Hi Fun4all. Great report, just read thru the whole posting. Your pictures are amazing. I especially loved the set from the canoe trip and Rocamadour. Breathtaking, really!

Thanks everyone! I have got to get this report finished in the next few days as I leave for a work conference in Las Vegas in a week. I have never been to Vegas so it should be an experience.

susanna - your trip sounds great. Have fun - we'll be looking for you to report back and tell us about it.

Lexma - Yes, it is all part of travel, I guess. It was certainly a memorable experience. We were in so many of the same places. Where is your next trip?

bilboburgler and pvoyageuse - See, I learn something new every day!

twk- We did not rent a car. Our trip was really the Dordogne and Paris with a full daytrip to Normandy from Paris. So, I don't really know what the price differential would be on the car rental thing. I was just making a couple of suggestions and noting that going to 2 different areas could make sense. We also thought about an overnight or two in Bayeux and using Battlebus, but our focus was more on Paris.

Sue xx yy- Thanks for remembering London! Those are some good car rental points. Unfortunately, our drop-off location was totally different than our pick-up so we didn't have the chance to clarify details. And, there was NO dropoff box - we looked and asked - can you believe it? Yes, we learned a car rental lesson (another one) on the operations side. We knew to make sure we knew what to do before leaving the lot, just never imagined that it would be hard to find someone.
LOL on your car in the "streets" of St. Cirq (more like narrow footpaths). I can only imagine how hard that must have been.

CRAZY4TRAVEL - Yep, car rental is a double-edged sword. It can be difficult at some moments, but in many places the benefits of access, freedom, and convenience way outway the negatives. Overall, we found driving in France (aside from pickup and dropoff) to be pretty fun and easy.

laartista- Thanks!!

<b>Sunday, July 15th – Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Marais with Private Guide</b>

We got going a little early so we could shower and have breakfast in time for our scheduled 9:00am pickup time by Michael Osman, our guide for the day. The breakfast room in the basement is really pretty. The caf&eacute; au lait was good and there was a good selection of croissants, fruit, cereal, juices, breads, cheeses, meat, yogurt, and other baked goodies.

Michael arrived promptly at 9:00 and we set off for the Louvre. The morning was much cooler than the day before and the streets were quiet and the Louvre not crowded yet. It was a pleasant start and a positive contrast from the afternoon before. Ahhh, this was more the Paris we were dreaming of.

Michael is quite knowledgeable about art and Paris in general. He really did a great job of “linking” information together for us and included Daniel directly in the conversation, gearing many of his comments towards him. In the Louvre, we visited the original foundations/structure, saw the “big 3” works of art, admired some of the Greek and Roman classical antiquities, spent some time with the Italian Renaissance and Baroque painters as well as several of the French and Dutch Masters.

Lunch was at a nearby caf&eacute;. Good quiches and salads. Next, we walked behind to the Gardens (ooops, forgot the name – but, it is where the Revolution started before the storming of the Bastille with the mobs running around with a guy’s head on a pike … how is that for a helpful description?!) Then, we walked through Les Halles and crossed the river to Musee d’Orsay. Loved the sculptures, architecture of the building itself, then Manet, Degas, Monet, Gaughin, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and more. You get the idea.

By this time it was almost 4 pm and we’d been at the 2 museums for about 6 hours not counting lunch. I am an art history buff and was fine, but B and D (who are interested in art, but not fanatics) were done. It was a great daylong “survey” of Western Art and more than worthwhile. Our original plan was to go to the Marais, but it was pretty late and I thought we might have run out of time, but NO, Michael is amazing. We hopped on the Metro and got off at Place de la Bastille. A bit of history, a walk through Place des Vosges, and some time in the Jewish Ghetto – awesome. D had his first ever falafel. Our walk continued over to the Pompidou Center. It was now 6pm and we were tired. I felt like I pushed Michael to end our day so we could head back – his stamina and effort on our behalf was incredible. I highly recommend him.

