Three Countries, One Heatwave, Zero Chill - Part 2: Paris

We finally made it to Paris. Her dream destination. And the drama was just getting started.

The Hotel Hunt

After reaching Paris, it was hotter than in Brussels; we got a cab, and we checked into our hotel. We dragged all our bags up to the third floor, no lift, after everything we had already been through that day. The room was so small and so hot. We tried to make it work, stayed for an hour, had a cold shower, hoping it would feel better. It didn't. It was tiny, suffocating, and the heat was unbearable. My wife finally said we are not staying here. And honestly, even I knew she was right, but I was still the one screaming about how we could spend more money again. We booked a cab, found an AC cafe nearby, and sat there hunting for a new hotel on our phones. That cafe, too, was about to close and asked us to leave soon. Which is not how we imagined our Paris trip starting.

We found a new hotel and booked it for two days, deciding to come back to the first hotel for our last night to save some money. Classic me.  Then another cab to the old hotel, and I dragged all the luggage all the way down, and we reached the new hotel only to get a message at the reception, "The AC wasn't great, I am sorry." An apology at the reception. Adangoyaale.

We took it anyway. The room was bigger at least, and there was a tiny bit of AC. Then the lights stopped working properly. We requested a fan. They brought one. Combined with the tiny AC, it was just about enough to sleep.

The Perfect Day

The next day made up for everything. Early morning photoshoot near the Eiffel Tower before the crowds arrived. We reached on time successfully with our toddler.  Then "costly" breakfast at Carette after waiting in a long queue. Then metro rides to the Louvre. Then a bus to a South Indian restaurant, because apparently we find South Indian food in every country we visit. Then a bus to Arc de Triomphe, with a stop for macarons, and then we waited 27 minutes for a bus to take us 900 metres. Classic Paris. A few clicks and back to the room before the heat became unbearable.

That evening, a relative picked us up in a car; it felt like an absolute blessing. We went for dinner, then walked through a Paris neighbourhood hunting for ice cream. Saw the Seine, Notre Dame, and made it back to the Eiffel Tower just before sunset. And then it happened. The Eiffel Tower started sparkling. And it started raining at the same time.

That was her Paris moment. Right there.

We got back to the room, and the AC was finally working properly as well.

The Eiffel Tower Effect

I had heard people say it was just a structure. Some felt meh about it. Some said after seeing it once they completely lost interest. I didn't know what to expect.

On our train to Paris, I saw a WhatsApp status of a friend standing in front of it. Honestly, it looked just like a Transformer. Told the same to my wife; she was like, "thanks for ruining it for me".

The first glimpse came completely unexpectedly. We were in a taxi on the way to our second hotel, still stressed about the AC situation and the money, when the cab went right past it. Just like that, there it was. And I was awestruck immediately. No warning, no build-up, just the Eiffel Tower appearing out of nowhere while I was mid-panic about hotel bookings.

Then the next morning, in another taxi on the way to the early morning photoshoot during sunrise. Awestruck again. Then from Trocadero, looking at it straight on. Then near the Seine in the evening. Then during golden hour. Then when the lights came on. Then when it sparkled in the rain.

Every single time, the same feeling.

And it didn't stop there. The next day, getting off a bus near our hotel, I caught a glimpse of it between buildings. Then during a tram journey, just a flash of it through the window.

Still incredible.

I had heard people say once is enough. I saw it at least eight times across two days. Every single time, I was still awestruck.

Some structures just do that to you.

Disneyland

The next day, we woke up late and headed to Disneyland. On the way, my wife missed the tram, so my toddler and I got off at the next stop to wait for the following one, and we all met at the destination. Small chaos, very on brand for this trip.

We reached Disneyland, but the parade was already over since they had changed the timing due to the heatwave. We waited more than an hour to meet Minnie, but it was worth it. Then there was a mini parade, which was too good. Photos in front of the castle, then the It's a Small World ride, which was amazing. By this point, my wife was done for the day because of the heat. So she rested while my toddler and I went on the Teacups ride twice, followed by the Carousel and the Dumbo Ride, waiting another hour for that. Then we caught the parade one more time and finally left Disneyland with some printed photos we took with Minnie, completely satisfied, ordering Uber Eats to the hotel on the way back.

Also, since the AC had been working the previous day properly, I had extended our stay at Hotel 2 and even got a discount for the day we spent without proper AC.

The Last Paris Morning

The last day in Paris, we checked out, left our bags at the hotel, and headed to Galeries Lafayette. After all the chaos of the past few days, just wandering around a beautiful mall felt surprisingly relaxing. Then we found a bakery nearby and sat down for croissants, coffee, and an eclair. A proper Paris morning, finally.

