Paris in 6 Days (Day 1)

Day 1
20^th Dec 2009

It is with a sad heart that we have to bid Rome goodbye this morning as this city is truly beautiful and I vowed to come back again in future perhaps with both side of our family… if I can afford it, otherwise, most likely it will just be the two of us. We took the metro to Anagnina and from there a bus to Ciampino airport. Taking a bus to this airport is the cheapest mode (around €1.50 per person) and it is surprisingly not too difficult to do so BUT since we are a little behind schedule, we managed to share a cab (€20 for a one way ride) with a pair of Italian young couple. I am bad with names and even more so with Italian names and naturally, I don’t remember their names. I have given them my contact and blog address though so hopefully if they are reading this, they would leave a comment… otherwise, que sera sera.

[Tips: We fly with easyjet as it does not have other hidden charges that will inflate the airfare unlike RyanAir which has additional hidden charges once you confirmed your flight details]

We touched down in Paris’ Orly airport at 1215hr and both of us are pretty thrilled as we saw snow covering that area! After collecting our luggages, we headed to the information centre to enquire on how to get to our hotel in Champs Elysees. The helpful personnel suggested to us to purchase a return shuttle bus tickets which will bring us to Charles de Gaulle Etoile, where you will find the Arc de Triomphe. We however did not noticed that there are more than one buses and each stop at different location and we took a wrong bus that goes to Montparnesse Bleuvenue instead. No fear as Montparnesse is a metro interchange, which means we could take the metro to other parts of Paris. We took metro Line 6 (Light green line) towards Charles de Gaulle Etoile and from there transferred to Line 1 (Yellow Line) to George V. We realized fairly quickly that the Paris Marriott Hotel Champ-Elysees is actually nearer to the Franklin D. Roosevelt metro although the map shows that the hotel is in the middle of the two.

[Tips: The rooms in Paris Marriott hotel Champ-Elysees are generally small and it is unlikely for the hotel to offer an upgrade all year round as this place is packed even during winter time and we also noticed that there are hardly any other hotels on the famous street]

Our room in Paris Marriott Champ-Elysees

Rome Day 7

19th Dec 2009

Today is effectively the last day that we had in Rome, as we need to wake up early to do the checking out tomorrow and head to the Ciampino airport to catch our early flight departure towards Paris, France. The itinerary for today is the Roman Forum/Palatino hill, the Isola Tiberina and Trastevere.

Anna, the best hotel personnel in Rome Marriott Grand Flora Hotel

Rome Day 6

18th Dec 2009

The day that I dreaded yet am looking forward to has finally arrives. We have booked a car from Europcar for the promotion that it offered to easyjet's passengers. I have pre-booked a Peugeot 308 SW and has already started to imagine how it would felt to operate one especially on a left driver seated car. One thing left me perplexed is that IF I were to rent the car for a day, it will costs me more compared to renting it for 3 days... unbelievable? Believe it! IT only costs me €75.43 plus administration cost of €3.

The view of Villa Borghese in the morn reminded me
how blessed I am to be able to behold such beauty

Rome Day 5

17^th Dec 2009

Today is an exciting day! The itinerary for the day will be to interesting visit places like the Scala Santa, The Colloseum and Palatino! We headed out early today as we wanted to make full use of the short daylight hours that we have to cover all that has been lined up for the day. The day started off a little bad as it was drizzling in the morning but thank God that the drizzling relented and we started to have sunlights around 1000hr.

 Beautiful facade of San Giovanni in Laterano

Rome Day 4

16th Dec 2009

Ahhh~ waking up in the morning and having a view of the beautiful Villa Borghese is truly magical! One could only imagine how beautiful it gets during other seasons especially spring and autumn. The plan for today will be to visit the Galleria Borghese, which housed a vast number of beautiful sculptures and next to the Ancient Rome. Day 3 of Rome was truly a better day compared to the rest of the days here although not without its small regrettable flaw... The metro is on strike today, which means no train service for the day!

I am still not keen on drinking from the fountain...

Rome Day 3

15th Dec 2009

Today we woke up late... maybe its the late night movie in the hotel and too much munching. Anyway, I have pre-booked a vatican museum tour today and the timing is supposed to be 1030hr but as we woke up late, we only managed to reach the Vatican City around 1045hr. Anyway, we are told that our ticket is still valid for another guided tour but it will only start around 1200hr, so we just hang around that area and did some souvenir shopping. Our guided tour only includes The Vatican Museum or Musee Vaticani. You can either stop at the Ottaviano Metro or Cipro metro. The guided tour package includes the entrance ticket for the museum, so you don't have to pay any extras. The package is not cheap though at €30 per pax but the tour is worth it, otherwise, you will be wandering around wondering. The breakdown of the €30 package are as follow:

Full price museum ticket - €14.00
Group tour - Ear phones - €1.50
Reservation fee - €4.00
Guide - €10.50

Although it may be pricey, but let me assure you its worth your while and you can get it at the Vatican City's official site at here for official site and here for English official site. If you struggle to find where the guided tour is... it is here.

Rome Day 2

14th Dec 2009

After a night of rest and the late night drama, we got ready for our day. But before setting out, we gave the reception another call and to ask whether they could upgrade our room as we were promised a Villa Borghese view prior to our checking in.The hotel personnel that attended to us was Anna (Yes, same name with our Venice reception lady but not the same person). She is very helpful and managed to help us secure a better room. Its an Executive suite!!! The room is huge! But the only down side is that it is facing the Via Veneto street, not the Villa Borghese. We are very tempted to keep the room but the urge to have a room with a Villa Borghese view got the better of us so we insisted from Anna on that. After a few moments, Anna called us with good news. There's a room for us on the 5th floor overlooking the Villa Borghese! Yay! At least something makes our day in Rome.

Room 506 Rome Marriott Grand Flora Hotel

Rome Day 1

13th Dec 2009

Upon touching down in Rome from Venice, the time is already nearing 2230hr and with the baggage collection wait time thrown in, it is almost 2300hr by the time we are ready to leave the airport. There is the regular Leonardo Express that we could take from the airport directly to Termini i.e. Rome’s main metro station or you could take a cab. Taking our luggage weight into account, we wanted to take a cab, which Fodor’s guide has mentioned that the taxi ride will cost a flat rate of €40 (Supposedly enforced by the government) to any location within the Aurelian wall and Rome Marriott Grand Flora hotel is although situated ride beside the northern Aurelian wall itself.

Rome Marriott Grand Hotel Flora

Venice Day 2

13th Dec 2009

I have planned to wake up early today to snap some photos of the dawn and thank God I woke up around 6am+. After a quick wash, a 3-in-1 hot chocolate and packing up my gears, off to the San Marco Grand Canal jetty we go. Temperature was around 2 to 3°C, which is bearable. Due to it being so early, there is practically no one on the streets apart from the cleaner and the restaurant suppliers and of course, yours truly.

Venice Day 1

12th Dec 2009

Finally, the time has come for us to head to Europe...our maiden voyage. Much time and energy has been poured in to plan for this trip and let us not forget the financial resources too. We have planned for this trip 2 years back and am glad that it could be realised. Praise God for His blessings that enable us to be able to do this.

View before crossing the bridge to Santa Lucia, Venice islands