Paris and Germany Trip Report Part 1
Oct 4th, 2007, 04:53 AM
#1
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Paris and Germany Trip Report Part 1
Hello my fellow Fodorites we are just back from our extended European vacation to Paris and Germany.
I will try to write a trip report to the best of my abilities. Our original travel plans were one week in Paris and one night in Amsterdam on a pretty limited budget due to some home repairs needed at almost the last minutes before we left for Paris. Our itinerary changed when I received a credit card in the mail two days before we left and that opened up some new opportunities for our vacation. I changed our flight on AA from DFW-CDG and return AMS-DFW to DFW-CDG return FRA-DFW for an extra $200.00 and extended our vacation from 8 night to 13 nights. I lost the one night's hotel cost in Amsterdam because it was bought with Priceline but I think I made the right decision for this trip.
I'll start with the flight going over to Paris on American Airlines. We left Dallas right on time (5:10 pm) on a 767-300 in economy class for our 10 hour flight. The flight attendants were very nice and attentive but the plane was full to the brim so any thing we needed was almost hopeless unless we got up and asked for it. The seats on this plane are very small in economy for a big guy like me so there was no comfort what so ever for me then, the lady in the seat in front of me reclined her seat so far back I couldn't even straight up. I had to turn sideways the whole way. I changed seat with my wife but then her husband reclined his seat so I was stuck in an area of about 24X30". The food was decent and the drinks (alcoholic) was $5.00 each. Finally... FINALLY! we landed in Paris at 9:40 am. After what seemed like a half hour of taxiing we de-planed on the tarmac way away from the terminal (2A) and loaded onto buses for a ten minute ride to the terminal. Going through customs and immigration took no more then 10 minutes. Baggage claim was 200 feet away and our luggage was almost the first off. We took our bags and was outside of the terminal in less then five minute. I called Paris-Shuttle (pre-paid) from a pay phone just inside the door and they were there in less then the time it took us to smoke a cigarette. The van that picked us up was a new gray Opel mini-van. The driver had us and two other couples to take to our hotels. One couple was staying in the 18Th, the other was in the 1st and ours was in the 3rd so the driver told us we would be his last stop. Friends I have to say that his man ( the driver) was insane! He drove so fast and crazy that my wife closed her eyes and prayed! LOL. He did things with that van that could have been filmed for a stunt movie. I do have to say that he didn't hit anything or kill anybody but that was only by an inch or two. He got to the 18Th on small one way streets, up and down hills to the first couple's hotel. As they were exiting the van they looked at the rest of us and put their hands together in prayer and said in German? (I am only guessing here) good luck and God be with you LOL! Back to the stunt driving. As luck would have it he dropped us off next at our hotel. We were staying at the hotel Bellevue de Chariot D'or at 39 Rue de Turbigo for 68 Euro per night. The hotel is a one star property that has very good recommendations from Tripadvisor,Frommers and Fodor's but I told my wife if we didn't like it we would only have to be there for 2 nights ( because of a 48 hour cancellation policy) and we would find something else. The hotel turned out to be great! We had room was 303 that faced the street with a nice balcony but there was street noise if you opened the French doors and shutters to the balcony. The noise wasn't enough to make our stay unpleasant because we closed the doors at night and there was silence. The room itself was about 20X30 and I think was just refurbished because it looked new and was spotless clean. The bed was a regular size double and had new crisp linens and was very nice to sleep on. The room had a small sitting area with a desk and two chairs, a stand up armoir with a safe in it. The ceiling was 10 feet high with decorated plaster moldings that were very nice. The bathroom was small but not too small to be funcional and tiled in a pretty pink and white with butterflies pattern. It had a bathtub that was about 5 X 2 3/4' and about 22" deep with a hand held shower head but no shower curtain? Great water pressure with all the hot water you wanted. The hotel restaurant/bar was open I believe 24 hours? We didn't take breakfast there so I can't comment on the food but the dinning area was full every morning however we didn't see anyone having dinner there so maybe it was just open for breakfast? Beers at the bar were just 1.25 Euros per bottle so we would take four up to our room every night as a night cap. Overall we couldn't