Meanwhile, I went to collect the leftover things we had left in that nightmare Hotel 1. You know, the hotel we escaped from on day one after dragging all our bags up three floors with no lift. No hard feelings.

After that we got back to the hotel, collected our bags, booked a cab, and reached the station. One hour and fifteen minutes before our train. Yes. I overcorrected. After nearly missing the Paris train by one minute in Brussels, I was not taking any chances.

The cab ride was horrible without AC; our toddler asleep after we reached the station which was good.

Our train's platform wasn't even announced. And, finally, the train was there after we waited for an hour, found our seats, and settled in. It was a cramped train. And then the train didn't move. Delayed by more than 40 minutes a reward for reaching early. Which meant we were going to miss our connection to Luxembourg.

To be continued. Luxembourg has another hotel drama waiting. And a train that separated me from my wife and toddler. But that's Part 3.

Three Countries, One Heatwave, Zero Chill - Part 1: Belgium

I am the guy who reaches the platform at least 30 minutes early for any train. Always. For any train, for any trip, without fail.

And then there was Brussels.

To give a little background, we decided to take a trip to Paris, but getting there directly from our place would take longer by train and was too costly by air. So we decided to add a pit stop in Belgium first and Luxembourg at the end. One of our friends suggested this, and we thought, wow, we can cover three countries in a single trip, and just by train. Let's go for it.

What we didn't account for was that all three countries would be experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures hitting 35+ degrees. But more on that later. Several times later.

Brussels - The Arrival

We reached Brussels on the 25th at noon, and the heat hit us the moment we stepped out. 35 degrees and no mercy. We checked into our hotel, paying a little extra for early check-in, but it was worth it. To our surprise, the room had AC, which we didn't expect at all. We just stood there for a moment, grateful.

That evening, we decided to hunt for waffles at a famous place before it closed. Tram ride, then a walk. The walk was horrible. My toddler couldn't take the heat, and neither could we, if we're being honest. We finally reached the place, only to be told that this branch sold only cookies. The actual waffles were at another branch nearby, and we had maybe 15 minutes before it closed. So there we were, following Google Maps, walking around in 35-degree heat, sweating uncontrollably, walking past beautiful streets and monuments without stopping even once for a picture. We almost gave up. But we found it. Got our waffles just before they closed.

My toddler didn't even like the waffles.

She had fries from a nearby place instead. They weren't great either. But she liked them, so fine.

After that, we finally made it to the Grand Place, took some pictures, and kept wetting a towel for my toddler every few minutes. It was windy though, which made the heat slightly more tolerable. Then Manneken Pis, then a bus and tram back to the hotel. It was almost 10 PM and still unbearably hot.

The Cancelled Day

So we decided we couldn't leave early for Bruges the next day since we were already tired. We thought we'd go later in the day. But looking at the weather, even that was difficult. So we decided to skip the day entirely and stay in the room, feeling guilty about not doing anything on a vacation.

Meanwhile, I found out after waking up that our Eurostar train to Paris had been cancelled, and I had to book an alternative. The only cheaper option I found was an OUIGO train in the afternoon, which took almost twice the time compared to the Eurostar. So we spent the whole day in the AC room, only going out for lunch to a nearby South Indian restaurant. Even that was too much for my kid, but at least the food was good. Later in the evening, I walked to a nearby supermarket, hoping the weather had improved. It hadn't. That pretty much killed any plan to go out, even later in the evening.

We decided to catch the first train to Bruges at 6 AM, then realised that would be impossible, and settled for the 7 AM train instead.

Bruges - The Redemption

Early in the morning, we checked out, stored our luggage at the hotel, and tried to book a cab to the station. Everyone kept cancelling. Then the hotel helpdesk called one for us; it took some time, but he finally came. We reached the station on time and caught the train to Bruges, meanwhile losing my sunglasses onto the tracks while getting in. At first it looked like we had taken seats in a silent coach, and with our kid we knew it was impossible to stay silent, so we immediately shifted to another coach.

After reaching Bruges, we took a bus to the first spot. It was magical. Perfect weather, no crowds, beautiful spots everywhere. We had also planned our outfits for Bruges specifically, and for once on this trip, we actually looked good instead of just sweaty. We wandered around, visited the famous spots, got a waffle, and this time we actually liked it. Then a few more spots, and I got a little jealous of my friend who was living there. We even met him at the station before heading back, and it started raining. Finally. Some respite from the heat. Bruges was everything Brussels wasn't.

