PERCUTIAN KE BELGIUM AND GENEVA -Chapter 1

It all started 7 months ago in March 2014, A long holiday was planned. It was between, Japan, Korea and Europe, finally it was decided Europe.

First Airplane booking.......15 min later...Voila, MH020, Depart KLIA 23.55h arrival Paris CDG 6.05h. We got it.

The Actors;

 from left Afiq, Abah,Ibu, Zeti and Syahid 

Ok now the route planning;

The plan was to cover 3 countries Belgium-Switzerland and France, the followings are plans for accommodation and length of stay;

• Brussels - Hotel rooms, 2 nites
• Geneva - Day visit
• Annecy - Apartment, 3 nights
• Chamonix - Day visit
• Paris - Apartment, 4 nights

While for mode of transportation;

• Paris - Brussels : high-speed train (2h 05m)
• Brussels - Geneva : Airplane (45m)
• Geneva - Annecy : Bus (1h)
• Annecy - Paris : high-speed train (4h 30m)

And then came the day, 23 Oct 2014, for some reason Ibu had to be in Melbourne and only arrived back in Malaysia on the same date! pheeww that was close.

Started from home by Taxi around 5.30 pm and arrived KLIA by 6.15pm, in 20 minutes we got our Boarding pass, MH020, Depart KL 23.55 arrival Paris CDG 6.05 and on what plane.........?!!

And mind you the plane was only 40% full......yahoo! we all got sleeping coach.

some photos at the KLIA and in the plane....

And then the arrival in Airport Paris Charles De Gaulle Terminal 1, 6.15 am still on 23 Oct, with temperature 9 degC. some photos;

Some more....

From Terminal 1 we took a free shuttle to SNCF Station bound for Terminal 2 CDG station. A 15 minutes ride and then we are @ CDG 2 station.
I have made earlier reservation at RailEurope and we just print our ticket at this station.

Some photos while in the TGV high-speed train...

Arriving in Brussels.....2.05 pm, temperature 9 degC, weather wet and windy.... The Gem of Europe.

Some photos of train Station of Gare Du Midi and Brussels town...

We travel all "light-n-easy" with back packs, adults carries 75 L and zeti carry 35 L backpacks, this is convenient for going around and in/out of bus or train, it works like dream...all bought from Lazada.

The Hotel is Hotel Aviation at L'Avenue de L'Aviation about 600m from the train station. It was a 3 star hotel, with essentials such as breakfast, Wifi, lift, Hot Water, friendly reception. We're here only 2 nites so we don't really mind the basic facilities. The kids are happy that the Wifi is way more faster than at home. But most importantly we dont have to travel far to go to train station.

These are what our simple Hotel looks like..

This is the simple go-about map in Brussels...distance from the train station to Hotel is around 600m. From restaurant to Grand Place about 2 km and return back to Hotel about 1.2 km

Guess what?...its time to look for street food, it will be our first meal in Grand Old-Europe

This is the restaurant with Halal food about 100 meters from train station.

some more, Masyaallah these burgers and fritters were the best in the world or what?!...
and the "Minted-Tea" free by the restaurant owner ( Syukran Bro...) are the best in the chilling Brussels...

Alhamdulillah, what a nice food, clean and neat restaurant and above all a beautiful treat from the owner. Ok time to head for the Brussels famous spots...

look at how beautifully painted those grafitti and "murals" are....

Belgium is the capital of Cartoonist republic in Europe, here are some of Belgium famous cartoon character....

 Of course the MANNEKEN PIS....

and the most famous WAFFLE in the world!!...look at how succulent, fresh and crispy wow!!...uniquely yummy.

price?....1 Euro only. And the chocolate of course...

And the famously astute, Grand Place.....

Where it all begins...1000 years ago

Ok on our back to Hotel, checking some bookshops and grab sandwiches for dinner.

We bought sandwich shawarma and fritters and head back to the hotel. And that ends our 26 hours of journey-cum-sightseeing from Malaysia to Belgium. And we sleep like a log zzzZZZ.

                                     


                                            END OF DAY 1

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We woke up around 7 am and went down for breakfast at the restaurant de L'Escale next door...

And we head for Station Midi for our first destination today, Antwerp via train, about 1h 30m.

The train station is a fascinating 4 storeys structure with an impressive architecture, it was a busy station and situated at the door step of the city of Antwerp. Syahid grab a waffle and Abah even got interviewed by local students broadcasting project, cool. 

A bustling modern city brimming with shopping outlets, it was 10degC and was raining lightly.

Afiq bought the Nikon camera cover for Euro 50 and buy some homemade chocolate, the Grand Place as usual was classic rennaissance architecture.

Then after quick lunch at Antwerp train station, we ate spaghetti carbonara and pumpkin soup then we headed to Brugges by train.

I have to warn you guys, this is not only a beautiful city...this is a very very beautiful and cultured city, the famous Madonna statue is right here...

The historical town is just 400 m from the train station...

With its network of rivers and bridges, quaint setup and picturesque ambience.

Statue of Madonna once pillaged by Nazi and brought back to its rightful place, one of chef d'eouvre of Michelangelo himself (....see Monuments Men).

No words to describe...

The serene environment only adds authencity to the old town...

After a short ride on bus and the train we stop by the Arab restaurant for quick dinner of paella and thats the end of Day 2...What a day, Subhanallah.

END OF DAY 2

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Today we leave Belgium and head for Geneva in Switzerland. We reserved about a months ago the Brussels Air plane ticket through online booking and we got a promotional price. And the catch was we took the first morning flight which start at 6.50 am. Now, we have to check-in from 4.50 am and we are lucky bcoz the first train start about 4.15 am and arrive at 4.29 am, ok on paper that looks fine. 