have asked for a better room at that price. The area we was in was very lively. Blvd de Sebastopol was about 125 yards from our hotel and it had everything we needed like Monoprix,Restaurants,Banks,Bakeries and such. There was two Metros stops within 5 minutes walk from the hotel and the Sebastopol bus (38) stopped at our street. Ok so now we're in Paris our luggage is put away and we want to explore the city of lights but first, we need to pick up our Paris Visite cards from the Tourist office by the Louvre. We talk about just taking a cab but as we're walking and taking in the sights we find out we are only a few block from the Louvre so we just walked to the tourist office maybe a 20 minute walk? By now it's 12:30 and we're hungry so I start looking through my pilot for restaurants in the 1st with no luck because we are kinda of lost! We just went to the first restaurant we came upon that had alot of people eating at it and had outside seating. The weather was glorious. We sat down and a very friendly waiter came over. I said Bonjour and asked if he spoke English and as it turns out he was an English student working at that cafe. I asked him to help us order our first meal in Paris. We started with a bottle of Rhone de corte red wine that was great and a small bread and cheese plate with nuts and grapes. I had roasted lamb with asparagus and potatoes that had a sauce on it to die for. My wife had duck breast with mixed veggies and onion soup. All was great I only wish I could remember the name of the cafe? anyways the bill came out to only be 51 Euros and I gave the waiter a 9 Euro tip. OK that's all I have for now I have to go to the dentist but I want to tell you about the rest of our amazing trip.
I will try to write a trip report to the best of my abilities. Our original travel plans were one week in Paris and one night in Amsterdam on a pretty limited budget due to some home repairs needed at almost the last minutes before we left for Paris. Our itinerary changed when I received a credit card in the mail two days before we left and that opened up some new opportunities for our vacation. I changed our flight on AA from DFW-CDG and return AMS-DFW to DFW-CDG return FRA-DFW for an extra $200.00 and extended our vacation from 8 night to 13 nights. I lost the one night's hotel cost in Amsterdam because it was bought with Priceline but I think I made the right decision for this trip.
I'll start with the flight going over to Paris on American Airlines. We left Dallas right on time (5:10 pm) on a 767-300 in economy class for our 10 hour flight. The flight attendants were very nice and attentive but the plane was full to the brim so any thing we needed was almost hopeless unless we got up and asked for it. The seats on this plane are very small in economy for a big guy like me so there was no comfort what so ever for me then, the lady in the seat in front of me reclined her seat so far back I couldn't even straight up. I had to turn sideways the whole way. I changed seat with my wife but then her husband reclined his seat so I was stuck in an area of about 24X30". The food was decent and the drinks (alcoholic) was $5.00 each. Finally... FINALLY! we landed in Paris at 9:40 am. After what seemed like a half hour of taxiing we de-planed on the tarmac way away from the terminal (2A) and loaded onto buses for a ten minute ride to the terminal. Going through customs and immigration took no more then 10 minutes. Baggage claim was 200 feet away and our luggage was almost the first off. We took our bags and was outside of the terminal in less then five minute. I called Paris-Shuttle (pre-paid) from a pay phone just inside the door and they were there in less then the time it took us to smoke a cigarette. The van that picked us up was a new gray Opel mini-van. The driver had us and two other couples to take to our hotels. One couple was staying in the 18Th, the other was in the 1st and ours was in the 3rd so the driver told us we would be his last stop. Friends I have to say that his man ( the driver) was insane! He drove so fast and crazy that my wife closed her eyes and prayed! LOL. He did things with that van that could have been filmed for a stunt movie. I do have to say that he didn't hit anything or kill anybody but that was only by an inch or two. He got to the 18Th on small one way streets, up and down hills to the first couple's hotel. As they were exiting the van they looked at the rest of us and put their hands together in prayer and said in German? (I am only guessing here) good luck and God be with you LOL! Back to the stunt driving. As luck would have it he dropped us off next at our hotel. We were staying at the hotel Bellevue de Chariot D'or at 39 Rue de Turbigo for 68 Euro per night. The hotel is a one star property that has very good recommendations from Tripadvisor,Frommers and Fodor's but I told my wife if we didn't like