The 10 Euro Mistake

Then it was time to get back to Brussels to catch our train to Paris, the actual reason for this trip. We reached the station with more than an hour before our train. My plan was to go back to the hotel by metro, collect the luggage, and return in a cab while my wife and toddler had lunch at the station. Also, I wanted to tick off the Brussels Metro from my travel list. What I didn't realise was that by trying to save 10 euros on a cab, I was about to nearly destroy our dream trip to Paris. And also that I was going to lose more than 600 euros in the coming days. But that's for another post.

It took some time to decide on a place to eat. Then I left them and caught the metro, eventually reaching the hotel after circling around the station for a while, thanks to Google Maps. I asked the helpdesk to book me a cab and went to pick up the luggage. She said the cab would be there in a minute. It didn't come. After waiting a few minutes, I went back to the helpdesk, and apparently the booking had been cancelled. They booked another one. By then, there were only 15 minutes left before the train, and I couldn't decide whether to run back to the metro with all the luggage or wait for the cab. It got delayed, but finally he came. "I asked him to hurry, while my wife kept calling, saying this is why I asked you to take a cab from here and come back with the luggage in the same cab. But where's the drama in that? I kept saying, "Still in the cab." Every single red signal suddenly felt personal.

Finally, I reached the station, and I started running towards the platform. Couldn't find my wife. Couldn't find the stairs. Couldn't find a lift. And we had just one minute left.

She was like, "It's done. We are not reaching Paris."

Then I finally spotted her. I took the stroller onto the escalator and handed the trolleys to her. Boarded the train with the stroller while my wife was still struggling to get both trolleys up. Then I came back out, grabbed the bags, and we both ran into some coach while people were already running past us. We got in just in time. The train conductor said something that sounded like, "Impossible." And the train started moving.

Meanwhile, our kid had just woken up in the stroller, completely unaware of all the drama.

To be continued. More hotels, more drama, more South Indian food. Paris next, Luxembourg to follow.

The Resurrection Post - CBE to DE - Calm. Chaos. Cold.

Our 10th-standard group on WhatsApp suddenly became active, got in touch with some old friends, and reminded me of my blog. I was like Jake Peralta from B99: "Oh My God, I forgot about that." So I thought I should resurrect my blog, just like our group. Wow, I can't believe it's been almost 4 years since I wrote anything in this blog. And, man, so many things have changed in my life within this period. For example, was on bed rest, had a major surgery and moved to a different country, etc. Even if nobody reads this, I can always come back to it, like a journal.

So, let me skip some of the things and start the resurrection of my blog with a post about CBE to DE, landing in Germany. Yes, in case you haven't noticed, I have been in Germany now with my family for more than a year. 

The Journey Begins: After getting a job offer and installing Duolingo and applying for a visa and finally receiving it (that's a different story) and numerous shopping, packing and repacking and weighing the bags multiple times, we finally started from CBE on 23rd Dec 2024. The flight was Air India, before that tragedy, so I booked without any fear. CBE to BOM (Mumbai). The security check and our bag check-in went smoothly, so the weight was perfect. This was the first time we were travelling with a stroller, thanks to my friend who gifted it. It was so useful not just for our kid but also to carry the luggage and now even for grocery shopping here. We gave the stroller at the gate and were told we could collect it once we landed. But after landing, someone said to check the belt instead. We were confused, went back and forth, and it took a long time before we finally got it and rushed to catch our connection to Frankfurt. The gate wasn't near, and when we reached it, it looked like we were the last to board, and we literally ran and got into the plane. It was so big and not so crowded as well.

The Fever: Once we were settled and had some lunch provided, our kid started to take a nap, and we both decided to watch a movie on the plane, for the first time 😀 And, we almost completed 50% of the movie, and our kid was still napping, which felt odd. Then we realised she was running a fever, she had a runny nose in the morning when we started, and it looked like it had turned into a fever. And, we panicked because we bought all the medicines to last for a year and safely kept everything in the checked-in bag and nothing in our hand luggage. We asked the air hostess, and thankfully, they had fever medicine for the kid. We kept checking her after giving her the medicine, and it was a long flight as well. I was thinking how she would feel after reaching Germany in peak winter, should I make her wear all the layers because of the weather or shouldn't, since she's already feeling hot. I even started thinking, why did I decide to move to Germany? What am I going to do now? 

