Sunday, 10 April 2016
Related posts: Paris and London Part 1, Part 2
We had a business trip to Paris and London in April 2016 to attend meetings with various public transport companies and institutions.
We arrived in Paris on Sunday afternoon. Since the hotel was only available after 3PM, we went for lunch at Cafe Marly at the Louvre. The cafe had a nice view of the 2 pyramids in the Louvre.
We checked in at the Marriott Champs-Elysee at 3PM. The hotel is situated right in the middle of Avenue Champs-Elysee, the main shopping district of Paris.
In the evening, we had dinner at Rimal, a Lebanese restaurant (website). The food was surprisingly very good! We had a good time. After the dinner, we walked back to the hotel.
Monday, 11 April 2016
The day started off with a meeting with Thales Group. We met the head of their transportation arm and discussed business. They even put up the Malaysian flag at their office in honour of our visit!
After the meeting, they took us for lunch at La Veranda, Trianon Palace Versailles (A Waldorf Astoria Hotel). Part of the Gordon Ramsey chain of restaurants, La Veranda provides an excellent view of the gardens of Versailles.
In the afternoon, we visited Thales University. The University is the education arm for in-house training for Thales employees. SPAD have created our own academy and we’re looking into expanding it into a respectable public transport education institution.
At Thales University, I was given the opportunity to try out the military helicopter simulation. Interesting experience.
From the university, we went to the HQ of Autolib, popular for its electric vehicle sharing service in Paris. They also showcased their electric buses, something that we may want to consider for KL streets. Currently, we have electric buses at Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Sunway, operated by Prasarana.
Tuesday, 12 April 2016
In the morning, we had a meeting with RATP Group. RATP (French: Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) is the largest public transport operator in Paris and the surrounding Île-de-France region.
RATP also operate buses, trams, rapid transit and inter-city rail services in various cities across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
After the meeting, the host took us for lunch at L’europeen Restaurant (website). It’s a famous restaurant situated right in front of the Gare de Lyon train station.
Later in the afternoon, we had some free time so I went to do bit of sightseeing. Walked up Champs-Élysées to see the Arc de Triomphe. Back in 2012 (blogpost here), I went up the arc to have a good view of Champs-Élysées and the nearby areas.
After that I went to George V cafe on Champs-Élysées to have a coffee break. I sat outside the cafe to enjoy the alfresco dining while watching the shopping crowd.
After my coffee break, I went to Trocadéro, another one of my favourite areas in Paris. Trocadéro provides a splendid view of Eiffel Tower. I walked down to the Jardins du Trocadéro (the garden’s of Trocadéro) to admire the Eiffel tower. I’ve climbed the tower back in spring 2012 (blogpost here). It was a very pleasant memory.
Related posts: Paris and London Part 1, Part 2
Imran Jaafar 