Strasbourg, Alsace, Freiburg, Paris and where not to be on July 14
Jul 30th, 2013, 01:39 PM
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ok maybe ugly was a little exageration but I keep reading latedaytraveler's very eloquent trip report on the UK board and feel like I have to keep interest levels up - here goes.
From Keintzheim it was a short drive into Colmar. We have visited twice before but never stayed so I was looking forward to seeing more. Finding a decent hotel had been quite a challenge - the best under our 100 Euro limit was outside the city, which I didn't want to do. Eventually I settled on the Hotel Turenne. The hotel is named after a 17th century French soldier - our room looked as though there hadn't been too many refurbishments since then. Sadly I'd made the mistake of booking an older, larger room rather than a smaller, newer room - wrong choice. To make matters worse there was a sign on the desk saying that the air conditioning was out of order due to a storm. Very depressing as it was so hot and humid.
To escape the heat of the room we ventured into the town. As is sometimes the case when you look forward to visiting somewhere that has charmed you on a previous short viewing Colmar left me a little flat. Undoubtedly this had much to do with the fact that Colmar's 'Little Venice' area is much like Strasbourg's 'Petite France' area - both full of charming lovely bloom-bedecked buildings and lovely waterways. On top of that the last two days had been a succession of beautiful villages and towns. Being a little down about the hotel didn't help either. My mood sank further when DP ran out of money - we'd been caught out by the car hire companies deposit. So paying for the rest of the holiday was up to me!
Despite the above Colmar is of course a lovely small city but we'd obviously seen it previously in splendid isolation. None of the above is a reason not to visit though and the Unterlinden museum, which we'd been to previously is a delight. It did feel though like a smaller version of Strasbourg in many respects. If you are planning to be in Alsace bear this in mind and plan accordingly - also be prepared to pay a little more for accommodation here - I think it would be well worth it. Also Colmar's weekly open-air farmer's market, fondly remembered from our past visits, is on Thursdays.
Given the ample late picnic lunch we just had a couple of beers and then tried to sleep - I even opened the minibar door in an effort to get some cool air and seriously thought of emptying it to see if I could get a pillow plus my head inside.
More hotel gloom in Freiburg coming next.
From Keintzheim it was a short drive into Colmar. We have visited twice before but never stayed so I was looking forward to seeing more. Finding a decent hotel had been quite a challenge - the best under our 100 Euro limit was outside the city, which I didn't want to do. Eventually I settled on the Hotel Turenne. The hotel is named after a 17th century French soldier - our room looked as though there hadn't been too many refurbishments since then. Sadly I'd made the mistake of booking an older, larger room rather than a smaller, newer room - wrong choice. To make matters worse there was a sign on the desk saying that the air conditioning was out of order due to a storm. Very depressing as it was so hot and humid.
To escape the heat of the room we ventured into the town. As is sometimes the case when you look forward to visiting somewhere that has charmed you on a previous short viewing Colmar left me a little flat. Undoubtedly this had much to do with the fact that Colmar's 'Little Venice' area is much like Strasbourg's 'Petite France' area - both full of charming lovely bloom-bedecked buildings and lovely waterways. On top of that the last two days had been a succession of beautiful villages and towns. Being a little down about the hotel didn't help either. My mood sank further when DP ran out of money - we'd been caught out by the car hire companies deposit. So paying for the rest of the holiday was up to me!
Despite the above Colmar is of course a lovely small city but we'd obviously seen it previously in splendid isolation. None of the above is a reason not to visit though and the Unterlinden museum, which we'd been to previously is a delight. It did feel though like a smaller version of Strasbourg in many respects. If you are planning to be in Alsace bear this in mind and plan accordingly - also be prepared to pay a little more for accommodation here - I think it would be well worth it. Also Colmar's weekly open-air farmer's market, fondly remembered from our past visits, is on Thursdays.
Given the ample late picnic lunch we just had a couple of beers and then tried to sleep - I even opened the minibar door in an effort to get some cool air and seriously thought of emptying it to see if I could get a pillow plus my head inside.
More hotel gloom in Freiburg coming next.
Jul 31st, 2013, 01:14 AM
#26
oh no - I don't know what is worse - no air-con or no dosh! and being stranded in a drop-dead gorgeous place to boot.
it turned out that out hotel room in Vannes was sans air-con too but fortunately we were able to open the windows in the room and in the bathroom at night and to get a flow of air that way. it was still pretty hot though. I half wished that we'd booked the posher hotel down by the port with air-con and a pool but that would have meant a 2 mile walk into town or having to wait for the bus all the time [albeit it was free, we'd prefer just to be able to walk].
you poor things - keep it coming.
it turned out that out hotel room in Vannes was sans air-con too but fortunately we were able to open the windows in the room and in the bathroom at night and to get a flow of air that way. it was still pretty hot though. I half wished that we'd booked the posher hotel down by the port with air-con and a pool but that would have meant a 2 mile walk into town or having to wait for the bus all the time [albeit it was free, we'd prefer just to be able to walk].
you poor things - keep it coming.
Jul 31st, 2013, 01:22 AM
#27
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 4,287
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"Undoubtedly this had much to do with the fact that Colmar's 'Little Venice' area is much like Strasbourg's 'Petite France' area - both full of charming lovely bloom-bedecked buildings and lovely waterways."
Maybe that's why I'm not a huge fan of Strasbourg -- I had already been to Colmar several times before my first visit to Strasbourg. It just doesn't do it for me. (And I like Nancy better than both of them.)
