Gift for wedding anniversary
 

We are considering a surprise anniversary gift to DD and husband...two weeks in France and celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in Paris. We will soon be in Florida for several Road Scholar programs and also visiting them (including her 60 birthday). He is French Canadian and a professor at Central Florida Un. She speaks French but his English is better than her French. She traveled in Europe as a student, he has never been. What might appeal to them...they do like museums, art, history and he is studying German. Shouldn't they get Eurail passes?

No, they shouldn't get Eurail passes. Or even French railpasses. Usually point-to-point tickets are cheaper, as long as you buy them early. And pass holders have to buy seat reservations on the faster trains, so they'd lose even the option to travel at will.

In fact I don't know what you could buy. Maybe round-trip plane tickets into Paris, but even that is iffy. Lots to see in France and they probably have many ideas of their own. Open jaw plane tickets may make more sense.

I'd let them plan their own trip. Just offering them money feels a bit crass, but gives them the maximum choice. Which to me is the best gift.

I'm not sure what you could buy, either. There's a poster here saddled with Eurail passes purchased by her parents as a gift; that used to be a great idea, but not any more.

Maybe you could plan an itinerary and give that to them, along with money? And some guidebooks? I wish there were some sort of gift card...

My first thought was, of course, buy the tickets. I deleted that thought and now think a card, "good for an all-expense paid trip to France for your anniversary" would be better. They can have the fun of planning it with all the possibilities. It may be they'd like to explore, or may just want Paris for a week, who knows? They'll get exactly what they want.

What time of year will they be going? Destinations other than Paris may depend on time of year.

I assume they will be in Paris on their anniversary August 28. But might be whenever they can manage given his heavy teaching role. Of course I want them to plan their own trip. DD loves to plan things anyway. My joy will be to completely surprise them with a promisary note. What do you suggest shopping for airfares and lodging? Any bargains or guidelines? So is Eurail the way to go or a car rental?

Until they decide where they want to go, it's hard to say what's best.....definitely not a rail pass but point to point tickets. The cheapest prices are 3 months before their date of travel.

If, for example, they choose a week in Provence and a week in Paris, they can train to Avignon from Paris and then rent a car. If they choose Nice, they may not need a car as train/bus travel around the Cote d'Azur is great.

What an amazing gift!!

A promise is ok. I would certainly not buy anything non-refundable.

For this to work several things have to align:
1. It need to match their interest priority. If the vacation time is hard to come by, you might not know which destination is really valuable to them at this point.
2. They can take time off.
3. They have not been freaked out by recent "security" news from Europe. Amazing number of people around me who have never been to France told me they would not be traveling to France because of the security incidents. They were incredulous that we are going to France this year.