karens

Hi. I just got back from a 9-day wonderful trip to Paris. My husband stayed home with the kids and I went with a friend on a group tour to Paris. What a wonderful city.

To start, I am baffled by those reports which say Paris is over-rated. I love art, and I was in heaven. I found the city clean and did not see one instance of inappropriate toileting - human or dog! We took the Metro all over the place. Our first ride I think I saw two men eye-ing members of our group for a possible pick-pocket attempt, but didn't see anything obvious the rest of the trip. A member of our group did loose her wallet - either on the Metro or on the steps of the Opera House.

This was my first tour group experience. We immediately learned why our trip was so reasonably priced - our hotel was outside the city (Nanterre) and the food was decent but not great. One benefit of such an out of the way location was that we were forced to pack up for the day and plan on not coming back. I think it made us do more exploring when we knew that we could not just stop back at the hotel for a bit to rest/pick up stuff. I also thought I was picky, but I realized I am very normal compared to some people. It was interesting seeing the dynamics of the group emerge - the drama queen who had something happen to her EVERY day and the pain in the #ss vegetarian who looked about to cry when she saw her dinner vegetarian plate. Hello - we ate lunch on our own, get something then - or do what I did and eat a Nutella crepe before dinner. Yumm. (Gotta try this at home). I do a lot of research before trips and knew what I wanted to see, so my friend, Melissa, and I went off on our own several times. Our guide declared we were the most independent members of the group.

We flew Lufthansa - who feeds you and even gives you Baileys or cognac - even back in steerage where I was sitting. The first (really second day) we just walked around the Champs Elysees before dinner, then crashed.

The second day was a bus trip around Paris. So much gold and so many beautiful statues, buildings and monuments. We did the regular tourist stops (Eiffel Tower) and then toured Notre Dame. I wished to go to the top and see the gargoyles close up but every time I went back the stairs were closed. We spent the evening walking around the lively Latin Quarter, complete with partying Irishmen who were in town for the world cup football game. Never did find out who won!

Sat. was Versailles. Wow - no wonder the people revolted! The painted ceilings, etc. were amazing. I wish we had more time to stroll the extensive gardens and see the Queen's Hamlet. Was also disappointed the fountains were closed for the season. We will just have to go back! The second half of the day we visited the Marmottan Museum. What a gem. Melissa and I have been to several Monet exhibits around the USA, and we saw so many gorgeous paintings of Monet's here that we never saw before. We likened this museum to the Frick in NYC b/c it is in a beautiful old wealthy home.

Sunday was a trip to the Loire Valley, including the amazing Chartres Cathedral. I was hoping to walk the labrynth but it was covered with chairs. We stopped at Chambord but did not go in, but did tour Chamoneaux (I know I did not spell that right). What a story-book castle - turreted, located on a river, with beautiful gardens and an outdoor maze. The ride back to Paris was long but it was a ride back through the France country-side.

Hagan

karens,
Thanks for posting about your trip. Sounds like you had a great time, and saw a lot of the area. Did you stay at the same place the whole trip, or change hotels every few days?

Paris is indeed a place of beauty - we've been there several times and I could go back every year, if there weren't so many other places to see!

What was the name of the tour group?

Margie

Sounds like you had a nice time, thanks for sharing your trip with us. Can't wait to hear more, I love trip reports!

karens

Monday we went to Sacre Coer - wow - pictures don't do the scale of the place justice. Enjoyed walking around the Monmarte area. We think we passed Renoir's house, but got a bit lost so was not sure. That afternoon we spent 4 hours at the Louvre. Oh my gosh - how wonderful! We first went to visit Mona Lisa. I have heard for so long that she is so small that I thought she was actually BIGGER than I expected. It was a zoo around her that the rest of the museum felt empty. We spent 4 hours here and declared we needed to come back (which we did two days later). I saw my first Michaelangelo and Carravaggio and loved the Dutch and French paintings. We split up here to explore on own, by ourselves. Melissa went to Egypt and I went to see the mid-evil Louvre where the moat used to be. I was so glad she told me about Napolean's apartments, which I don't think I would have visited on my own. Even after Versailles, they were jaw-dropping. That dining room had the biggest chandelier I've ever seen and those golden goblets were something else. Each room was just more amazing than the previous one. Saw lots of people doing the Mona Lisa-Venus de Milo-Winged Victory Loop and was glad they were doing that and not crowding the small galleries off the larger ones.

Tues. we went to Giverney. Even this late in the year, the gardens were simply amazing. We've been to Longwood Gardens and Butchart Gardens and this was right up there. It was so amazing to see a view and recognize it from one of Monet's famous paintings.

Somewhere in here, I forgot to mention the the Musee d'Orsay. What a great collection in a great building. Again, I was in heaven with all the wonderful art.

Wed. we went back to the Louvre and then did some shopping. That was fun. Then we walked the Catacombs. This is probably the most unique and eerie "hike" we've ever done.

