We're just back from 3 nights in Amsterdam and 4 nights in Paris. Thank you to all on this board who helped us with our planning. We had a great time!

<b>AIR TRANSPORTATION</b>
We flew Northwest from Minneapolis nonstop to Amsterdam, and from Paris CDG to Detroit to Minneapolis. Both international flights were on the Airbus 330 planes with individual, on-demand video screens. They had trivia games that we could play against other travelers-- very fun. We had a very good experience on Northwest and found it to be comparable or even better than our recent international flights on QANTAS and Air Pacific. When choosing seats, check out seatguru.com On these planes, seats in economy rows 28 and less have an inch extra legroom and a power outlet. The seating is 2-4-2 so we didn't have to share our row with anyone.

<b>AMSTERDAM GROUND TRANSPORTATION</b>
We arrived in Amsterdam at 9am on Friday, March 10th. Thanks to Travelnut who pointed us to take the train to Zuid WTC from the airport and then tram 5 to our hotel. If you plan on buying tram tickets at the Zuid train station, you'll need 10s and 5s as they do not take 20s in the machine. We each bought a 72-hour unlimited transportation pass for 13E, which was a good deal. And we didn't have to figure out the strippenkarts.

We did take the train to Zaanse Schans on Saturday. It worked fine, but I would suggest taking train trips outside of the city on weekdays when trains run more frequently. Or figure out the train schedule before you go.

<b>HOTEL WASHINGTON, AMSTERDAM</b>
We stayed at the Hotel Washington in the Museumplein area. The owners have recently changed. We had a nice stay. We were in room 9 on the 3rd floor (which is 4th floor for Americans). The stairs were very steep but not a problem. The bathroom was very nice, as was our view down a residential street. The decor was a bit odd, mauves mixed with jewel greens. The breakfast was really very good. Three kinds of bread, cheese, ham, boiled egg, cereals (try the granola stuff with the chunks of dark chocolate!), juice coffee and tea. We would stay there again and enjoyed the neighborhood very much.

<b>FRIDAY: AMSTERDAM</b>
I had a bit of jet lag, but Tim wouldn't allow me to nap. The first thing we did was make dinner reservations for Sama Sebo for 6:30pm. We took the tram up to Centraal Station and walked through the coffeeshop district. We didn't go in anywhere but Tim was curious to see. I couldn't find the &quot;red light&quot; district, meaning the prostitutes, but we happened upon it later that day. We had a fantastic pancake lunch at De Passage near Dam Square. (27E for a bacon pancake, a cheese pancake, an espresso, a latte, two waters, french fries and mayonnaise.) From there, we walked through the Jordaan neighborhood to the Anne Frank Huis. We had both recently re-read the book and were very much looking forward to our visit. It was a very powerful and moving place. We only had to wait in line for 2 minutes, around 2pm. It was not too crowded inside. I highly recommend reading or re-reading the diary before visiting the Huis.

Next we went to the Rijksmuseum. We spent approximately 45 minutes checking out the highlights. (At this point, we were really tired.) I recently read Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier and wanted to see the Vermeers. (Yes, I know it is a fictional novel!) I really enjoyed the four Vermeers on display. We highly recommed getting the audioguide at any museum and did so here. I also personally recommend Chevalier's book to anyone traveling to the Netherlands as it's a great story set in a canal house in the 17th century.

We were super tired but followed the sign for a canal cruise and took the 5pm cruise, 9E each. It was ok. It filled the time we had before dinner, and kept us awake, but the multilingual commentary in 8 languages got really old.

Dinner at Sama Sebo was fabulous. We had the full rijstaffel and were very pleased. We headed to Wildschut near our hotel for some drinks. It was a good neighborhood place, with cheap drinks (2.9E for a glass of fairly good wine), but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there. It was nice for us since we were so close.


<b>SATURDAY: AMSTERDAM AND ZAANSE SCHANS</b>
After breakfast at the hotel, we headed down to Centraal Station to catch our train to Zaanse Schanse. It was FREEZING that day! And we live in Minnesota, so we know what we are talking about. The windchill was almost unbearable, it had to be under 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Bring lots and lots of layers for Amsterdam in March.

From the train station, it was about a 15 minute (cold) walk to the entrance. We visited the wooden shoe building, cheesery, and the working windmill. We probably spent an hour there. Unfortunately we hadn't checked the train schedule before we left and had to wait about a 1/2 hour for the next train at the train station. It started snowing, was really windy, but we made it through ok.

