Back at work :(

The title of this entry says it all. 
*sigh* 
But at least its now sunny and I've moved into my new apartment. Yay. 

Le Bon Anniversaire Weekend - Day 3....at PARC ASTERIX!!!

(WHERE THERE'S A LINK TO A RIDE, I RECOMMEND CLICKING BECAUSE THERE ARE VIDEOS TO JOIN IN ON THE ROLLER COASTERING!!!)

Despite the large alcohol intake the night before, me and Pooey got up (relatively) early to catch the TGV to L'Aeroport Charles de Gaulle to catch a shuttlebus to....PARC ASTERIX!!!! Despite never reading any of the books even though I've borrowed them all at various intervals, Pooey had been dying to visit since she discovered it existed and finding out that they had rollercoasters! 

We dropped Gnoudesavanes off at Chatelet (he declared he was tired and going to take a nap, Pooey said "I'm 7 years older than you and I'm fine!") and jumped on our RER on the way to Ancient Gaul!!!

Looking pritti damn happy!!!

Yep, looks like I've stepped back in time

We're so happy we can't close our mouths!

A giant Asterix on top of a mountain overlooks everything.

Now entering Ancient Gaul!!!

Upon entry to the Parc, we grabbed a map from an employee but had no idea which rides to go on so we jumped on the second one we saw, a boat ride where we got to see various characters from the comics.

Heheheheh

Making sure I met the height requirement

Watch out for sunken pirates!!!

Clockwise from top left - Characters from Asterix and the Magic Carpet (India), Asterix and Cleopatra, Asterix and Caesar's Gift, and Asterix in Switzerland.

Owls!!!

Codfix, villain of Asterix and the Great Divide *booo, hisss!!!!* 

It also went through a tunnel where we saw the characters from Asterix in Spain, Getafix cooking up some magic potion, and a wild boar hiding from Obelix.

And then we saw the small and big guys themselves!

Cute as this ride was, lets face it, it was for kids. So we decided to prioritise our rides from then on - starting off with the big rollercoasters before lunch and then doing any water rides afterwards (don't want to spend the entire day wet, you know). 

Walking through Ancient Gaul, we came across a long queue for La Trace de Hourra and we joined in. 

In the queue, it became apparent that we were travelling through time into the prehistoric ages! Look, cave paintings!

Waiting in the queue, Pooey observed, "Hey, this ride has no tracks!" It was a sort of giant bobsled ride with tracks taking us to the top of a high point...which then dropped us and it used the momentum for the rest of the ride.

Here we are on the climb. A lot of the rest of the ride had Pooey screaming "This is so unsafe! This is SO UNSAFE!!!" (in a good way!)

Nearby was the much smaller Periferix a more traditional and smaller roller coaster. It was actually more for little kids than us big kids but the queue was short so we joined in. 

The entrance to the ride.

Everything is also written in Asterix font

Yep, this ride has tracks!

But the most impressive thing about Periferix was that we saw the staff actually enforce the height limit! What's with parents wasting time in queues trying to get their toddlers/kids onto rides? There were plenty of signs saying kids must be over 1m!

We then went through time to the other part of the park to get to the two real biggies of Parc Asterix, Goudurix and Le Tonnerre de Zeus. 

It's a happy castle!

We didn't ride on this but you could sit inside Obelix on the carousel!

Goudurix is a classic coaster with loops, corkscrews, and jerking about. The queue was surprisingly short - we think it was because it was lunchtime. Well, if people are going to take lunch breaks then we'll take advantage of the situation!

Ooh yeah!

Hehehehe

Feeling a bit disorientated and sore after the ride, me and Pooey stumbled over to Ancient Greece to ride Le Tonnerre de Zeus. 

Zeus at the start of the queue. You have to walk under him to get to the ride.

What's that?!?

Zeus likes to wear floral undies!!!

The temple entrance

The ride is built on a wooden track and you could see the supports move a bit when the carriages jerked! Errrr.....

Now this ride was a bastard! Although it had no loops, it was rough! I think I bruised my spine a little bit after the first climb and descent! But no matter, we bought a magnet showing me and Pooey screaming (in fun and terror) and then decided to go the real fairground experience and buy some hotdogs for lunch.

It naturally came in a cute Asterix themed bag so we took our bag and dogs to Le Village!

And we saw the little guy and the big guy!!!

 

But they were behind a little fence and the kids who went in to get a photo with them were then herded through the cottage so we only managed to take these unofficial photos with Asterix and Obelix in the background.

We did however see a pair of druids going about their business - photo time!

And went to Obelix's place to see what it's like to be the big guy

Wild boar roasting on the open fire!

And Dogmatix's kennel. Awwww. 

We then went to Asterix's place and understood how small he really is (kiddie sized)

Looked at Unhygienix's *fresh* fish of the day

And experienced what it's like to be the chieftan of an indomitable village.

