Family European Vacation: Paris & London
Oct 29th, 2015, 07:25 PM
#21
Oh jeeze -- yes -- the difference between $200 and $400 is enormous. You can stay in a hotel if you want. Or in more upscale apartments. (I'd still look at the flats I linked though -- they would save you a boat load and they may be the quietest place to stay in London because being on a marina there is virtually no vehicular traffic)
>>You really do not have to do a lot of cooking as you can buy many"prepared foods" that are easy to put together.<< Or - not cook at all. Having the extra space and washing machine are major reasons to have a flat even if you don't cook a single meal.
In fact I'm renting a one bdrm flat for the week between Christmas and New Years . . . traveling solo and eating out almost every meal. It will be great spreading out and not 'living in a bedroom' for 6 or 7 nights.
>>You really do not have to do a lot of cooking as you can buy many"prepared foods" that are easy to put together.<< Or - not cook at all. Having the extra space and washing machine are major reasons to have a flat even if you don't cook a single meal.
In fact I'm renting a one bdrm flat for the week between Christmas and New Years . . . traveling solo and eating out almost every meal. It will be great spreading out and not 'living in a bedroom' for 6 or 7 nights.
Oct 29th, 2015, 11:24 PM
#22
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London is always very vibrant in every month. You can get lots of budget hotels in London. But Shaftesbury Hyde Park International is suites you. It delights you trip memories. I stayed here last year when I visit to London. It was really good.
Oct 29th, 2015, 11:44 PM
#23
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'Your use of dollars is fine'
Better quote a budget in pounds and euros, I don't keep up with the exchange rate. Unless you only want recommendations from Americans rather than locals, of course, in which case quoting dollars is fine.
Agree with others that a flat in London would be MUCH better. You will have a living room + kitchen in addition to two, or maybe three, bedrooms. Doesn't have to be Airbnb; with companies like onefinestay you get a hotel-like service, and an iphone to use in London during your stay.
Finding a hotel with connecting rooms in London is not that easy, and you don't want a room sleeping 4 people with one bathroom.
Better quote a budget in pounds and euros, I don't keep up with the exchange rate. Unless you only want recommendations from Americans rather than locals, of course, in which case quoting dollars is fine.
Agree with others that a flat in London would be MUCH better. You will have a living room + kitchen in addition to two, or maybe three, bedrooms. Doesn't have to be Airbnb; with companies like onefinestay you get a hotel-like service, and an iphone to use in London during your stay.
Finding a hotel with connecting rooms in London is not that easy, and you don't want a room sleeping 4 people with one bathroom.
Oct 30th, 2015, 12:47 AM
#24
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If you do decide to rent an apartment in London, make sure that you can have access to it when you arrive, or at least will be allowed to drop your luggage.
In Paris, most rentals do not allow clients to even drop off their baggage if the unit isn't ready. Nothing worse than having jet lag and being forced to drag all your luggage around town for several hours. There are a lot of people who get stuck doing this because they assumed that apartments are run like hotels. Your idea of sticking to hotels in Paris is a good one.
In Paris, most rentals do not allow clients to even drop off their baggage if the unit isn't ready. Nothing worse than having jet lag and being forced to drag all your luggage around town for several hours. There are a lot of people who get stuck doing this because they assumed that apartments are run like hotels. Your idea of sticking to hotels in Paris is a good one.
Oct 30th, 2015, 04:01 AM
#25
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'Everyone assumes if you say "dollars" you mean US dollars because it is still the world trade currency. Justine is Canadian and the fact is that thinking in local currency is useless because you're setting your budget in your own currency. '
Wonder how you'd react to somebody asking you to stay in New York and stating a budget in RMB... Since the Chinese beat the US citizens by a factor 4 to 5. BTW, 1 Euro gives about 7 RMB's and 1 $ gives about 6,4 RMB's. So I could find the dollar rate...
So I suppose I'm not invited to give an opinion. Especially since I'm a moron who doesn't even know Rick Steve.
So Erp, in case you'd be interested in the opinion of a few Europeans... state your budget in Euros and Pounds. Who knows, locals caould give some good ideas and semi locals like me who have slept in more than 100 hotels in Paris may know a trick or 2 about Paris.
Who knows ? Maybe beyond being rude, we could help ? (I'm not French btw, I'm Belgian - worse).
Wonder how you'd react to somebody asking you to stay in New York and stating a budget in RMB... Since the Chinese beat the US citizens by a factor 4 to 5. BTW, 1 Euro gives about 7 RMB's and 1 $ gives about 6,4 RMB's. So I could find the dollar rate...
So I suppose I'm not invited to give an opinion. Especially since I'm a moron who doesn't even know Rick Steve.
