France & Germany! Day 1 Part 1: Catacombs and some huge Park

We heard so much about the Catacombs and had wanted to experience it. Ah tioh CY has offered to be our lead but reminded that we will need a certain level of flexibility to make it into and through the Catacomb. It is afterall an illegal complicated underground maze, with tiny passages to different theme rooms.

After much consideration, we decided that Daddy Lim probably couldn’t fit and only the kids would go ahead with CY. Despite the last night and jet lag, they had to leave the house by 7am. The Catacomb expedition almost didn’t happen bcos it had been rainy in Paris and may become too dangerous. Luckily it did; Nana had so wanted to do so. CY was very enthusiastic about bringing the kids and even recee the entrance and ensure that it isn’t too flooded the day before. Thank you! 

It was a tough night, I think a combination of jet lag, unfamiliar bed and also the cat. Ah Yee’s family has a new kitten - Arkan! 

He is so much more active than Mochi and was happily playing with his bell ball for a long time. Mochi would have given his ball 3 paws and be so done. Hoho.

I woke up at 3am and then at 5ish am and then had trouble falling asleep. Zaky’s alarm when off at 6.20am. Ah yee made us bfast. Zaky was very pleased. 

K texted, sharing that Mochi had his bfast too while we were asleep. 

The kids and CY all ready for Catacomb. 

Daddy Lim and I left the house at about 8am to “send” Athena to school. The sky is barely bright.

The original plan was for the parents to visit the Catacomb museum while the kids crawl around in the real one, but the museum was closed for renovation. Ah Yee then recommended this park beside her house. Park is an understatement; it is huge! Ah yee said that there is this huge “castle/ house” in the Center of the park and that is the main attraction. We were actually very lost, everything looks the same after a while. 

We got bored after a while and googled for the nearest supermarket. Then we chanced upon these streets lined with cafes. Despite the bfast, it seems super reasonable that we do another one.

We did find the supermarket but only got chocolates and salami. We should have bought more special France grocery to bring home. Hoho. Still got chance.

We found our way back to ah yee’s house with Google map’s help. It was finally light to take photos. Introducing the super mini lift. It can only take 2 adults. I never know lift can some in such mini size. 

Ah yee lives on the 4th floor. 

The walkway.

The kitchen.

Living room, which was converted to our sleeping quarters for the next few nights. The 4 of us shared a sofa bed and an inflatable air mattress. 

Ah Yee has a nice balcony too. 

We lazed a little and were out to meet CY and the kids. Their plan was to exit the Catacomb at about noon but they got out earlier. 

CY said that they probably just explored 1% of the Catacomb. They spent a good 3 hours underground. CY and planned for longer but Zaky asked to leave earlier bcos he was cold and sad. Lol. In actual fact, Catacomb maintains a constant temperature of 17 degrees throughout the year, regardless of season. 

They had to go to some abandoned train tunnel for the entrance. 

Then, there is this little shoulder width hole, which is the entrance to the Catacomb. 

The kids said that they had to wriggle through ankle deep puddles at times, else to crouch through low headway tunnels. 

There were different theme rooms to explore. 

They also had a little snack break. 

CY and the kids met us at a restaurant in town for lunch. To exit the Catacomb, they had to go back the way they come in and waddled through the puddles again. Zaky texted that he was hungry and cold. Haha. 

Mummy Lim

France & Germany! Day 0

Finally, finally, finally! 

Our flight was at 2pm and we are going to fly 14 hours to Paris on a day flight. Why not a redeye flight so that we can sleep most of the flight away? Bcos it is more expensive. It is a few hundred dollars per person more expensive and that adds up to a lot. So, we are going to binge watch movies on the flight. Hohoho. 

Packing commenced last weekend bcos there are alot of things to bring for a 12 days winter holiday for 4 pax. While I always pride myself for packing and traveling light, it gets more difficult when the clothings become bigger. We brought things for ah yee and Athena too. 

Majority of the packing was done by last night. This morning, I was working for half a day and throwing last bit of random stuff into the bags. 

This round, instead of sending Mochi to a sitter’s place, we decided to have somebody come visit 2 times a day to feed him. We have tried this arrangement for shorter durations and hope that Mochi would be alight for almost 2 weeks without us. 

We have prepped and done all needed, give instructions and reminders to his sitter, Kai. I hope all will be well. 

Our place is now so much nearer to the airport. We left home at about 12.15pm and arrived in 15 mins. 

We have 2 big luggage, 1 medium and 2 big backpacks. The amount of stuff will definitely reduced once we passed them on to ah yee and throw away muddy/ dirty shoes and clothes after the catacomb. 

It was a rush at the airport. I had wanted to change $$ earlier this week but forgotten to do so in all 3 days that I was in the office. We had to feed the kids, change $$ and also buy duty free stuff for ah yee. Ah Yee said that everywhere in Europe uses credit card now, so we didn’t have to bring too much cash. 

Waiting to board.

All good! 

It is a small plane and Daddy Lim has to sit alone. Nana doesn’t want to sit with the 2 boys bcos they take up too much space. 

Our 1st meal was at 4.40pm, about 3 hours after we took off.

Zaky had like 3 buns. He totally heart the airplane meals. I felt asleep after my 2nd movie for about 2 hours and shortly after I woke up, they were serving dinner. It was about 9ish SGT time, but I felt like I just ate and was stationary the whole 5 hours. I shared dinner with Nana. 

  

Flying over somewhere in Europe. 

Finally after 13 hours!

We survived! Nana and I watched 3 movies, Zaky watched 4 and Daddy Lim did 5! 

On the way to collect our luggage. The tunnel felt like we were in an aquarium.

Ah Yee has nicely come and revived us at the airport. 

Taking the train to her place. The train ride took about an hour. 

While I felt like we kept eating on the flight to Paris, we were hungry again and ah yee bought us kebab for supper. Very nice! We needed to take a 15 mins walk to ah yee’s house from the train station. It was already past midnight when we finally settled down for bed, meaning that it was already 7am SGT. Yes, we were so very exhausted. 

Good night.

Mummy Lim