Next we had lunch at some random pub near the Heineken Experience. It was fabulous. We had brodjes-- Ham, cheese, and egg on brown bread for Tim, and goat cheese, fresh thyme, and honey broiled on brown bread for me. Yum. Our bill, with coffees and beers, was 14E. We found the food in Amsterdam to be ridiculously inexpensive.

We waited in line (inside) for about 10-15 minutes at the Heineken Experience. It was really crowded, but I think worth it. They don't brew beer there anymore but have quite the tour going on. It's a self-tour with three free beers and a free glass given along the way. The best part was a virtual reality &quot;ride&quot; where you feel the experience that a Heineken bottle goes through during the bottling process.

That night we had our BEST meal of the trip at Cafe Loetje literally around the corner from our hotel. The menu is written on blackboards on the wall, only in Dutch. We sat down and asked the waitress what she recommended. We got a bottle of wine, two fantastic steaks, salads, fries with mayonnaise for---- only 51 E! We couldn't believe it. These steaks were just as good as those at Peter Luger in NYC, and at about a tenth of the price. We really wanted to go back there on Sunday night, but they are closed Sundays. Highly recommended!!!! We returned to Wildschut for some drinks before heading to bed.

<b>SUNDAY: AMSTERDAM</b>
Our last day. We were going to go to the Hague to see the Vermeers at the Mauritshuis, but decided not to. Instead we relaxed most of the morning. We had lunch at the Small Talk Coffeeshop and Cafe near the Concert Hall across from the Museumplein. The food was excellent. We had the best French onion soup I have ever had, a bacon pancake, and a Dutch cheese sandwich. Very good.

We waited about 5 minutes in line for the Van Gogh Museum. It was very worthwhile. Get the audioguide. They have a kiosk inside where you can send video messages via email.

We had dinner at an Indian restaurant near our hotel and went to bed.

<b>Overall impressions of Amsterdam</b> We had a great time in Amsterdam, and a very different time than we had in Paris. It was a good combination of cities. We enjoyed staying near the Museumplein and avoiding the super touristy areas near Centraal Station. Most of the places we ate were filled with Dutch people and no tourists. Everyone we met was super friendly and spoke perfect English. We found the prices to be extremely reasonable for lodging and fantastically low for food. Three days was a good amount of time for this time of year. We do want to return to do some daytrips. Next time, we probably will go in the summer or fall when it's a bit warmer.

<b>MONDAY: TO PARIS</b>
We took the 8:56 am train to Paris. It was very easy to do and we would do so again. The seats were very comfortable, even for Tim who is 6'5&quot;. We arrived at 1:05pm and took the metro to our hotel, Hotel St. Jacques in the Latin Quarter.

We very much enjoyed our stay at the Hotel St. Jacques. It is only 1.5 blocks from the Maubert Mutualite metro stop on line 10. We were really close to the student riots, and saw police officers in full riot gear patrolling our neighborhood, but never felt in danger. We did watch a protest march from our windows the last night. The Hotel St. Jacques has a lot of charm and we'd definitely stay there again. The hosts are very friendly and spoke perfect English. My only complaint is that the bathroom could have been cleaner. There was some mildew on the shower tiles and floor tiles, and the fixtures weren't totally clean. But we live in a house built in 1910 and I personally know how difficult it is to keep an older place sparkling clean. The bathroom was fine though, and we would not deter people from staying there. The plusses far outweigh the one minus. We were in room 16.

Enjoying your trip report - makes me think about planning a trip to Amsterdam/Paris! Had not realized the train would only take about 4 hrs. which makes it really nice. We did Brugge/Nice on our last trip - but had to ride the train from Brugge to the airport in Brussels and then flew to Nice. It took most of the day with late planes, etc. Looking forward to the Paris part of your report (we also stayed at the St. Jacques!)

YAY, thanks for sharing. 5 days and I arrive in Amsterdam

Nice report and your timing couldn't have been better, I just booked my flights for my trip this October starting in Amsterdam and ending in Paris with 12 days inbetween to play with.

Tom

<b>MONDAY CONT'D</b>
We walked over to Notre Dame, examined the outside, toured the inside, and lined up outside (to the left of the doors) to climb the towers. We are in our twenties and in relatively good shape and were very winded when we reached the top! The views were incredible and we were glad we did it. They let 20 people up every 10 minutes, with the last group at 4:45pm (later in summer).

We took the metro to Montmarte and climbed up to the Sacre Coeur. Again, we were winded and again, the view was incredible. We didn't go inside the church though. We wandered through the neighborhood and had a glass of wine at a cafe/bar.