We usually walk almost everywhere, but we didn’t have another step in us. We took to metro back to the hotel and decided on a simple dinner. Went to the Odeon area to Les Editeurs, a charming caf&eacute; with a book theme. There was outside seating and an open area downstairs, but it was very hot. It turns out the upstairs is air conditioned and nonsmoking so we were happy to move up there. B and C had croque monsieurs and salad and D had a tasty club sandwich. A beer, glass of wine and a soda for B,C and D. For dessert we shared a bowl of sorbet with 2 flavors– a citron vert with candied ginger and a mandarin orange. On the way back, we checked the Odeon movie theatre times for a possible Harry Potter viewing later in the week (the movie had just come out – many theatres show the version originale, or VO, so HP was in English with French subtitles). We walked back to the hotel and went straight to sleep.

Photos:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...051xc&amp;Ux=1

<b>Monday, July 16th Normandy D-Day Tour</b>

We woke up very early as Paris Trip was picking us up at 6:30 am for our daytrip to Normandy. The decision to go to Normandy for a day was one we thought long and hard over – we knew it would be a long day and that we wouldn’t have as much time at some places as we might have wanted, but it was pretty much at the top of everyone’s “list,” especially D’s and B’s. Plus, jgg did this trip with her family last year and reported back that it was both a highlight and doable. Of course, I have now been to Paris twice and still never been to Versailles, but if we were gonna take one daytrip, we all agreed that Normandy was our first choice.

I contacted Paris Trip months ahead as we wanted to make this trip on a Monday. While they specialize in small groups (I think this tour would have been no more than 8), they only have regular departures on Thursdays and Saturdays (at least that was the current schedule). Since we arrived in Paris on a Saturday and departed on a Thursday, that would not work. They will guarantee a departure if you promise to pay for 5 spots. Then, if someone else wants to go, they will add them and no longer require the extra payment. Since there were 3 of us, I decided to splurge and make the reservation as I figured the premium was worth having a private guide for the day. As it turns out, there was an early 20-something American guy who joined us. He graduated from college and had just spent his post-grad year in Prague for some sort of film school and was traveling around before returning home. It was perfect cause it saved us lots of money, and he was nice and interesting. A group of 4 – I couldn’t have asked for better.

On jgg’s recommendation, I requested Lionel which they said they would try to honor. As it turned out, we did not get him and I am sorry about that. Our guide was pleasant and knowledgeable and we wound up having a nice day with him, but he was not particularly warm or interactive. Plus, he didn’t really gear any of his information towards D. I understand that would be the case if there were 20 people, but with only 4 people, I was surprised that he made no effort to include/engage a very interested 13 year old. B and I spent a fair amount of time sort of pulling D aside to add a bit more context. Nonetheless, it was incredibly well-done and the day was a highlight for us all. It was moving, fascinating, beautiful yet haunting, and a real learning experience. I would recommend it!

The trip to the first stop took about 3 hours with a stop for a coffee and croissant (and potty break) about 2 hours into the journey. First site was Pointe du Hoc. Then, Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, the German battery at Longues, Arromanches, and the Caen Memorial and Museum. Our lunch of moules frites in Arromanches was great. I will link tons of pictures as I don’t really have words for this. Even the pictures don’t do it justice, you have to experience it for yourself. We arrived back at our hotel in Paris around 8:15 pm, but it would have been a bit earlier except that it was pouring the last half of the trip and there was a ton of traffic.

Dinner that night was at Le Christine – our reservation was for 8:30. I would have liked time to clean up a bit more, but we had to hustle to get to the restaurant and our evening started on a flustered note as we were a little late and had run through pouring rain to get there. It felt to us like we clattered in to this cozy space. Somehow that set the tone for the evening as our “groove” was a little off. While we don’t try to pretend we are not visitors when we travel, we do try very hard to be polite guests and make every effort to speak as much of the language as we can and be sensitive to local culture/custom, talk in quiet voices, etc… The restaurant is absolutely lovely, the staff was gracious, and the food was delicious. Maybe the staff and diners didn’t notice, but I felt like my ordering and communication was off, D clattered his knife against his plate not once but twice, and then we thought someone was trying to take our umbrellas and stopped them to ask. (OK – this requires a little background ….when we were in Florence we did have 2 good travel umbrellas taken from a stand while we were dining which must have tainted us). As it turns out, they were not ours – ours had simply dropped to the bottom of the big stand.