So Erp, in case you'd be interested in the opinion of a few Europeans... state your budget in Euros and Pounds. Who knows, locals caould give some good ideas and semi locals like me who have slept in more than 100 hotels in Paris may know a trick or 2 about Paris.
Who knows ? Maybe beyond being rude, we could help ? (I'm not French btw, I'm Belgian - worse).
Oct 30th, 2015, 07:59 AM
#28
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Hello
THe most touristy areas are in the center of Paris.
US tourists seem to favour 5-6 above the others.
I propose you familiarize yourself with a map of the arrondissements.
My recommendations would be to stay in
Hotel Britannique : first arrondissement, 50 meters from hotel de ville.
Villa Mazarin i the 4th, also 100 meters from hotel de ville but other side of the Seine.
Hotel Notre Dame, rue maitre Albert 5th
hotel du Collège de France, smaller and older but with a 'cachet'. 5th
Hotel Rivoli, rue Rivoli in the 4th is not bad either.
My favourites hotels are more excentered - not sure it is what you'd like for a first trip.
1§th - devoid of any tourist, shop or restaurant - I like it because it is very quiet.
One we went twice to with the family is the hotel Mc Mahon, av Mc Mahon, right in front of Arc de Triomphe.
Tariff is about 600 € but we stayed there for less than half of this through discussions or via booking.com - a five stars.
Now to amend for fearing you might be assimilated to this small snob club of egocentered US regulars I was referring to, some hints that a lot of people can give you :
Hints :
- get good shoes, walk a lot, and use the metro a lot too. Paris is realtively small, and the best way to see it is to walk.
- buy Eifel Tower tickets in advance (on internet) to avoid queuing there or walk the 600 or so steps to first floor, from there you can access 2d floor with lift if you want to (but I usually stop at 1st floor).
- select a few museums : the well known ones and some smaller ones which are lovely : Cluny, Marmottan and Carnavalet come to my mind
- do a cruise on the Seine : I recommend vedettes du Pont Neuf, smaller than some others
If you like planes, don't miss - le Bourget : airpsace musueum - amazing pre WW1 collection of planes, very nice WW1 planes, less impressed by the rest, but kids will love Concorde and I think you can visit a C47 (old DC3 used during WW2) and a helicopter ?
how to behave
Start your sentences with 'bonjour' it goes a long way.
End with 'merci'.
futher tips
Tapwater is free, no tip in Paris - nowhere. If somebody asks for a tip, definitely don't give him one. If he doesn't ask and you rather enjoyed your dinner round up.
If you want to give a tip, and you know it is not in our culture but want to do so, then tip. But don't tell me
THe most touristy areas are in the center of Paris.
US tourists seem to favour 5-6 above the others.
I propose you familiarize yourself with a map of the arrondissements.
My recommendations would be to stay in
Hotel Britannique : first arrondissement, 50 meters from hotel de ville.
Villa Mazarin i the 4th, also 100 meters from hotel de ville but other side of the Seine.
Hotel Notre Dame, rue maitre Albert 5th
hotel du Collège de France, smaller and older but with a 'cachet'. 5th
Hotel Rivoli, rue Rivoli in the 4th is not bad either.
My favourites hotels are more excentered - not sure it is what you'd like for a first trip.
1§th - devoid of any tourist, shop or restaurant - I like it because it is very quiet.
One we went twice to with the family is the hotel Mc Mahon, av Mc Mahon, right in front of Arc de Triomphe.
Tariff is about 600 € but we stayed there for less than half of this through discussions or via booking.com - a five stars.
Now to amend for fearing you might be assimilated to this small snob club of egocentered US regulars I was referring to, some hints that a lot of people can give you :
Hints :
- get good shoes, walk a lot, and use the metro a lot too. Paris is realtively small, and the best way to see it is to walk.
- buy Eifel Tower tickets in advance (on internet) to avoid queuing there or walk the 600 or so steps to first floor, from there you can access 2d floor with lift if you want to (but I usually stop at 1st floor).
- select a few museums : the well known ones and some smaller ones which are lovely : Cluny, Marmottan and Carnavalet come to my mind
- do a cruise on the Seine : I recommend vedettes du Pont Neuf, smaller than some others
If you like planes, don't miss - le Bourget : airpsace musueum - amazing pre WW1 collection of planes, very nice WW1 planes, less impressed by the rest, but kids will love Concorde and I think you can visit a C47 (old DC3 used during WW2) and a helicopter ?
how to behave
Start your sentences with 'bonjour' it goes a long way.
End with 'merci'.
futher tips
Tapwater is free, no tip in Paris - nowhere. If somebody asks for a tip, definitely don't give him one. If he doesn't ask and you rather enjoyed your dinner round up.