Dinner was at Refuge des Fondus--- a place I had visited as a backpacker in 2001. It's 90% full of Americans, most of whom are drunk or on their way, but, that said, it's a fun place and I wanted to take Tim there. You can choose either cheese or beef fondue and red or white wine. The wine is served in baby bottles. You also get an antipasti plate, and it's 16E each. Extra baby bottles of wine, dessert, and coffee are extra. We had a fun time, but again we are young... it's not a place I would recommend to everyone but I was glad to take Tim there and relive my crazy backpacker summer for at least one night.

<b>TUESDAY: PARIS</b>
We started Tuesday with a segway tour of Paris. We arrived at the Eiffel Tower at 10:30am and followed our guide Jill to the tour office. There, we were trained on the segways for about 45 minutes and we were off. We toured past the Hotel National des Invalides, Napoleon's Tomb, the Eiffel Tower, the Place de Concorde, had lunch in the Tuileries Gardens at a nice cafe, the Louvre courtyard, and more. It was a great introduction to Paris. It is not an in-depth tour by any means. But we did get a great feel for the layout of the city and enjoyed being on the segways. Our guide Jill was excellent. The segways are NOT automatically easy to ride. We had an older couple on our tour (early sixties?) that had a lot of problems and fell off a few times each. We were fine though.

We had an early dinner of Lebanese food, recommended by the tour guides, and headed back to the tour office for the night bike tour. For this tour, starting at 7pm, about 25 twenty- and thirty-something Americans biked around Paris. We started toward Notre Dame, rode somewhat through the student protests, changed routes, and ended up at Notre Dame. Then ice cream at Berthillon (yum) and on to more sites including riding around the deserted Louvre courtyard all lit up at night (just magical). We ended with a bateaux mouche ride with wine. Our guides were Mike and River and they both were excellent. Highly recommended-- both tours can be found at
www.fattirebiketoursparis.com/

<b>WEDNESDAY: PARIS</b>
We got a later start on Wednesday... picked up some baguette sandwiches and a bottle of wine and had a picnic lunch on the Champ de Mars looking at the Eiffel Tower. Great sunny weather. We took the elevator to the second and top levels-- NO LINES ANYWHERE! We couldn't believe it. It was a great day too. Had another meal at a brasserie (can you tell we love to eat?) and headed to Napoleon's Tomb. Didn't spend too much time there. Then onto the Louvre where we saw the two Vermeers (Lacemaker and Astronomer), Napoleon's Apartments, and the Mona Lisa. For dinner, we grabbed paninis from the neighborhood crepe stand, wine from the neighborhood corner shop, and ate in our room.

<b>THURSDAY: PARIS</b>
Our last day. We booked the Versailles bike tour through Fat Tire Bike Tours of Paris. We met at the shop at 9:15am and got our bikes, then boarded the train to Versailles. In Versailles, we visited the local market and bought cheese, bread, ham, apples, and wine from local merchants. This market visit was one of the highlights of the whole trip-- the market shops themselves are so beautiful in a simple way. We biked onto the Versailles grounds and to Marie Antoinette's farm. Walked around there and then biked to the Petit and Grand Trianons. Visited the gardens and then rode around the Grand Canal to the opposite end from the chateau. We had a very lovely picnic there. It was probably the most ideal picnic spot I have ever seen- the scenery was GORGEOUS! Unfortunately, it was really cold (again, I am from Minnesota so I mean it was COLD) but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. From there, we biked to the chateau and toured it individually (with audioguides). We biked back to the train station and then back to the bike shop. It was a great day and I highly recommend the bike tour to anyone semi-active interested in going to Versailles. I can't imagine just visiting the chateau when we enjoyed the grounds just as much, even this time of year! I believe the tour was 50E each, including bike, train tickets, chateau admission, and audioguide. Our guide Mike was excellent.

We had grand aspirations to get to the Parthenon and/or the Arc de Triomphe but didn't see either. We grabbed more paninis and more wine and headed back to the room. That night we watched part of the student protest/riots from our large windows.

<b>FRIDAY: HEADING HOME</b>
Our flight left CDG at 1:55pm. We took the RER train to CDG. I am usually excellent with navigating public transportation but found this very confusing, even though I had researched it. (It doesn't help that neither of us speak French.) We eventually found the Northwest ticket counter (terminal 2E) and checked in. WARNING: If you are flying out of a gate 80+ in the 2E terminal, it is under construction and you have to take a shuttle after security to the temporary gates. This takes a loooong time so allow yourself plenty. We didn't have a lot of extra time and we were checked in over 2 hours prior to takeoff.