Thurs. it was time to go home. We transferred from Paris to Frankfort. (Connecting through Frankfort for us in PHL is like flying to Chicago by way of Denver, but again, our trip was reasonably priced and we did fly an airline that fed us. I went though Paris security OK, but in Frankfort they paid close attention to my carry-on. When I realized that what they were looking at was a decorative safety pin, I got it out and showed it to the security man. He grabbed it and declared that I was not allowed to fly with it! Then Lufthansa proceeds to feed me - complete with a metal fork and a metal knife!! They were wanding everyone in Frankfort. When I was called up, I just assumed the cross-position, and the German guard told he he would love to "control" me, but I would have to go to a woman for that. But since the other guard took my safety pin, I was cleared without further delay.

That was the end of my excellent Paris trip. My husband picked us up at the airport and declared the boys were excellent for him. They then proceeded to fight on the car ride home. My husband told me how everyone told him how different the boys behave for him vs. me. I'm so jealous. Last long business trip he took (3 weeks ago) the main upstairs plumbing stack-line clogged and we were without toilets upstairs. (When you flushed a toilet, it came up through the tub.) But all's well that ends well!

dln

Karens, so we have another Paris lover on board! Isn't it an incredible city? I'm glad you and your friend had such an enjoyable time.

Croque_Madame

We must have been in Paris at the same time, because I also saw the rowdy fans dressed in green, some with their faces painted the same color!

Ran into a group of drunken ones in the Metro, loud, pushy, and self-absorbed, but at least they appeared happy, so maybe the Irish won.

I'm glad you enjoyed your first trip to Paris! Having the positive attitude that you do undoubtedly helped lessen the annoyances.

Some travelers have the ability to disregard little problems, others let them ruin the whole trip, then come home and complain about the injustice of it all.

So, are you now, like so many of us here, already planning the next trip? If so, sorry kiddo, but you're hooked! Welcome to the club!

Vincent

Just for the record, the soccer game was not really a World Cup one, just a qualifyer, and France and Ireland drew at 0-0

mamc

Sounds like a lovely trip. You really covered a lot of territory. I think we were also there at about the same time. Now, as Croque Madam says, you can start planning your return!

goatee

All those Irish guys, was this Friday Oct 8? On my flight from Barcelona to Paris, there was a whole bunch of guys wearing green "football" shirts, I thought they were a team. (Were they?) So that's what that was all about!

ira

Glad you enjoyed your trip, Karen.
Thanks for sharing.

karens

Hi all. We did not switch hotels, we stayed at the same one in Nanterre. (If anyone knows anything more about this area, I'd be curious. Apparently in Paris, the suburbs are less desirable than the city). It certainly wasn't the most convenient place to stay. Our room looked like a dorm room, but it was clean and had its own bathroom, and really that's all I need.

The tour group we went with was EFTours. They really do student tours, and I'm not sure how our leader hooked up with them. I think our food was a step above what they feed students (b/c we were in a restaurant and I saw a kids' group was being fed FF and something on a stick). We weren't fed gourmet, but it was nicer than that.

Madam Croque, I totally agree that some people really can't handle petty annoyances. A group of sourpusses within our group just complained about everything. We saw them in the Louvre complaining that a bathroom they tried to use was closed for cleaning, as if this were the biggest inconvenience in the world. Uh, the Louvre has about 100 other bathrooms and they are really not spaced that far apart.

I can't wait to go back to Europe. I'd love to go back to Paris, but there's so much more I want to see. My husband and I love mountains, so I think the Swiss Alps might be next, combined with Vienna and Ludwig's castle in Germany that begins with an N and if I try to spell it I will butcher it badly. And of course, there is also Italy. The extent of my European travels prior to this trip was 5 measly days in Spain.

So much to see....

daisy75

The castle in Germany you are thinking of is outside Fussen... called Neuschwanstein (spelling?). King Ludwig also has another castle close to that one where he grew up... begins with an H... My husband and I are going there this November... I'll reply to this post beginning of December to let you know how it was!!

I too love Paris... My husband and I will be there as well in November for our third time... we are hooked!! Each time we fly to Europe, we fly in Paris and spend a few days there either before or after touring other parts of Europe...

Have fun with your future travel plans!!

crefloors

karens...now you have the "bug" and you will return on your own. That's what I did and I'm just craving to go back agan. Soon I hope. I was on a tour also my first trip but we did stay in the city. I too escaped from the group a few times but have to say we had some really great people...ages 13 up to 60's. We had two couples that were just horrible...complained about everything..wouldn't have been happy if you hung 'em with a new rope...but they actually made it kind of fun...we mocked them behind their backs. I should NEVER admit that..anyway, thanks for the report, I'm sure you learned a lot and trust me...you WILL find a way to return.

zzzzzzzs

I too just got back from a first time visit for 8 days to Paris. Great hotel & staff in good area. Good food. Easy navigation of transportation. We did go to a cabaret/drag show listed in fodors guide. The name of the place is Madame Arthur's. This is a smelly, worn out, desperate, group of individuals. There were 10 persons in the audience (none were from Paris). When presented with our bill it was triple the amount quoted on the phone for the show. Madame Arthur's did have my credit card number from my reservation. We refused to total amount (we paid half - which was TOO MUCH). Chez Madame Arthur's has since put 2 unauthorized charges through my credit card after my return home from Paris and I have cancelled the card. I surely hope that no one else has this unfortunate experience and the Fodor's removes this Madame Arthur's from their guide. I put alot of faith in the validity of this guide.