Pooey unfortunately spilled a bit of tomato sauce on her outfit so we decided it was time to get on a water ride to try and get it out. For this, we chose Le Grand Splatch.

Waiting in the queue....

more queuing...

And we were finally treated to a happy concoction of a great view over the park, shooting water jets, and bien sur, a grand splatch at the end. We also got the humourous sight of the pre-prepared woman in front of us who brought a plastic poncho to keep the water off. Hehehehe. 

We were fairly exhausted by now and with deep regret that we couldn't go on all the rides, we decided it was time to take the shuttle back to CDG.   

And so we waved Asterix goodbye and thanks for all the fun! These Romans are crazy!

Le Bon Anniversaire Weekend - Day 2

While Lydia and Tungy decided to get up early to get to Giverny, Me, Poo, Liz, and Angry Chris decided to sleep in and then follow it up with lunch in Chinatown. Living somewhere that doesn't have a Chinatown, I have really craved Asian food that wasn't cooked by myself. And you know, it would be nice to share the experience with someone as well. 

I hadn't really thought about where I wanted to eat in Chinatown, just that I wanted to eat, and then we remembered that we wanted to go to Le Bambou last time I was here, so we went...there. On my way in, I was really hankering for some Pho Bo. Then as we went to our table, I saw a girl eating Bun Bo Hue which looked really good. Reading the menu, I was tempted first by the sugarcane prawns, and then deep fried goodies. In the end, we got this:

L-R Pho Bo Dac Biet, Bun Cha Gio, and sugarcane prawns. 

After taking the merest sip of the Pho, Pooey and Liz both said it was one of the pho broth ever tasted!!! I concur!

Me and Pooey with our food. Take note of our summer dresses - the weather in Paris was that nice!

Pooey with her sugarcane cigar

After lunch, Liz and Chris want to try their luck with the Paris Catacombs while I decided to soak up the smells and sounds of Chinatown. This included a trip to the ma-hoo-sive Tang Freres Asian supermarket to purchase a clay pot for cooking and bamboo chopsticks (they were only €0.64 or something else ridiculous). 

I also got to observe something I'd been missing - roasted meats hanging in a window!

So tempted to buy some cha siu pork - dammit Germany, why is this against the law?! 2 billion Asian people prove it's a perfectly acceptable way of storing meat!

We then went to BHV and Galeries Lafayette to do some shopping but it was pretty hot and crowded inside both stores and we were tired so we headed back in the early afternoon to rest in the apartment and get ready for dinner.


Dinner was held in that stalwart of the Marais, Bofinger. I've been trying to eat here for years! Once I was turned back because we didn't have a reservation and cbf waiting 1 hour for dinner, and another time we just got there too early. No chances were taken this time - reservation for 8 at 8 was made!

The gorgeous Art Nouveau interior of the restaurant. It occurs to me now that I didn't walk under the dome to take a photo.

Dinner participants! 

Clockwise from top left, Pooey & Alix, Gnoudesavanes, Chris & Liz, Lydia & Tungy.

There was a moment of humour as we sat down and read the menus because the various French-speakers spoke to the waiters in French meaning that we received our menus in French. Said French-literate people then continued to read the menus leaving our non-literate people to go "errr....translation please!" after a few moments. And then because we were the double whammy of being Asians AND tourists, everyone whipped out cameras to photograph our meals! 

Pooey's entree of foie gras terrine. Mmmmmmm

My entree of langoustine salad. Oh man, I've so been craving seafood...

Pooey's mains of grilled salmon 

My duck main! See that giant slab of something yellow between the duck breasts?

Biggest slab of foie gras EVAH!!! I was in fatty heaven.

For dessert, Pooey got a creme brulee that was served flaming! WOOOOOOOOOH!!!!

Me and Lydia shared this concoction of cream, berry sorbet, strawberries, and meringue. 

Me and Pooey being happy

This photo makes me dizzy

Since were were in Paris celebrating a birthday, Lydia and I decided to recreate one of the most infamous moments of our Ville Lumiere time - the night we celebrated her 21st birthday we went to a bar in the Marais/Bastille area and drank tequila shots. Despite the hazy memory made worse with alcohol, we had managed to figure out which bar it was last time we were there - and back we went for my 30th! Ahhh, the more times change, the more they stay the same.

What a bunch of booze hounds!!!

Gnoudesavanes demonstrates why he wants to move to Munich 

(hint - look at the drink he's got)

 

 Me and Poo enjoy our cocktails

 To replicate that eventful night 6.5 years ago (!!!) Lydia bought us DOUBLE tequila shots. I'm enjoying my reaction. 

And then we decided to take one of the last Metros home rather than try and take the Nightbus. Sometimes it's just not worth trying to prove that you're still young.


Le Bambou - 70 rue Baudricourt, 13e arr., nearest Metro = Tolbiac or Olympiades 
Bofinger - rue de la Bastille, 4e arr., nearest Metro = Bastille
L'An Vert du Decor (birthday bar) - 32 rue de la Roquette