<b>Overall impressions of Paris and the trip</b>
I had been to Paris a few times before, while Tim had not. It was much easier to navigate the city (and the menus) without knowing much French than I remembered. Don't let a language barrier prevent you from visiting this great city. (Of course, know your bon jours and your bon soirs and your mercis.) Food was about the same price as in any large city, though we found the quality of food to be much much higher in Amsterdam. Perhaps it's because we were in a touristy area of Paris and not so much in Amsterdam. Visiting the two cities together was a great contrast and they make a good combination. We were somewhat cold in both cities. Most of the time, we wore dark denim, black leather shoes, black wool coats, and had hats, scarves, and gloves. Next time I would definitely bring really warm gloves and long underwear. Don't forget your umbrella!

Let us know if you have any questions.

I'm glad to here you liked the Hotel St Jacques. I'm staying there myself in May, for the first time (but not first time in Paris). I wanted to walk in Audrey Hepburn's footsteps!!!

Whoops. I'm glad to HEAR...

Wish this board had an 'edit' function!

DejaVu- I hope you have a great time! Check out the panini/crepe shop outside of the Maubert metro stop. Yummy.

Tim_and_Liz

What a great trip report. We are senior citizens and leave on April 20 for our first visit to Amsterdam. We are New Yorkers and Francophiles but decided to see the tulips this time. We also are also art-lovers. We will be staying in the Fita Hotel in the Museum district.

We like French or Italian type cuisine, not much for Indonesian, Indian fare. Would Sam Sebo meet our taste?

Thanks again.

Anthony Spinelli

Thanks for a great report! I was following your pre-trip thread and was hoping you would report back. We are planning a September/October trip that includes both cities, so your info is really helpful. How far in advance did you make lodging reservations?

Your post came in as I was posting my question about segway and fat bikes- Did you like doing both?

Powell-
Do you like Thai food? If not, then you probably won't enjoy Sama Sebo. It's nothing like Italian or French food.

Jayne-
We reserved our hotels about 3 months in advance. I would reserve as soon as you know your dates.

Ilana-
We enjoyed all of the tours (segway, night bike, versailles bike) a LOT. I would highly recommend the company to anyone!

Tim and Liz,
Thank you for the prompt report. I too, followed your pre-trip thread and hoped that you would post before our departure this weekend. I booked a room at the Hotel Washington after reading your post, reseaching, etc. We leave for Amsterdam this Saturday fro three days, then head to Paris for six days and back to Amsterdam for another three days. Needless to say, I am oh so excited. A few questions: I am wondering about the Indian restaurant near the hotel -- how was it? I am hoping we will have a bit warmer weather. Also, just to confirm, the breakfast is included in the room rate, correct? Finally (I think) how long was the canal cruise?

mijols3,
The Indian restaurant near our hotel was very good. The name was Balti House, and I see Fodors has reviewed it. (We just happened upon it!)
http://tinyurl.com/qnegl

Yes, breakfast is included. It's served from 8:30am until 10am.
The canal cruise was 75 minutes.
Have a great trip!

So many of us have been anticipating your trip report! We will be visiting Amsterdam next month and Paris in July, so your trip has so much great info for me.

I gathered from what you wrote on the Fat Tire Segway vs bike tour that the night bike tour had tons of young people. I am bringing my 18 yr old and am debating which tour--you went on both? Wasn't it a repeat? I am thinking she enjoy being with the younger crowd during the night?

Also, in Amsterdam did you see the exhibit celebrating the 400th anniversary (birthday) of Rembrandt?

Powell, Sama Sebo serves Indonesian food...

Liz, great report, I like how you organized it, very easy to follow! I recently watched &quot;Charade&quot; - was the hotel in the movie Hotel St. Jacques? I thought I caught a glimpse of the sign near the door; does the hotel have the neat elevator that was in the film?

Last time we went to Paris we flew Northwest and I had no complaints with the airline either. CDG was another story, I thought it was total chaos and the Northwest check in area was a disaster. We also allowed well over 2 (probably closer to 3) hours and didn't have much time to spare.

Glad you had such a great trip, thanks for posting!

Great trip report! Very informative and easy to follow. I'll be in Amsterdam and Paris this July, and found your posts fun to read. I've never been to Amsterdam before, so reading your trip report gave me a good flavor for it. Especially reading about the food!

Paule