Barcelona to Paris by Elipsos Trenhotel

We arrived at Barca's train station 2 hours too early. Well, we didn't wanna be late and we thought we might be able to wander around and have coffee or something. But the station was really just about the counter, a restaurant - more like a bar and a customer service centre. Bummer! So, there was really nothing for us to do.

This was our last journey with Eurail. Since Renfe provided the service of this Trenhotel, our expectation was quite high given the experience of excellent service from Madrid to Barca! Hehehe... We were dreaming of a cabin with our own bathroom! That was the grandest class and so far, we were always in that class :P I lingered around and decided to ask the counter what we were entitled to but I can't remember what was in my mind, I still at the time thought we should be in the grandest class... Teeny, Teeny... But I think the service was provided by Elipsos.

We boarded the train :) What a joy to find the carriage was like Hogwart Express. Mana agaknya Harry, Hermione and Ron seats! Hehehe... Individual cabin, with two numbers on the door indicating our beds. Unfortunately, no individual bathroom. That means no way for us to get a proper clean up when we arrived in Paris. Bummer! Anyway, there were 2 chairs on the wall (which apparently store the beds!), a mini closet to hang our jackets just behind the door, a sink under what appears to be a table top with mini cabinet filled with 2 bottled water and toiletries (the bags were really nice, I like) and a space for our luggage - by this time we have identified a bag for our necessities and arranged our clothes to be on top. Senang nak capai :)

 Let's watch this video. I tried to capture what I have described :)

Ohh, so sweet... Zukry took this when I was reading through the services provided in the trainhotel. I was tired, it has been more than a week of travel :)

So, when we were exploring the room, a steward came to check our tickets and make sure we were comfortable. He asked if we would like to have dinner, we immediately said yes so that a table was reserved for us later. Little that we know, we had to pay for the dinner! Haha. Apparently, only the breakfast provided with our tickets :P He also asked what time we want to have our beds ready.

We settled down, got cleaned up (shared toilets situated at the end of each carriage) and prayed while the space was still available (the beds were still on the wall) Ready for our dinner, off we went to the cafe. Our seats were ready, a shared table with another couple from Korea/Japan. The prices of the food - oh wow, boleh tahan! The choices were limited though. We settled for omelets and water. But they provided two luxurious bottled water and we didn't deny - segan + malas, I ordered cafe latte too. Total damage? I can't recall. Takbayar, of course lah takleh nak ingat - kena tanya Zukry :P

Everyone was still so proper in their suits or the smart casual attires. We were already in our sweat pants and T-shirts! Fashion wise, we failed but we had fun. Cakap Bahasa Melayu (susah jugak bila terpaksa. Hehe), wondering why others were in the same train with us, looking at others, how some were in a serious conversation and the couple beside us had proper dinner with beef/pork chop! :P

We went back to the cabin with our beds ready. I had to be on the bottom, takut jatuh tergolek ke bawah! Sleeping on a moving vehicle - on a bed was quite comfortable - I didn't get up until about  5 AM. It was early but I felt like I just got to get ready for arrival later anyway.

We had our 'free' breakfast and it was the same thing as what we had for dinner. Plain omelet with additional of free flow coffee and croissants that came with butter :) ah, butter! We were clean enough for a few hours of exploring the city before we can check in. BTW, the toilet was the size of what we had in the plane. Maybe a tiny bit bigger... It was about 2 hours later after breakfast we arrived at Gare D'Austerlitz.

Paris, we've been there in 2010. We knew what to expect but still so much we wanted to see. See you in Paris post, readers.

Note:
I'm extremely proud that I am able to finish up to this post :)