If you want to give a tip, and you know it is not in our culture but want to do so, then tip. But don't tell me
Oct 30th, 2015, 08:00 AM
#29
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<<Wonder how you'd react to somebody asking you to stay in New York and stating a budget in RMB... Since the Chinese beat the US citizens by a factor 4 to 5. BTW, 1 Euro gives about 7 RMB's and 1 $ gives about 6,4 RMB's. So I could find the dollar rate...>>
The same way you are to me saying working in dollars is fine because the same relevant currency is at issue - DOLLARS. The world doesn't revolve around RMB, it revolves around dollars and then Euros, GBP, and Yen. This is a fact of life. Oh, and Chinese international transactions are performed and cleared in . . . DOLLARS. Keep your irrelevancies to yourself.
It takes 10 seconds to convert on xe.com. The OP can and should do this, but instead of taking offense, the Europeans can do it too. I did it and actually set out the rough exchange rates for the OP in the third response post and instead of griping about my US-centrism (again, reality), every European (or Canadian) poster offended that "dollars defaults as USD" could have used the rates I noted instead of just venting their spleens about reality.
Now, back to dealing with the OP: with a nightly budget of $400 per in London, just get a bloody apartment - you can easily get a nice one in central London for 200 quid, which will be $90 under budget at today's exchange rates. You may also be able to get a 3 bedroom flat, which would allow your FULL-GROWN son and NEAR-GROWN daughter some space from each other.
The same way you are to me saying working in dollars is fine because the same relevant currency is at issue - DOLLARS. The world doesn't revolve around RMB, it revolves around dollars and then Euros, GBP, and Yen. This is a fact of life. Oh, and Chinese international transactions are performed and cleared in . . . DOLLARS. Keep your irrelevancies to yourself.
It takes 10 seconds to convert on xe.com. The OP can and should do this, but instead of taking offense, the Europeans can do it too. I did it and actually set out the rough exchange rates for the OP in the third response post and instead of griping about my US-centrism (again, reality), every European (or Canadian) poster offended that "dollars defaults as USD" could have used the rates I noted instead of just venting their spleens about reality.
Now, back to dealing with the OP: with a nightly budget of $400 per in London, just get a bloody apartment - you can easily get a nice one in central London for 200 quid, which will be $90 under budget at today's exchange rates. You may also be able to get a 3 bedroom flat, which would allow your FULL-GROWN son and NEAR-GROWN daughter some space from each other.
Oct 30th, 2015, 08:24 AM
#30
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Ah Bigruss, I am not disappointed by your answer.
'Oh, and Chinese international transactions are performed and cleared in . . . DOLLARS. Keep your irrelevancies to yourself.'
Argh, and I just spent the full week discussing in Tianjin and Shanghai in RMB's. Tsss, I must tell them to modify the contract in $ in order to avoid irrelevancies. Thanks !
You ever discussed international transactions Bigruss ?
hope the Chinese don't become as arrogant as you when they become first commercial power.
When, not if.
'Oh, and Chinese international transactions are performed and cleared in . . . DOLLARS. Keep your irrelevancies to yourself.'
Argh, and I just spent the full week discussing in Tianjin and Shanghai in RMB's. Tsss, I must tell them to modify the contract in $ in order to avoid irrelevancies. Thanks !
You ever discussed international transactions Bigruss ?
hope the Chinese don't become as arrogant as you when they become first commercial power.
When, not if.
Oct 30th, 2015, 08:45 AM
#33
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I propose you to read this, BigRuss.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/10/inve...mping-us-debt/
ONE THIRD of your deficit is owned by China, mate...
You are therefore 1/3rd chinese ;-)
In $ or in RMB ?
Deduction made from how much you own of the Chinese deficit of course.
Err, what deficit.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/10/inve...mping-us-debt/
ONE THIRD of your deficit is owned by China, mate...
You are therefore 1/3rd chinese ;-)
In $ or in RMB ?
Deduction made from how much you own of the Chinese deficit of course.
Err, what deficit.
Oct 30th, 2015, 09:26 AM
#34
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Look its not a p*ssing war.. its just easier on travel forums for folks to ask about hotels in the local currency.. because while their are more Americans on this board.. there are also Canadians, New Zealanders and Australians.. so , FOUR different dollar values.
So saying dollars is easy.. but as a person asking a question why not make it easy for everyone to help you.. not just Americans?
And Erp.. this is not directed at you at all.. but at people like Bigruss and his very limited world view.
So saying dollars is easy.. but as a person asking a question why not make it easy for everyone to help you.. not just Americans?
And Erp.. this is not directed at you at all.. but at people like Bigruss and his very limited world view.
