Europe: Last Day and The Journey Home

Day 10

It’s our last day! Cepatnyaaa masa berlalu…

The rest of our group mates will continue on to London. Kami pun tak pasti kenapa travel agent kami belikan flight tiket kami untuk fly out from Paris. Frustla jugak tak dapat pergi sampai London, tapi apa boleh buat, holiday free, tadah aje. Only a bunch from the group yang ends at Paris, among which are Ron and Carol, Wayne and Peter, Marie, Herman and Bev…

Today is also the only day we get to sleep in. Hari lain semua by 8 dah siap dalam bas. Tapi husband pagi-pagi buta dah bangun, semangat nak turun jumpa Esther. Bukan apa, kena pergi bayar tip. Tip? Yup, tip. Dalam write-up daripada company tu dah siap tertulis mengenai Gratuity: If you are satisfied with the services of your travel director and driver, you are encouraged to pay them gratuity…bla…bla… Siap tulis harga lagi, sehari seorang kena bayar berapa. Kalikanlah dengan berapa hari trip tu. Memang semput kejap aku bila kira. Dalam Euro memangla nampak sikit, tapi bila kali dalam RM, telan air liur aku... Kalau ikutkan hati aku, aku tak nak bayar full. Bukan nak berkira, tapi mahal tu beb. Sama harga dengan sewa rumah aku sebulan dalam RM. Tip aje, kan? Gaji diorang mesti jalan jugak, kan? Huhuhu… Tapi husband insist on paying, and since it’s his money, I’ve got no more say. Plus, he is that kind of man yang takde tipu-tipu punya, and I love that quality in him…

Anyway, I slept in. He went down to see Esther dan dapatlah jumpa a few of our friends before they leave. Bila pikir balik later, menyesal pun ada tak turun sekali. At least dapat jumpa Celine, Lim, May Chow, Pei Yee dan Michelle. And maybe Kay and Tim.

We had a whole day of free time. Check out is at 12 but our flight is at 10.25 tonight at Charles De Gaulle airport. The transport that’s going to take us to airport is arranged to fetch us at 5pm.

Kami turun breakfast pukul 8, then masuk bilik and start packing. Try call Ron and Carol tapi no answer. Kami sepatutnya hang out together hari ni sebab kami akan ke airport sama-sama. A few times try tak dapat, kami turun check out pukul 11, hoping to run into them dekat bawah. Takde jugak. Figured they must have checked out early and went out, kami pun decide nak ke downtown Paris semula. Took the shuttle car to train station, took the train to Paris.

It was so disappointing to find out that most shops are closed on Sundays in Paris. So kami berjalan-jalan tanpa arah tuju. Hanya kedai-kedai di Champs Elysees aje yang bukak, dan kedai-kedai itu juga berada di luar kemampuan kami. Had lunch at the same Lebanese eatery we ate at yesterday. The weather was really cold today, mendung je, berangin. Nak ambik gambar pun dah takde mood. So in the end at 3 kami gerak balik hotel. Thankfully the whole group was there; Ron, Carol, Marie, Wayne and Peter.

Bersembang dekat lobby sampai dekat pukul 5, transport sampai so leave for airport. We got down at Terminal 1 and said goodbye to the rest. We still had 5 hours to go before flight time. Ish ish… menyangap! Dahla kedekut punya airport, Wi-Fi free untuk 15 minit pertama je. Lepas tu kena bayar.

Pergi semayang dulu dekat surau. Best tengok surau dia, sebab ramai orang. Ramai rupanya orang Perancis yang Muslim. Ramai yang berkulit hitam. Prayer room dia pulak dibahagikan kepada 3 bilik; untuk Kristian, Yahudi dan Muslim. Cool!

Aboard our plane at almost 10. It was raining heavily outside. Sesungguhnya aku sangat bersyukur sebab sepanjang perjalanan ni kami tak pernah tersekat dengan cuaca buruk. It did rain, but only on days we would be travelling on the bus. Esther sendiri gelarkan kumpulan tour kami “The Sunshine Group”. Amazing. Alhamdulillah.

Flight Qatar Airways QR0016 left CDG airport at 10.25pm. Great food again on board. Chicken breast in tomato sauce served with gnocchi and salad. Chocolate brownie as dessert. That’s my 1^st gnocchi right there. Sedap! I could barely sleep again even though I was really tired. Felt really uncomfortable sebab the whole day dah berjalan, tak mandi, seluar dah ketat (ya, ya, saya gemuk dah!). Rimas!

Arrived in Doha at 5.50 waktu Doha. Cerah benderang dah. Macam 9 pagi. Cari surau qadha semua semayang yang terlepas smalam, then hang around menunggu connecting flight. Agak slow sikit pergerakan check-in ke penerbangan Qatar Airways QR0622.

When it was finally our turn, the lady keyed-in some details, looked at us, smiled and said, “I will upgrade you to Business Class.” What?! Kami katala, “No, we are on economy.” Dia jawab, “No, no. I upgrade you to business class.”Haa?! Sengih lebarla kami. Terima kasih banyak-banyak, kak! Just before we leave the counter dia cakap lagi, “Today is your lucky day!” Heheheh… It’s been a whole lot of lucky streak ma’am. It’s been a few lucky months, I’d say.

That's pretty much how our seats looked like. 

And I tell you, Business Class is AWESOME! I don’t think I can ever go back to economy! Kerusi dia terbaik! Boleh buat jadi katil. Peh! Siap ada gegar-gegar urut badan lagi. Meja dia ala-ala marble. TV skrin besar. Headset berkualiti tinggi. Dapat aksesori tidur; eyemask, ear plug and socks, lepas tu dapat pulak pajamas sepasang. Tak cukup tu, dapat vanity kit pulak. Lip balm, refreshing water and hand lotion berjenama Salvatore Ferragamo. Layanan pulak, wah! Tip top! Dapat hot towel, drinks are served in real water goblet. Yang macam kat hotel-hotel tu. Makan semua pun guna pinggan dan kutleri sebenar ya, bukan plastic. Siap ada menu lagi, boleh pilih nak makan apa. Breakfast aku makan roti-roti, fruit smoothie, fruit platter with honey yogurt, spinach frittata with steamed vege. Wah wah! Seluar makin ketat!

Lepas je makan terus tido, (sekaligus menyumbang kepada kegemukan lagi). 2 hours later baru bangun. The flight wasn’t so smooth. Throughout the way ada turbulence. But who cares when you’re in Business Class. Hahah. Makan 2^nd round, macaroni and cheese pulak. Terbaiklah. Terbaik untuk tahap kalori badan yang bertambah. Hihih.

With all that luxury, penerbangan 6 jam lebih tu rasa macam singkat pulak. Arrived in KL at 8.50pm waktu tempatan.

I’ll have to say, the trip ended with a bang! Thank you Qatar Airways for upgrading us! I enjoyed every second of it!

Now I finally get to see my babies!!