Jour Un: Dublin-Beauvais-Paris-Meaux

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I was only out with Yani waiting for a bus to go to the airport at about 2 pm, and our flight was going to be at 4 something..i doubted at first that we could catch the flight, and I had the same feelings of missing the flight like the one happened last year during my winter break (we missed the flight back to Dublin from Stansted Airport n spent the nite at the airport, surrounded by fear!)..the bus came a little bit later and i kept praying n hoping that we could make it on time..thank God we did!

There was quite a lot of people in the same flight as ours..n half of them had started speaking French, which made me realized that I REALLY was going to Paris (I still couldn’t believe that I was going actually until that particular moment, maybe because I haven’t been travelling for quite a long time)..i got a window seat which I enjoyed so much, and when we were high up in the sky I was so stunned by the view I saw..it was like an ocean of clean white clouds and I thot of how nice it would be if I can go out n play on them..subhanallah..how great Allah is, He created ocean on land n up in the sky..(they really looked like an endless ocean I tell ya...like as if they were real ocean, white one though)

“..Sesungguhnya pada langit dan bumi benar-benar terdapat tanda-tanda kekuasaan Allah S.W.T untuk orang yang beriman..” –Al-Jathiyah:2

insaf insaf..

finally we reached Beauvais Airport..it was a really small airport and the buildings were like a bunch of temporary square tents people build for kenduri n parties..they looked so pathetic..that explained the cheap ryanair ticket I think..huhu..rasanya airport kuala terengganu 50 kali lagi gempak..nway we rushed to buy bus tickets to go to Paris, it was already dark outside n we still had a long way to go..it took 1 and half hour to go to Paris, on the way I saw familiar views, as if I was taking a bus in Malaysia..the highways, the houses, they really looked similar to my eyes (I wished I was really in Malaysia) and finally we reached Paris..i told Yani of the things I saw on the journey n she agreed with me!!but the excitement faded quickly, being replaced by my worries..actually we booked a room in a hotel in Paris-Disneyland, not the city Paris itself..n now we had to find our way to go there..thank God we did prepare for this the nite before, so we started to search for RER station (one of the intercity train link in France)

reaching at the Porte Maillot station, there was no one at the counter n the ticketing machine had no option for English language…

tercengang jugakla…ape nak buat ni..

after looking at the train route n discussing for like 10 minutes, finally there was a man came to run the ticket counter..

lega..err now how do I talk to him?I think he can speak English but I’m not so sure..

so we looked back at the train route..

now we have to go to Marne-la-Vallee-Chessy station using A4 train route (RED )n we are now at the Porte Maillot, at the C route (YELLOW)..so we have to take this train n stop at St-Michel Notre-Dame and exchange the train for Chatelet Les Halles..from there we are already on the A4 route n we just have to go straight to Marne-la-Vallee-Chessy..done..

err bon soir, deux TICKETS a St.Michel-Notre Dame, s’il vous plait..
(good evening, 2 TICKETS to St.Michel-Notre Dame, please-->I forgot wut TICKET is in French..bantai jek la cakap rojak..huhu)

counter man: bon soir..c'est.....s'il vous plait...(speaking French fastly)

tercengang lagi..

counter man: (smile)..it’s E2.60 please..

malu, tapi sangat lega!!
(btw 2.60 euro= deux six-ans euro..i figured that one out few moments later)
err..actually we’re going to Chessy station..bla..bla..take train to St.Michel..bla bla..then to Chateles Les Halles bla bla..then to Chessy..is that the correct route we’re taking??

counter man: oui..

relieved again..then we continued the journey of another 1 n half hour on train..Chessy station is at zone 5 n we started at zone 1..plus the time taken in exchanging n waiting for the next train..it should consumed less than 1 n half hour actually..

reaching at Chessy station, the excitement grew rapidly as we could see the colourful bright lights of Disneyland beside the park..but we still had one final obstacle to be countered, that was to find our hotel..we asked an officer at the station and gave the hotel address, asking whether it was possible for us to walk there..he was shocked and fastly shooked his head, saying we had to take a bus 44 there..i hesitated at first, how do we know where to stop then?I had my worries again and it was already near 10 pm..so we decided to take a cab there..

we got into a cab after having a hard time finding one..on the way I was worried to death n nearly had my panic attack, the road was so unfamiliar n it felt like we were heading nowhere as there were endless bushes n trees at both side of the road..no building or houses..i started to have my doubt on the driver..

he doesn’t look like a decent man..wut if he drops us somewhere in the bushes, robs us, takes everything, or even does something bad to us (u know wut it is..)..he’s so capable of doing that to us..he’s a big guy..

I was so near to cry n started praying n continuously reciting selawat in my heart..the journey seemed endless..we were both in our own thots n kept silence..finally I saw a signboard ‘Meaux-Mareuil’ and few familiar signboards after that..relieved?hell no..i was not going to be until I safely reached the place..moments later we came about to pass an area of hotels and from far I saw the sign ‘Hotel Akena’ (I hate it to mention this hotel, and the thot of it even more)..he dropped us there and we paid the fair (mahal giler..i knew it he would higher the tariff when we first took the cab)..we got in the hotel, checked in n rushed to the room..i couldn’t think of anything at that moment, I just want the nite to pass over quickly, get out of this hotel as soon as possible n find another hotel in Paris, but I knew that was partly possible..we were tired, of the journey and the worries..

After settling everything down, I was lying in the comfortable duvet, thinking of the plan of finding another place, considering the consequences and all..there was a quick muhasabah session of myself, maybe we did a hasty decision of staying at this hotel (we did, because we were in the middle of exams when we booked the hotel), and we didn’t take enough precautions I guess..i learnt that I must know a place well before going to one, at least I must have a map of the place, not just the map of the places of interest, but the whole place..n I also learnt that there are ups and downs in life, He arranged such plans for us to continuously remembering Him, not just in our bad times..i laughed at myself of my foolishness, why was I so careless in making decision..n I thot of whether these are the things that I’m going to laugh about one day, if I survived it..

I hoped I would..

I slept with hopes that the next day was going to be a better one for us..

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few days in France i found out that TICKET = billet in French..hehe..marked!