So, it is my first ever tour of a foreign country & I am super excited and afraid too.
We have planned this trip with Thomas Cook Group holidays. Don't know what to expect. Our flight is Etihad Airlines at 4.40 am.(29/5/19). Arrived at 12.15 amat Airport. By 1.00 am, all checks over and we head to lounge to pass our time. Boarded the flight at 4.00 am & Voyla. The flight is Airbus & it is super cool, spacious. Experienced this first time ever. Airhostesses are all foreigners.
First flight is till Abu Dhabi. We get served bfast here- mini idlis, seviyaan, bread & biscuits. Already full in lounge, I keep the bread & biscuits for future use.
At around 7.00 am( Abu Dhabi- 1.30 hrs. ahead of us) , we land at Abu- Dhabi. There me and my no- so- better(😜) half go to freshen up. I enter ladies RR from one door and come out from another. And LOL, I didn't notice that. And, here my hubby dear, searching me in ladies toilet, staff there calling my name, but not finding me and here, me thinking that he is taking time in RR. With very little time remaining to board, he finally finds me and we literally run to board. Boarding has already started. We made it(sigh). Couldn't even take photos at Abu.
The flight is double decker, much bigger than earlier one and I am like- wow!! Here again, we get served b'fast. It is cheese omlette, sausage , spinach- mushroom ( super delicious), bread and biscuits. Again kept b& b for future. And LOL, it came handy afterwards. For 5 hrs., they didn't give us anything. So survived on my saved items. In last hr. of flight, they gave us coffee and biscuits.
Passed 7 hrs of flight time watching Pokhran- our very own Indian movie & of course sleeping. Didn't feel tired after landing. So, hat's off to Etihad for providing such a comfortable journey.
And then, finally in PARIS.Were thinking, that it would take a lot of time in immigration formalities, but it took us just around 15-20 min. And it was just 2.30 pm & we were to be provided only dinner by T. Cook that day. Was thinking about lunch, but didn't have any& boarded T. Cook busto our hotel- Novotel. Our, tour manager- Mohit Jaiswal from Himachal- A nice, sweet guy. Our group is of around 30 people. 2-3 families, 3-4 pairs of couples. Our age group couple is Mrinal & Sharmishtha Bhattacharya .
Mrinal da is after dutyfree shops, right from airport. We are like- what's so urgent? And then we find the answer at dinner.
For dinner, our group was taken to a small cozy place- our very much Indian restaurant, Daawat. Saw well managed traffic, greenary all over. And food- it was really yummy Indian food. We had rice, dal, aaloo sabzi, butter paneer, chicken gravy, curd, pickle, papad, salad & rosogolla. A complete, sumptuous Indian affair. And it was just 7 pm. Never had dinner so early. But we're told, here lunch time is 22 noon and dinner 7 pm. But, we didn't mind, as we were damn hungry, with no lunch.
Came back to Novotel at around 8 and it looked like, it's still 5. Here, sunset is around 9.30- 9.45.Were spell bound to hear & experience this. Sunrise is atoaro 5.30. Here nights are very small in summers. In winter's, the process reverses. Then days are small and nights long. Amazing nature & it's ways. And here ends day1 of our tour. Actual beauty still awaited us.
Bon jour. Mercy beku.
We have planned this trip with Thomas Cook Group holidays. Don't know what to expect. Our flight is Etihad Airlines at 4.40 am.(29/5/19). Arrived at 12.15 amat Airport. By 1.00 am, all checks over and we head to lounge to pass our time. Boarded the flight at 4.00 am & Voyla. The flight is Airbus & it is super cool, spacious. Experienced this first time ever. Airhostesses are all foreigners.
First flight is till Abu Dhabi. We get served bfast here- mini idlis, seviyaan, bread & biscuits. Already full in lounge, I keep the bread & biscuits for future use.
At around 7.00 am( Abu Dhabi- 1.30 hrs. ahead of us) , we land at Abu- Dhabi. There me and my no- so- better(😜) half go to freshen up. I enter ladies RR from one door and come out from another. And LOL, I didn't notice that. And, here my hubby dear, searching me in ladies toilet, staff there calling my name, but not finding me and here, me thinking that he is taking time in RR. With very little time remaining to board, he finally finds me and we literally run to board. Boarding has already started. We made it(sigh). Couldn't even take photos at Abu.
The flight is double decker, much bigger than earlier one and I am like- wow!! Here again, we get served b'fast. It is cheese omlette, sausage , spinach- mushroom ( super delicious), bread and biscuits. Again kept b& b for future. And LOL, it came handy afterwards. For 5 hrs., they didn't give us anything. So survived on my saved items. In last hr. of flight, they gave us coffee and biscuits.
Passed 7 hrs of flight time watching Pokhran- our very own Indian movie & of course sleeping. Didn't feel tired after landing. So, hat's off to Etihad for providing such a comfortable journey.
And then, finally in PARIS.Were thinking, that it would take a lot of time in immigration formalities, but it took us just around 15-20 min. And it was just 2.30 pm & we were to be provided only dinner by T. Cook that day. Was thinking about lunch, but didn't have any& boarded T. Cook busto our hotel- Novotel. Our, tour manager- Mohit Jaiswal from Himachal- A nice, sweet guy. Our group is of around 30 people. 2-3 families, 3-4 pairs of couples. Our age group couple is Mrinal & Sharmishtha Bhattacharya .
Mrinal da is after dutyfree shops, right from airport. We are like- what's so urgent? And then we find the answer at dinner.
For dinner, our group was taken to a small cozy place- our very much Indian restaurant, Daawat. Saw well managed traffic, greenary all over. And food- it was really yummy Indian food. We had rice, dal, aaloo sabzi, butter paneer, chicken gravy, curd, pickle, papad, salad & rosogolla. A complete, sumptuous Indian affair. And it was just 7 pm. Never had dinner so early. But we're told, here lunch time is 22 noon and dinner 7 pm. But, we didn't mind, as we were damn hungry, with no lunch.
Came back to Novotel at around 8 and it looked like, it's still 5. Here, sunset is around 9.30- 9.45.Were spell bound to hear & experience this. Sunrise is atoaro 5.30. Here nights are very small in summers. In winter's, the process reverses. Then days are small and nights long. Amazing nature & it's ways. And here ends day1 of our tour. Actual beauty still awaited us.
Bon jour. Mercy beku.