it we would only have to be there for 2 nights ( because of a 48 hour cancellation policy) and we would find something else. The hotel turned out to be great! We had room was 303 that faced the street with a nice balcony but there was street noise if you opened the French doors and shutters to the balcony. The noise wasn't enough to make our stay unpleasant because we closed the doors at night and there was silence. The room itself was about 20X30 and I think was just refurbished because it looked new and was spotless clean. The bed was a regular size double and had new crisp linens and was very nice to sleep on. The room had a small sitting area with a desk and two chairs, a stand up armoir with a safe in it. The ceiling was 10 feet high with decorated plaster moldings that were very nice. The bathroom was small but not too small to be funcional and tiled in a pretty pink and white with butterflies pattern. It had a bathtub that was about 5 X 2 3/4' and about 22" deep with a hand held shower head but no shower curtain? Great water pressure with all the hot water you wanted. The hotel restaurant/bar was open I believe 24 hours? We didn't take breakfast there so I can't comment on the food but the dinning area was full every morning however we didn't see anyone having dinner there so maybe it was just open for breakfast? Beers at the bar were just 1.25 Euros per bottle so we would take four up to our room every night as a night cap. Overall we couldn't have asked for a better room at that price. The area we was in was very lively. Blvd de Sebastopol was about 125 yards from our hotel and it had everything we needed like Monoprix,Restaurants,Banks,Bakeries and such. There was two Metros stops within 5 minutes walk from the hotel and the Sebastopol bus (38) stopped at our street. Ok so now we're in Paris our luggage is put away and we want to explore the city of lights but first, we need to pick up our Paris Visite cards from the Tourist office by the Louvre. We talk about just taking a cab but as we're walking and taking in the sights we find out we are only a few block from the Louvre so we just walked to the tourist office maybe a 20 minute walk? By now it's 12:30 and we're hungry so I start looking through my pilot for restaurants in the 1st with no luck because we are kinda of lost! We just went to the first restaurant we came upon that had alot of people eating at it and had outside seating. The weather was glorious. We sat down and a very friendly waiter came over. I said Bonjour and asked if he spoke English and as it turns out he was an English student working at that cafe. I asked him to help us order our first meal in Paris. We started with a bottle of Rhone de corte red wine that was great and a small bread and cheese plate with nuts and grapes. I had roasted lamb with asparagus and potatoes that had a sauce on it to die for. My wife had duck breast with mixed veggies and onion soup. All was great I only wish I could remember the name of the cafe? anyways the bill came out to only be 51 Euros and I gave the waiter a 9 Euro tip. OK that's all I have for now I have to go to the dentist but I want to tell you about the rest of our amazing trip.
Oct 4th, 2007, 06:55 AM
#4
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some helpful fodorite will tell you that your report is very interesting BUT
you should break it up into smaller paragraphs if you want more people to read it
I made the same mistake unthinking when i started and others helped make me thing paragraphs make it an easier read. I felt a little offended when this advice was first offered but i hope you do not.
sincerely PQ
you should break it up into smaller paragraphs if you want more people to read it
I made the same mistake unthinking when i started and others helped make me thing paragraphs make it an easier read. I felt a little offended when this advice was first offered but i hope you do not.
sincerely PQ
Oct 4th, 2007, 07:00 AM
#5
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Hi Pi,
Thanks for sharing.
Please do break your report into paragraphs.
I missed the remark about a 9E tip, because my eyes had gone blurry.
FYI for your next visit. There was already 15% service charge included in your bill. 1-2E wouold have been sufficient.
Thanks for sharing.
Please do break your report into paragraphs.
I missed the remark about a 9E tip, because my eyes had gone blurry.
FYI for your next visit. There was already 15% service charge included in your bill. 1-2E wouold have been sufficient.
Oct 4th, 2007, 07:59 AM
#6
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Sorry about the LONG paragraphs. As you can tell, I am not a writer. I will try to improve my skills.
I tipped the waiter 9 Euros because he was so helpful and a college student. I know service is included in the price of the meal. It was our first meal in Paris and I was feeling wonderful.