Nonetheless, everything settled down and we enjoyed a fantastic meal. We all started with salads with garlic crouton. D had pork with mushrooms and green beans. I had cod wrapped in foil with aubergines, tomatoes, wine, herbs, and more. B had the duck special which was served in a raspberry sauce. For dessert we had pistachio cr&egrave;me brulee and sorbet. Yum!

All was well … until we were actually leaving the restaurant. B went to dig in the umbrella stand to retrieve OUR umbrellas. He handed me the first, but when he moved someone’s large … HUGE… golf umbrella to get the other one, the golf umbrella (which must not have been clicked closed properly) popped open and knocked over the entire umbrella stand in the process. By this time, it was just a comedy of errors. It was just too unbelievable to remain calm so D and I did not help matters by beginning to laugh. We quickly helped put everything right and almost ran out the door where we proceeded to break into hysterics. We laughed all the way home. Once we were in our room, our exhaustion set in and if was off to sleep.

Photo link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...3pixd&amp;Ux=1

I'm enjoying your report, fun4all4! We were just in Paris/Provence with our teens in June. I wish I knew how to post pics, but I don't. Yours are lovely.

We also ate ate Fish la Boissonnerie, and loved it.

Thanks, hax! I am sorry I missed your report, but I have just gone back and marked it so I can read it later.

Posting photos isn't that hard if you want to learn. I use kodakgallery.com I don't know that it is the very best, but I find it easy to use. Let me know if you have questions.

Hi fun4all4, I've finally had a chance to catch up on your trip report and photos and am enjoying them very much! It's bringing back many memories from last year, and now really making me miss Paris--last visit there was in 2001

Also curious to know how your older son liked his trip. My daughter (14) liked Prague and particularly Poland, so I'm interested to hear how that was.

fun4all4,

I am making my plans for a trip to France next summer with my teen. My husband has no interest in traveling so we're going without him. I love the countryside (at least I did in Italy), but had decided that I couldn't drive without someone to help read the maps (my teen will not be good at it). How was finding your way? Your pictures of the Dordogne have me aching to go there. I'll probably only make it to France once and I can't imagine missing that area.

fun4all4, I'm still enjoying your wonderful report and lovely photos!

Still enjoying the report! It was good to hear your experiences with Normandy; I've been there (with my mom), but nobody else in the family has. For historical reasons, it should be.

Our next trip will be adults-only, in October (two trips to Europe in one year - definitely a first for us!). DH has meetings in Venice and Milan, and of course I'm going along. Next year's trip, we haven't started planning yet. I have lots of ideas, though - Sicily and Rome; or Venice and Austria (for hiking); or Bordeaux, a little of the Dordogne, the Languedoc and the Pyrenees; or maybe other parts of Spain. Daydreaming about destinations is almost as fun as going!

<b>Tuesday, July 17th Eiffel Tower, Rodin Museum, Les Invalides, Seine River Cruise</b>

We slept in a bit later today after a couple of early mornings so we didn’t arrive at the Eiffel Tower until 10:30-45. As expected, there was a long line. I stood with D while B checked to make sure we were at least in the right place. We all waited together for a while and the line did move, it just takes a while. Since I was not planning to go up the Eiffel Tower (I don’t really care for heights and had been up before), I set off on my own around 11:15 planning to meet up with the guys a bit later. I wanted to visit the Rodin Museum, and we thought the guys would be done around 12:30 or so – WRONG – it was 3:00pm by the time they visited all 3 floors, grabbed an ice cream and walked over to meet me in front of Les Invalides. It worked out fine because I had a lovely few hours to myself.

I enjoyed the Rodin Museum and then hung out for a bit in the gardens in front of Les Invalides before the guys checked in and I realized I had a long time before they would arrive. So, I wandered and came across a small caf&eacute;/salon de the where I enjoyed a lovely salad with shrimp and avocado. I seemed to be the only non-French patron and they were very friendly. The place was on rue de Babylone and was called (I think) Claude Binet.

By the time I returned to the gardens at Les Invalides, B and D were almost there. D was thrilled – they walked down the Tower from the second floor (not allowed from the 3rd) and, despite the long waits, had a great father/son time. It was a highlight for D.

