayed outside the restaurant and they sell Crepes. Once we asked if they sell d'escargot, we decided to stay and dine in. It took almost 20 minutes for us to think what should we get and we love the foods that we have ordered. Actually, we are addicted to the d'escargot. The person who serves us are friendly and I took a picture of him before we left.

Then, we waited at the bridge for the next coming bus. Passing by Champ Elysee, Arc de Triumph, up to Eiffel Tower, we dropped by and walked closer to the magnificent artwork. Spent sometime there to see the details of the Eiffel Tower before we hopped on to another bus. Explored Paris with L' Open Tour green line before we head back to hotel. Rest a little while and charged my camera battery for the important night view, Eiffel Tower.

Dinner was great! Cute waiter took our order and he didn't pass me the menu until I say Bonjour. Maybe he wants me to practice... I don't know. I tried the raw beef Tatare and its really nice. I am not sure if you would try it but I did. Taste like salad. Duck liver tastes like dessert! Ice cream. Will do a food review once I go back to Koka Kinabalu. Stay tuneee.

After dinner, we took a short walk to the Eiffel Tower and its magnificent. You should see those picture on my facebook.

The next day, we went to Champ Elysee by metro and did some shoppings. Finally get to bring mom to try out some pastries and she loves it so much! Sandwiches here are great too. Anyway, I guess food wise it is all delicious in Paris. After some window shopping, we went back to the hotel and did some last minute packing then off to Beavius Airport. Meet a lovely waiter and I took a picture of her.
That's was it. Au revoir. Wait for my next post. ;)