Oct 30th, 2015, 09:28 AM
#35
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Based on all of your great feedback and further research, I will start our trip in London and then take the train to Paris. Looks like we will stay at the Aiglon in Paris; now need to investigate London Hotels. I understand opinions about renting a flat vs. hotel, but we're going for the hotel. Next I'll start planning the itinerary.
The Aiglon is located in the 14th (Montparnasse)and close to transportation. Do you know how we get from the Eurostar train station to hotel -- can we take the metro easily or better off with cab? We'll have luggage.
Thank you; merci
The Aiglon is located in the 14th (Montparnasse)and close to transportation. Do you know how we get from the Eurostar train station to hotel -- can we take the metro easily or better off with cab? We'll have luggage.
Thank you; merci
Oct 30th, 2015, 10:00 AM
#37
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14th is a great are. Never been to Aiglon (too exp for me when on expenses).
It is right ON raspail metro station.
Ratp.fr will give you directions, however for arrival, you may want to take a taxi - from Gare du nord to your hotel it will cost you about 25 € I'd venture, (against 4 per metro) but ... easy...
When leaving Eurostar, you turn right just at the end of the track, leave the station 20 m further and it is the taxi station. Just stay in line, some people will try to pick you up - no concern of safety but will be expensive.
Just checked on metro lines : You have no change - so super easy. You go to the end of the track, go left and follow signs M - follow line 4. About 100 m top.
Go direction Maire de Montrouge, stop at Raspail. About 40 m top to your hotel. About 10-14 stops, so 15 minutes + waiting time - 20 min/.
Buy 2 tickets on Eurostar, then a bundle of 10 on Raspail later- will save queues and hassle in Gare du Nord.
It is right ON raspail metro station.
Ratp.fr will give you directions, however for arrival, you may want to take a taxi - from Gare du nord to your hotel it will cost you about 25 € I'd venture, (against 4 per metro) but ... easy...
When leaving Eurostar, you turn right just at the end of the track, leave the station 20 m further and it is the taxi station. Just stay in line, some people will try to pick you up - no concern of safety but will be expensive.
Just checked on metro lines : You have no change - so super easy. You go to the end of the track, go left and follow signs M - follow line 4. About 100 m top.
Go direction Maire de Montrouge, stop at Raspail. About 40 m top to your hotel. About 10-14 stops, so 15 minutes + waiting time - 20 min/.
Buy 2 tickets on Eurostar, then a bundle of 10 on Raspail later- will save queues and hassle in Gare du Nord.
Oct 30th, 2015, 10:11 AM
#38
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2 restaurants I really liked in the 14th.
Far Niente (il) Paul Fort, 1 14e (M Porte Orléans
Régalade 45 avenue Jean Moulin 14e (M Montparnasse
First is Italian (they have a wine from Puglia).
La regalade serves an enormous pate during apéritif - pay attention, or like me you'll end up stuffed like a - like a what in english ?
Far Niente (il) Paul Fort, 1 14e (M Porte Orléans
Régalade 45 avenue Jean Moulin 14e (M Montparnasse
First is Italian (they have a wine from Puglia).
La regalade serves an enormous pate during apéritif - pay attention, or like me you'll end up stuffed like a - like a what in english ?
Oct 30th, 2015, 10:30 AM
#39
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Better off with a taxi with luggage , sure you could take metro.. but for 20-25 euros max get door to door.
In London the Premier Inns is a good chain.. and the Kensington one is in a good location, quiet street, but close to two tube stations ( so two lines) and within walking distance of two great museums ( Victoria and Albert and Natural History, both free too) and two grocery stores for snacks.. (Sainsbury and another one forget the name)
In London the Premier Inns is a good chain.. and the Kensington one is in a good location, quiet street, but close to two tube stations ( so two lines) and within walking distance of two great museums ( Victoria and Albert and Natural History, both free too) and two grocery stores for snacks.. (Sainsbury and another one forget the name)
Oct 30th, 2015, 10:39 AM
#40
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<<at people like Bigruss and his very limited world view>>
Yawn, your poor insults are no better than Pariswat claiming I'm 1/3 Chinese - rhetorical foolishness.
Facts are facts. Erp is an American. American dollars are the default dollars. Indeed, they are the default international currency. If you have an issue with that because you're Canadian, so be it. That would be your own world view and the ineffable inferiority complex that Canadians have viz. Americans. Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Yawn, your poor insults are no better than Pariswat claiming I'm 1/3 Chinese - rhetorical foolishness.
Facts are facts. Erp is an American. American dollars are the default dollars. Indeed, they are the default international currency. If you have an issue with that because you're Canadian, so be it. That would be your own world view and the ineffable inferiority complex that Canadians have viz. Americans. Not my circus, not my monkeys.