At Les Invalides, we visited Napoleon’s tomb and spent our time at the WWI and WWII exhibits. We were too tired to also go to the medieval section which was our plan, but we’d seen a lot of that at Castelnaud and our trip to Normandy the day before had spurred D’s interest in WWII and the events leading up to it. It seemed only fitting to spend some time on the Franco-Prussian War, WWI, Treaty of Versailles, and the 1920’s and 30’s. Most of our time at the Caen Museum had been spent on immediate pre-WWII and WWII so we sort of “connected some of the dots.” As it true almost everywhere, we could have spent more time here; we only touched on a small section of the museum.

Next, we headed to the hotel for a little downtime – reading, etc… B got himself packed up as he was leaving the next day (a day earlier than us). Strolling around “our” neighborhood, we decided on a place on rue Dauphine – an Italian place for a change of pace. I’ve forgotten the name at the moment, but it was warm and friendly with wood trim and yellow walls. D and B had a pizza, I had a pasta with veggies.

It was an absolutely glorious evening as we made our way to Ile de la Cite for the 9:30pm river cruise with Les Vedettes de Pont Neuf. For this popular time, in the summer, I’d recommend getting there just after the 9pm departure so you can get a seat up top. It was still light, and I was hoping it would be dark enough as the cruise proceeded to see all the buildings lit up. The trip was from 9:30-10:30 and we got to enjoy sunset, dusk, just barely see the Eiffel Tower twinkle @10pm and all the lights came on as we were heading around Notre Dame past the Conciergerie. Wow! Paris, what a beautiful city. An amazing day was had by all and we happily walked back to our hotel.

Sorry, my nighttime photography is not the best,but I wanted to give an idea of what it looked like.

Here is the link to the photos for this part of the report:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...pzu4k&amp;Ux=1

Hi ms go! How was Australia? I bet it was amazing. My older son loved his trip. And, while he did like Prague and Krakow, he absolutely LOVED Israel. He is already talking about going back.

modglila - What a wonderful time you will have with your teen. Driving in France is not bad at all, but there is no doubt that it helped to have a navigator on the maps. Some cars can be rented with a GPS system so that might be worth considering. The Dordogne was fantastic and a great place for teens. Whatever you decide, have a fantastic trip!

moolyn - Thanks. I am glad you are still reading - you were such a great help as I planned this trip.

Lexma - Hi! Italy in October for adults-only sounds great. I don't think you can go wrong with any of your possibilities for next summer. I am literally all over the map in thinking about what we will do next summer. Top contender right now is Greece, but possibly Hawaii or Thailand or Rome/Amalfi Coast/Sicily or ????

Great trip report, C. I am taking note! I don't know if you recall, but you helped me out quite a bit 6 months ago with my trip to the Bernese Oberland. (I ended up staying in Murren, by the way -- and because of you, did that hike from Mannlichen to KS).

I'm planning to go to the Dordogne next summer and was thinking the first weeks in July might be hot. I guess it varies from summer to summer. I had rain my first week in July in Switz. then the weather improved.

It had never occurred to me to fly into Toulouse from Frankfurt, and since I love Lufthansa, that's worth considering.

Thanks for the great report (haven't quite finished reading it, so will continue now.... )

I finished reading your report and really enjoyed your commentary! Wonderful report and photos. I will refer to this as I plan my trip (and I'll try to remember not to return my car on Bastille Day!)

S

I am just catching up on your report, but wanted to let you know that a friend and I headed to Paris after nearly a week in Sarlat this past Easter. We were both SO grumpy to be in a big, hot city after the tranquil, green Dordogne that we each had a &quot;Why on earth did we come to Paris???&quot; moment. Of course we got over that in a couple of hours and remembered, oh, yes, Paris is wonderfullll.

Enjoying all this. Thanks for taking the time to write it up.

Australia was awesome! A little different than our typical trips, but lots of great adventures--hiking, snorkeling, and...bungy jumping (not me).

Looking forward to more Paris...

Great read, fun4all4. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

My sister and I were just trying to figure out: if we go to the 9:30 departure of the Vedettes instead of the 10:00 pm time, would you see the lights twinkle on the T.E?

You make it sound like you just as easily could have missed it as not. But at the on-the-hour departure, the boat wouldn't have even left the mooring...so which time do you think if better for seeing the Tower twinkle? We will be there in Sept. when the sunset is around 8:15.