Last day and a very early start, aiming to get to Trocadero to catch the sunrise and take some good snaps of my girls! All up and ready, it was time to head out. Was still dark when we left the hotel. Getting to Trocadero, Neha and Pooja were surprised to see a few people already there and a couple of brides doing their photoshoots, I told then “see we are not the only crazy ones!”

It was then time to snap away….

Enough pics with Eiffel, next a quick stop near the Pont Alexandre III bridge.

Time to head back to the hotel and get some much needed breaky! We headed to the cafe opposite La Perla Italian, turned out to be not the best breakfast we have had . Got back to the hotel, kids did not want to head out at all now, and next door Dian and Aaria were in a similar state, left all 4 of them in our room and the 4 of us headed to a kitchen store around the block from our hotel. Not sure who, but someone had recommended this place to Meeta for great cooking things. It was quite an old store but it had anything and everything of cooking. Nita & Meeta both got a few things from there. Back at the hotel, kids were having a ball and did not want to go out, decided to leave them there and get some Pizza, me and Vik headed to the Pizza Hut behind the hotel and delivered that to the room! Kids all sorted, time for us to head out, Nita and I headed for the last time to Champs-Elysees, Vik and Meeta went to the Opera area.

Roamed a bit in Champs-Elysees, Nita made the most of the last day there!
Time for a tea break, Stopped by at the 86Champs – L’Occitane x Pierre Hermé, it was a Skin care place and a great coffee shop! Highly recommended, these place has some amazing desserts.

Staff preparing a dessert in front of us, unfortunately it was not ours!!

Bye Bye Champs-Elysees, it was great visiting you. Now back to the hotel. Kids were still having a ball when we got back, no problems there!
Time to freshen up and head out soon, we were going to walk to the bridges to put our padlocks and then a 20 minute walk to Bara-naan Indian restaurant.

Leaving a piece of us in Paris!

Got to the right address but could not see Bara-naan, looked around and finally saw the small sign saying Bara-naan! In large letters it had “Elaichi”! very confusing. The place did not look much from the outside, and stepping in, it was just a small takeaway joint with a Tiger art work on the back wall. It was not till you got to the wall that you realise there is a hidden door leading you into the Bara-naan cocktail bar.

Stepping inside the cocktail bar had a great buzz to it, and was packed!! Not sure how they would accommodate the 16 of us … I had booked this place 2 months back. The place did not really look kids friendly, weird the guys at the time of booking said all good with kids??? Me and Doc were the first ones there, talked to the guys at the bar and they had no booking for us!! They brought out their ipad to view all their facebook bookings and behold, my booking was there but they had totally missed it .
They arranged three high tables with 8 chairs, by this time Balia and Vik also arrived, it was getting a bit chaotic now. with most of the adults standing, we decided to atleast order some drinks and entrees, everyone was hungry. By the time we ordered, the staff had organised a table of 8 for the kids, atleast they were sorted. Food arrived on their table and when Meeta and Tina went to serve them, they found the food to be COLD, also the naan entrees were not that great, chewy. Food that got to our table was also the same and really tasteless, we were trying to go with the flow but the food quality was just not up to it. Decided to head out and not stay here any longer, no one was really enjoying it. I told the guys the issues with the food and that we would only play for the drinks we consumed as the food was not up to standard. On their side, they were very apologetic and did not argue with that at all, good on them for good customer service.
On to the streets, we called the Thai place (Khao Thai) that I had wanted to go for lunch but was closed, they could accommodate 16, so off to that now. Called our UBERS and were on the way.

Got to the Khao Thai and that place was also quite full but they did squeeze us in after a 5 minute wait. Three tables were organised, 1 for kids, 1 for ladies and 1 for the guys! Food was great here, just what we needed.

Finished off then a leisurely stroll back to the hotel. Lots of good laughs along the way, and then a long chit chat outside the entrance to the hotel. This was the last night for us, tomorrow early morning (4:30am) mine and Vik’s family were going to the airport, end of holidays!!
Said our farewells and then it was time to hit the bed for some much needed sleep before the long day tomorrow.

Neha 4th Oct vlog

5th Oct Flight back home .

It was like we had only just slept, the alarm had us all up and then it was a rush to get showered, kids organised, bags locked, belongings checked…. done… now to checkout and into our waiting transport with Vik and family.  Goodbye Novotel Les Halles, you were amazing, next time we would be staying at the same place when in Paris!

Ride to Airport was just over 40 minutes. We got to the British Airways check in area and it was closed!! It would open 1.5 hours before the flight, and here we were 2.5 hours ahead. Looking around there were no benches or seats, walked around and a bit further up we did locate some seats where we all waited.
Finally checkin opened and then it was the pathetic speed, service in Paris for the BA flights was so so so slow!! It was another 40 minutes in the queue and we only had about 30 minutes left when we got checked in, then a mad dash to the aircraft. Pity that, as the airside area of the airport was brilliant but all we could do was run past!! Thanks British Airways for not allowing us to spend money at the airport!

Flight to Heathrow was quick, at Heathrow we had about 3 hours of transit, time to get some breaky and I was also able to claim my tax refunds on all the shopping done in Paris. Interesting with their tax refund system, you are supposed to claim it at the airport where you are leaving the EU zone! Heathrow was it!

It was then the 13 hour leg to KL, another 3 hours transit and then the final 8 hours to Brisbane.

Bhavik had come to collect us from the airport, it was about 9:45 pm when we came out , first direct to mums place for some dinner, mum had cooked Neha and Pooja’s favourite, Butter chicken. A good dinner and then it was time to go home & crash and let the jet-leg hit us.

It had been a great holiday made more memorable by the amazing company we had! Till next time, “Au revoir” (goodbye in French).

Neha’s last day vlog