But...the worst 1h 30m of our Europe trip was about to begin..... Ha ha well roughly like this....we arrive at the airport ontime, and we saw a long queu to the check-in counter, ok we tow the line, guess what it was a self service check-in with luggage. You will have to validate your boarding ticket and weigh in luggages plus any excess you will settle them with your credit card.

Wow!! everything goes hay wire somebody kicks in our line, I havent print out the boarding ticket, the system rejects our luggages and I have to beg the supervisor and she finally help us out. We got through with Euro 115 penalty for excess. Then the Marathon start....We ran, ran and ran so far to reach another queu and tow the line again, and then everyone of us was stopped and had to be rescanned bcause of water bottles!!, then we ran, ran again eventually we reached the boarding gate and peoples are queuing to get in the plane, pheww at last. Ibu incidentally found a big, blue gem stone wrap in velvet pouch, she willingly and proudly return it to the ground flight officer, that gem may priced around Euro 2,000 at least.

Brussel Air plane

See how majestic the city of Geneva below the morning sky..

In Geneva Airport another tricky situation surfaces....we got all luggages except...Syahid. Kudos for Syahid for being so cool. We report to the loss-n-found department and head to Geneva town centre. Looks like Syahid is going to use Abah's cloth for now. 

We took the train for about 10 minutes and alighted at the train station and it was 8.00 am and we're hungry for breakfast.

So first thing was to keep the luggages at the locker, but we have to change the currency to Franc swiss CHF, luckily it was 1:1 with Euro. We use the largest locker to fit all 4 backpacks at 10 CHF.

Then we rushed to the small grocery store and picked up packed food, we grabbed a cold potato salads and spaghetti with chunks of Mozarella, Bagel and croissants. We found small parks and opened our packs and eat them in the cold morning of Geneva with some hungry local sparrows....

Geneva...squeaky clean European aristocrate town with a clean line architecture and monotonous color of the building. The lake water is so clear looks rather shallow at 4-5 meters depth.

All major swiss made watches marques like, Rolex, Blanc Pain, Breguet, Breitling, Piaget, Chopard have their own building aligning the highstreet along the bank of the lake. We strolled up a hill and view a very calm but picturesque setting of old hotels, residences and Churches, a feast to the eyes.

Then we took our backpack and head to a small bus terminals to take us to Annecy, France. It was 12.00 pm the journey will take well about an hour, we all collapsed almost immediately in the bus due to the tiring 1h30m marathon we had earlier in Brussels. Abah however fight the sleepiness to capture the wide open country view of Switzerland.

At 1.30 pm we arrived in Annecy and alighted at Annecy train station. We immediately noticed the breathtaking scenery of a calm town surrounded by the Alps. We cross the road and took our first lunch at Turkish halal restaurant serving nice sandwiches and hot tea.

Then we walked reluctantly guided by google map and with the help of some local folks we found our Appartment after 30 minutes. We were immediately greeted by Ms Delphine Carrier and her lovely family. They showed us around the appartment, showed all appliances and we paid her the rentals and the Appartment is ours for the next 3 nites. 

The appartment is a two bedrooms with 1 bathroom, 1 toilet, living room, kitchen with dining table and a store room. It comes complete with all furniture, electrical appliances, wifi, all u can think of (the best is expresso coffee maker!) utensils, bedsheet, cleaning tools everything needed in a family. I bet 95% of them are from IKEA. She even left us with spices and all, here is the link to this marvellous apartment and its generous host http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/apartment-la-prairie.html

The apartment is about 12 min from Halal food and butcher, 5 min from Hyper market, 2 min from bakery shop, so eating is plentiful and within walking distance.

Oh Yes Syahid got back his backpack delivered right on the door step (missing for 11 hrs). 

Finally, the day ends up with a satisfying meal cooked by Ibu and Zeti, in the Menu are;

Spaghetti a la sauce Bolognese

Petit Morceau de Viande au Sauce de l'indien (kari daging la tuu)

Poulet friere (ayam goreng)

Du Riz (nasi la apa lagi..)

END OF DAY 3

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 Today is sunday and theres a sunday market at the Annecy old town, where we can buy fresh country produces. On our list are cheeses, vegetables, chocolate, pastries, halal meat, sweets, fruits and cakes.

We found more than we looked for and the prices are very reasonable. We have plenty of fresh products and foods for cooking today.

Immediately at home we spread the food on the table and take our 2nd breakfast; a fresh country bread, famous cheese conte, a succulent grilled spring chicken grilled to perfection and simmered with olive oil and fresh skinned potatoes, salads and Milk.

Then we walked through the busy wet market in the direction of Annecy Lake. Took photo at the famous bridge with the famous ancient floating church in the background.

There on the bridge...an old man with its musical box playing a classic french song....just not the same without him. 

The lake......ahh the lake. I have no words to describe these photos.

Now that's why its called the most beautiful lake and cleanest in Europe.

Some shots of Annecy town in Autumn day.

Back to the lake again and renting boat for lake cruise. We get to manoeuvre the boat ourself for 1 hour. The view are just captivating.

Blue turquoise water, greenish alps and wide blue sky, a perfect combination isn't it?

The shot above is not taken from post card ok, its from our NIKON 3100.

After the boat ride we head to the Old palace up on the hill.

Just amazing views wherever we set eyes on.

Back home, ibu prepared another wonderful dinner;

Macaroni a la creme du fromage (makaroni in cream cheese dahh..)

Soup aux varietes de legumes provencale (sup sayur dahh..)

Morceau de Viande a la sauce de poivre noir (daging masak black pepper dah..)

Du Riz (nasi la apa lagi..)

END OF EUROPE CHAPTER 1