The Layers Battle: The medicine did work, and her fever came down. On the positive side, she was too tired, which actually helped us keep her calm on the long flight. And, the next problem, which continues even now, started once we were about to land, begging her to put on layers, a jacket and shoes. Everyone had already started leaving, and we were trying to convince her how cold it would be outside, and we finally managed to make her wear everything and finally landed in DE. Again, we waited for the stroller, but this time there were a few more families with kids with us, so we knew this was the right place. 

We Have Landed: After getting the stroller, we were just focused on finding the lift to get to immigration. We didn't even get to see the airport properly; we were too exhausted and too focused on just getting through the next step. But somewhere between the stroller and the lift, it quietly hit us that we had landed in a new country to start a new life. The airport, the people, the signage, everything was different. Daunting is the right word. We went through immigration clearance, and I was nervous for no reason, checking our passports and boarding passes every 10 seconds. It was so crowded, but luckily, everyone with a stroller went to a different line, which was shorter, and we got it cleared without any issues. We were officially permitted to enter DE. 

The Frankfurt Chaos: Now on to the baggage claim, we had too many bags, duh, we were trying to set up a new home, so I tried to get a luggage cart, but I didn't have any change, and also the forex travel card didn't work either. Decided to tie all the bags together, I had belts and hooks, thanks to the same friend who gave the stroller, 4 big checked-in bags, 2 more trolley bags, plus the 3 carry-ons we had with us, and drag them along with the stroller; it was so difficult. It was already cold, and we were tired, and on top of it, to drag all these, I can still remember my wife was already cursing me for landing here. And, to make it worse, she tripped and had a fall. Our arrival in this new country couldn't have started worse than this. 

The McDonald's Mission: We had enough time before our train to our city, where we would be staying. We were trying to find a place to eat something, and we saw a McDonald's board on the floor below. We were looking for a lift, and the mistake we made was asking someone for directions. He asked us to go in the opposite direction from where we headed, and we couldn't find a lift at all. Then, we finally came to the same place where we asked him, and this time we just went a few more steps, and the lift was there. We wish we hadn't asked him, we would have got the lift so soon. 

The First Meal in DE: And, our first meal in DE was a plant-based burger and fries; the burger was the worst thing I have ever tasted. And, one of my friends was coming to help us load the stuff into a train, since I wasn't supposed to lift heavy stuff yet. And, my friend finally came after taking so many connections, and then we went to the station. Oh boy, that's where we really felt the actual cold; it was too much for someone from India, even with all the layers and everything. And, the train came on time, it was almost midnight, and we boarded and got into our seats. And, thanks to my friend who helped with the bags and headed back home at midnight, taking so many connections again despite having a baby shower ceremony the very next day. Nanbenda. 

The Cold and the first ICE Train: Inside the train, we had booked 3 seats, and it was a cabin, and we filled it with our bags and slept. And, kept an alarm for 3AM to get down in our city and also to call another friend, whom I was going to meet for the first time. Since I got this job, he and his family have been constantly in touch with us throughout our preparation. We were so lucky to have someone who speaks Tamil in our city. And, he reached our platform right on time to help with the bags and took us in a taxi to his home around 4AM in peak winter. We will never forget this in our life and we couldn't thank him enough as well. And, that's how we landed on a Christmas Eve of Dec 2024 in Germany.

And, that's the CBE to DE journey and will continue the DE stories, I hope. Our stories about the first day, the first week and the first year to follow.

The trip I almost missed - Kanthloor and Kolukkumalai

Finally, after two long years things looked normal when I finally went on a trip. It all started with a simple forward in our WhatsApp group to remind us about our earlier trip and I replied "next trip when" without any intention of even going to a trip, but to my surprise everyone said yes. It was my previous company's gang, where no one is working there and few people are not even in Chennai now. But, everyone immediately said yes and I didn't even expect it.

The best pic of this trip was clicked by a random person - Kolukkumalai Sunrise Spot

We decided to go to Kanthaloor and Kolukkumalai, the Kolukkumalai Sunrise spot is the only place we all wanted to see. Actually I didn't even care about the places we are going to visit, I just want this get-together to take place since haven't seen most of these people since the lockdown. Unfortunately one person had to drop out at the last minute so 7 members were on for the trip. Everyone was coming to Coimbatore from Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore on Saturday morning and we planned to start as early as 4 to 4:30 from Coimbatore to Udumalpet, where we will be picked by a jeep arranged by our travel agent. 