After our lunch we walked over to Place de Concord and rode the big farris wheel. We walked down the Champs Elysees to a Monoprix store. We bought two bottles of the same wine we had at the cafe (19 euro at the cafe 7 at Monoprix) except one was red and one white. We also bought a cork screw, A pack of clear plastic cups, some red and yellow cherry tomatoes, A long fresh bagette and an orange chocolate bar. With our metro pass in hand we looked for station but were too tired to walk much farther so we just got a cab. We went to jardin de luxembourg to enjoy our wine and snacks. The park was alive with people having lunch,sunbathing,sailing RC boats in the fountain. There was couples walking holding hand and just having a great time on such a beautiful day. We found a place with two simi reclining chairs and a small table on the dirt area next to the large steps down to the fountain. We had a great view of the whole area and the mansion. the clock on the mansion said it was 4:30 by the time we sat down to enjoy our wine. As we feasted on our goodies taking in all our eyes could. A couple about our same age walked up and asked if we spoke english. My wife told them we are Americans and yes we do. They were an American couple and had just arrived that day too and wanted to know where they could get the same items we were enjoying. I told them where we got it and they were like bummed out because it was so far away so we invited them to join us. As it turned out, they were from Austin Texas and was on the same plane we were on but they were in business class. After we drank the wine and ate the snacks it was about 7:00 and we were all very tired. They invited us to dinner so we all got a cab to Saint michel. We had a greek dinner at one of the many restaurants down a small street that was filled with people and restaurants. The men had grilled meat kabobs and onion soup and the ladies had grilled fish. We had more wine. The bill came to 92 Euros and Jon insisted he pay for it. I told him we'll treat them next time later in the week and he agreed. By now it was 9:30 and time to go back to our rooms so we all went to find taxis. As it turns out Jon and Bev were staying at the Paris Marriott on the Champs Elysees. No more 300 feet from the Monoprix store we shopped a., How funny! My wife said we would call them later. we went back to our room, took showers and had a couple of beers and passed out! That was just the first day we were there. It gets much better. More to come later.
I tipped the waiter 9 Euros because he was so helpful and a college student. I know service is included in the price of the meal. It was our first meal in Paris and I was feeling wonderful.
After our lunch we walked over to Place de Concord and rode the big farris wheel. We walked down the Champs Elysees to a Monoprix store. We bought two bottles of the same wine we had at the cafe (19 euro at the cafe 7 at Monoprix) except one was red and one white. We also bought a cork screw, A pack of clear plastic cups, some red and yellow cherry tomatoes, A long fresh bagette and an orange chocolate bar. With our metro pass in hand we looked for station but were too tired to walk much farther so we just got a cab. We went to jardin de luxembourg to enjoy our wine and snacks. The park was alive with people having lunch,sunbathing,sailing RC boats in the fountain. There was couples walking holding hand and just having a great time on such a beautiful day. We found a place with two simi reclining chairs and a small table on the dirt area next to the large steps down to the fountain. We had a great view of the whole area and the mansion. the clock on the mansion said it was 4:30 by the time we sat down to enjoy our wine. As we feasted on our goodies taking in all our eyes could. A couple about our same age walked up and asked if we spoke english. My wife told them we are Americans and yes we do. They were an American couple and had just arrived that day too and wanted to know where they could get the same items we were enjoying. I told them where we got it and they were like bummed out because it was so far away so we invited them to join us. As it turned out, they were from Austin Texas and was on the same plane we were on but they were in business class. After we drank the wine and ate the snacks it was about 7:00 and we were all very tired. They invited us to dinner so we all got a cab to Saint michel. We had a greek dinner at one of the many restaurants down a small street that was filled with people and restaurants. The men had grilled meat kabobs and onion soup and the ladies had grilled fish. We had more wine. The bill came to 92 Euros and Jon insisted he pay for it. I told him we'll treat them next time later in the week and he agreed. By now it was 9:30 and time to go back to our rooms so we all went to find taxis. As it turns out Jon and Bev were staying at the Paris Marriott on the Champs Elysees. No more 300 feet from the Monoprix store we shopped a., How funny! My wife said we would call them later. we went back to our room, took showers and had a couple of beers and passed out! That was just the first day we were there. It gets much better. More to come later.
