14 Aug 07: Singapore-Geneva-Grenoble (Day 1)

I remember leaving home with a heavy heart, queer cos I’d be embarking on the journey of a lifetime. In Europe too, just what I’d always been dreaming about. But couldn’t help it la… wouldn’t be seeing the people I love for 6 whole months! Of course the floodgates were released when I was hugging my mum goodbye and to think I told myself repeatedly before this not to cry. Haha.


merci to my family and the fyre hotties =D for coming down at such an ungodly hour!

It was my first time on Qatar Airways, reputed to be one of the better airlines. Food was yummy! I selected the seafood option, one of the special requests available in the online booking form and was rewarded with rather decent meals. To top it off, those who had special requests received their food first! Sweet... On the other hand, the attitude of the stewards left much to be desired. Was incredibly thirsty at one point cos my water bottle was empty (due to the ban on fluids) but the airline crew refused to let me go into the kitchen to get water. They said they’d come around but the half-filled glass of water only came after half an hour and after a few gentle reminders. Bah.

After about 6 hours, we landed in Doha, our transit point to Geneva. We were pretty excited cos it was our first time descending from a plane without using the airbridge and could literally say we stepped on Middle-Eastern soil. Hoho. The weather was scorching hot! I’d say a good 40 degrees or so. Saw many locals dressed in the traditional long white or black robes with the veil-like headdress. Suaku me was very impressed. Heh.

We’re in Qatar!

Finally, after a good 19h (good Lord) after leaving Singapore, we found ourselves in Geneva! Caught our train to Grenoble where we were going to deposit half of our luggage in a church that Michelle knew about.
Gare de Grenoble (the main train station)

We waited for ages before a maxicab that could contain the 5 of us and our gigantic pieces of luggage. Unfortunately, there was the peak hour and baggage surcharge so the 20 minute ride to the outskirts of Grenoble cost 47 € (about 94 SGD). Ouch. The cool thing about the cabs here is that all are equipped with GPS so the cabbies here are never lost.

Michelle’s friend, Mia, was really kind! After allowing us to deposit our luggage in the church, she even drove us to the nearest tram stop (quite a distance away from the church) and gave us tickets to take the tram to our hostel. She made our first impression of Grenoble very pleasant.

When we checked into Splendid Hotel (quite a lame name huh haha) it was rather late and we were so burnt out from the traveling so it was nice to see that the room and the toilets were in very good condition (for 26 € per night).