The Twist: Then comes the twist that I was expecting since the start, since everything was going smooth since the start, on Friday night I got a back pain and become so severe. When everyone arrived here at CBE, I was on the way to hospital. And, after getting some injection and in half mind I asked them to come and pick me up. I was in no position to even sit in that car and even my wife wanted to ask me to stay back, but since I was preparing for this trip for almost a month she didn't say anything. Our next stop was to stop and pick another guy which was some 10kms from my home. And, after reaching there I decided to come back home and took a call taxi. I know I am going to regret missing this since it won't be easy to get everyone together for another trip in near future, but my pain was unbearable. Right after reaching home I felt better, before even dropping the bag, I was like I would like to go back and join them again. My wife who couldn't even process that I came back was totally confused when I asked should I go back :D. Then, after thinking for about 2 mins, I decided to go back and join them at Udumalpet and asked my gang to wait. Luckily the calltaxi I came home was waiting in front of my home itself and asked him itself to drop me at Udumelpet, hoping I wont get the pain again since this trip has some trekking and off road rides.

Thoovanam Waterfalls

Day 1 - Thoovanam Waterfalls: Finally, I joined back with my gang in Udumelpet and they were also refreshed and waiting for our pickup in a Jeep. I was just in time as well. And, our first stop was at Thoovanam waterfalls. It needed a 3 km trekking, I was skeptical, but decided to go on. It was mildly difficult, mostly due to my weight :D.  But, it was all worth it, the waterfalls was too good to miss. It looked exactly like what we saw in the google. Once we reached, as usual after clicking some pics, we all went in to bath and luckily it was only us until we finished. Then, after another long session of photoshoot, we decided to go back since it started raining. The return wasn't as difficult for almost 80%, we took a shortcut to reach the road, which was steep and drained all of our energy. The first spot itself was the best and it was more than I expected from this trip. We didn't plan anything for the day other than reaching our stay at Kanthaloor, mud house. And, in the night we went on a most boring night safari after enjoying camp fire and barbecue, we were expecting them to take us into the forest, but we just rode in the same road we came and returned without seeing any animal. A lorry driver warned us there was an elephant while we were returning, but we didn't witness any.

Day 2 - The Otha Malai Spot: The next day we all got up fairly early and decided to go to see a spot instead of a waterfall. And, we packed our breakfast as well to have it there in a scenic view. Our jeep got stuck and so we were made to walk little extra than it was needed and decided to have our breakfast. That was not a good spot, it was full of leeches and we all were jumping and hopping and constantly checking each other legs to spot the leeches. Then, we walked even further to get to the spot and the view was spectacular. As usual no one came there, spent a little time there and we got back to our room and packed to go to our next spot Suriyanelli. And, we all tasted Passion fruit for the first time before leaving our room, it was too good. We stopped at Munnar town and it was freaking cold, had bajji, bought a jerkin. And, also stopped some of the spots on the way to take some pictures, like Lakham falls, and we reached our place, tent stay in the middle of a tea estate it was almost dark. Two more groups were with us for a common camp fire, but it was ruined because of the wind and after dinner we all went to sleep early by 10:30 into our tent, which wasn't good, so that we can all get up by 3:30 and proceed to the Sunrise spot.

Day 3 - Kolukkumalai Sunrise Spot: We all did actually getup at 3 and got into the jeeps by 4:30, which was really unbelievable in that freaking cold. Then, we proceeded towards that Kolukkumalai spot in an off road ride, which was easily the most off road I have ever traveled compared to my other jeep rides. It was literally just rocks and we reached the spot before 5:30 and had to walk a little to reach that Jaguar rock peak and we all waited and witnessed the Sunrise, this is the first time I have ever visited any Sunrise spot. The view was excellent and a little scary as well. We spent most of the time there in and around that spot and some photoshoots and videos, yes a newly added DJI Pocket Osmo from this trip for the videos. Then, came back to our tent, again took some pics and videos and left. We thought we could visit one more spot before leaving, but after reaching Munnar and finishing our purchase we didn't have much time. So, we all proceeded straight to the Coimbatore Railway station earlier than their train departure. We all had our last supper in a hotel and gave piriyavidai to everyone. 

Mud House Stay at Kanthaloor

Tent Stay @ Suriyanelli

Lakham Falls

Last Supper :D

I still can't believe what I started as just a text "next trip when" in a WhatsApp group actually ended up as a trip. Thanks to everyone who made from Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore. And, I was glad I did go back and join them to this trip. Both Thoovanam Waterfalls and Kolukkumalai Sunrise Spot are not to be missed in our lifetime, especially the Kolukkumalai Sunrise spot.

Now, among the 123524513 clicks few of my favorites