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| Trip to Paris |
Here I am again on my way back to Europe. Before spending Christmas & New Year in Provence, I am flying back to Paris in order to see two exhibitions I did not want to miss: one on 'Biskra' at the IMA (Institut du Monde Arabe) and another one on the Berber Jewelry at the Musée des Arts Premiers.
DAY 1 - December 11, 2016. Flying from Bangkok to Paris with QATAR AIRWAYS.
-First sector: BKK-DOH aboard a B773ER. Luckily, I was able to be upgraded to business class with my Qmiles [seat 1J]. The flight leaves on time and arrived in Doha on schedule after a 6h30min flight. Excellent service as usual. No wonder QR has been awarded the best business class by Skytrax. Anyway, I was able to sleep all the way to DOH, which is great.
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| BKK to DOH on Qatar Airways (B777-300ER) |
-Transit at Hamad International Airport, Doha for a couple of hours. I went back to Al Mourjan business lounge to take a shower and get some coffee before continuing the journey.
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| Flying above Iran |
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| Skybar inside the A380 |
-Second sector: DOH-CDG aboard my favorite aircraft an A380-800 with a fabulous business class [seat 15K]. Great flight with meals on request at any time during this 6h50min long journey to Paris with a side tour to the bar lounge at the rear. I read, listened to music and got some sleep before landing at CDG with a bright sun and a ground temperature of 9ºC.
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DOH to CDG on Qatar Airways (A380)
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-Shuttle bus [line nº2] to Étoile & Eiffel Tower. The temperature changed to 12ºC and later to 15ºC. After about one hour's ride, I got off at Trocadéro Square where my friend Marylise is expecting me.
PARIS
Quiet afternoon until around 5:00PM, when my Laotian friend Su Van, comes to pick us up in order to tour Paris by night to see the lights and all the Christmas decorations. Fabulous!
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| On the Champs-Élysées |
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| Place de la Concorde |
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| Grande Roue de Paris |
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| Place Vendôme |
DAY 2 – 12/12. Paris.
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| Khmer Art |
Easy-going day in the French capital under a gray sky today. In the afternoon, we walked to the Musée Guimet (the museum of Asian Arts) in order to see the two ongoing exhibitions. One on the Indian miniatures and another one on Chinese jade, which was really fascinating. On the way out, we canceled what we wanted to do next because it started to rain.
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| Jade exhibition |
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| China,3-4BC |
DAY 3 – 13/12. Paris.
From Trocadéro to the IMA [Institut du monde arabe] the city bus line nº63 goes across Paris, offering a prime visual visit of the French capital. The trip lasts about 40min and is worth the time and the ease of reaching this destination.
Today was my day because I came back to Paris mainly to see two ongoing exhibitions I did not want to miss. Being the third day, I saw three fine exhibits there.
The first was on the Algerian city of Biskra in the Sahara, a place where I lived for 4 years that had a real impact on my life. This unusual exhibition is called 'Biskra, Sortilèges d'une oasis' [Biskra, the spell of an oasis].
The second one was on the Berber Jewelry and is called: 'Des trésors à porter – Bijoux et Parures du Maghreb' [Treasures to wear – Set of Jewels from the Maghreb]. I also spent a long time to check, read and take pictures on a topic that has been my favorite one for years. They also publish a catalogue, which I bought at the bookstore.
Finally, the main current exhibition is called: 'Aventuriers des Mers – De Sindbad à Marco Polo' [Sea Adventurers – From Sindbad to Marco Polo].
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| Exhibition on Biskra |
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| Exhibition on Berber Jewelry |
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| A boat from Oman standing for the exhibition on the Sea Adventurers |
As I went there with my two friends, we spent the whole day at the IMA having a Lebanese lunch at the cafeteria and twice a pot of mint tea!
DAY 4 – 14/12. Train from Paris/gare de Lyon to Avignon/TGV.
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| Paris to Avignon by TGV |
Back on line nº63 this morning on the way to Gare de Lyon to catch the TGV to Avignon. The train leaves the station on time and also arrives in Avignon on schedule. This is a new version of the TGV but they still do not offer WiFi on board and storing the baggage remains an issue that has not been tackled. For instance, since there are now two decks, why not having an allocated space for luggage on the first deck near the platform door? Otherwise, the train is rather silent and maintains a cruising speed of 245km/h with occasional speed of almost 300km/h. In Avignon, Frédérique and Baptiste are waiting for me and we drive away to Arles.
DAY 5 – 15/12. Arles.
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