Looking forward to the Freiburg part of your trip!
Maybe that's why I'm not a huge fan of Strasbourg -- I had already been to Colmar several times before my first visit to Strasbourg. It just doesn't do it for me. (And I like Nancy better than both of them.)
Looking forward to the Freiburg part of your trip!
Aug 2nd, 2013, 02:13 PM
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Asked for a discount in the morning but as expected didn't get one. Noted when we got home that the air conditioning had been broken for 15 days!! - such a shame as I'd been looking forward to our stay here and am sad to say that the heat and humidity really has been a bit of a dampener even though it does seem wrong to complain about it.
Luck hadn't been on our side with our visits coinciding with any of the open-air farmers markets that are such a highlight of any trip to France. Eguisheim was our last opportunity. On top of that it had recently won a French tv programme vote to find France's most beautiful village.
http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/06/eg...e-village.html
You can certainly see why it won and it was nice to be able to see it in such good weather and with so few tourists about. The village is also birthplace of Leo IX who was Pope between 1049 and 1054. The only disappointment was that we didn't find a farmers' market.
We had planned to spend time back in Colmar but didn't feel up to it so pressed on to Neuf-Brisach, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. This had looked to be another really off-beat and interesting place. It is one of the best preserved fortified towns that Louis XIV's military engineer Vauban created in the first years of the 18th century. The town is surrounded by huge walls and fortifications and is laid out on a perfect grid with a huge open square at its centre. Again, no tourists whatsoever and we had a lovely walk round the walls.
It was then on to my highlight of the holiday, my birthday meal at Auberge de l'Ill, a 3star Michelin restaurant in a little village called Illhaeusern on the banks of the River Ill - this is what the bulk of my Christmas bonus had been set aside for.
First though the hotel. The village has just two hotels - the very expensive hotel that is attached to the restaurant where rooms start at about £290 ($440) a night - and Les Hirondelles, just a short walk from the restaurant, where we paid just £68 ($103). The hotel was perfectly good enough and had the bonus of having a pool. Our room was on the first floor and had a nice little balcony where you could sit - no nice view though but it made a good place to right up my travel journal.
One of the best things about the restaurant is it's setting on the banks of the river. The garden is lovely and the current chef's mother was feeds storks there when we arrived. There was a next of four of them on the roof of the church next to the restaurant. Everyone was having drinks in the garden before going in to eat and we lingered over ours just savouring the gorgeous surroundings. Having eaten in two one star restaurants earlier in the week it was intersting to note the differences between them and this 3 star - the luxuriousness of the surroundings, more space between tables, a deeper pile in the carpet, many more staff, more expensive ingredients - lobster and foie gras. One of the things I didn't particularly notice though was that the standard of cooking was that much higher. We did have more courses here - one little plate of snacks outside, another amuse at our table, a lobster dish, a fish course, the foie gras, the main meat course, cheese, a little pre-dessert plate of mouth-sized bites, two dessert courses, coffee and chocolates - that makes eleven in total, but of the three places my least favourite dish was here. Having said that it was a superb evening and I loved every minute and a more lovely setting is hard to imagine. It was a bit of a shame that I had to think about not being too extravagant with wine choices and we stuck to a bottle and a half.
I'm very happy to forego many things in order to be able to dine extremely well very occassionally.
Luck hadn't been on our side with our visits coinciding with any of the open-air farmers markets that are such a highlight of any trip to France. Eguisheim was our last opportunity. On top of that it had recently won a French tv programme vote to find France's most beautiful village.
http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/06/eg...e-village.html
You can certainly see why it won and it was nice to be able to see it in such good weather and with so few tourists about. The village is also birthplace of Leo IX who was Pope between 1049 and 1054. The only disappointment was that we didn't find a farmers' market.
We had planned to spend time back in Colmar but didn't feel up to it so pressed on to Neuf-Brisach, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. This had looked to be another really off-beat and interesting place. It is one of the best preserved fortified towns that Louis XIV's military engineer Vauban created in the first years of the 18th century. The town is surrounded by huge walls and fortifications and is laid out on a perfect grid with a huge open square at its centre. Again, no tourists whatsoever and we had a lovely walk round the walls.
It was then on to my highlight of the holiday, my birthday meal at Auberge de l'Ill, a 3star Michelin restaurant in a little village called Illhaeusern on the banks of the River Ill - this is what the bulk of my Christmas bonus had been set aside for.
First though the hotel. The village has just two hotels - the very expensive hotel that is attached to the restaurant where rooms start at about £290 ($440) a night - and Les Hirondelles, just a short walk from the restaurant, where we paid just £68 ($103). The hotel was perfectly good enough and had the bonus of having a pool. Our room was on the first floor and had a nice little balcony where you could sit - no nice view though but it made a good place to right up my travel journal.
One of the best things about the restaurant is it's setting on the banks of the river. The garden is lovely and the current chef's mother was feeds storks there when we arrived. There was a next of four of them on the roof of the church next to the restaurant. Everyone was having drinks in the garden before going in to eat and we lingered over ours just savouring the gorgeous surroundings. Having eaten in two one star restaurants earlier in the week it was intersting to note the differences between them and this 3 star - the luxuriousness of the surroundings, more space between tables, a deeper pile in the carpet, many more staff, more expensive ingredients - lobster and foie gras. One of the things I didn't particularly notice though was that the standard of cooking was that much higher. We did have more courses here - one little plate of snacks outside, another amuse at our table, a lobster dish, a fish course, the foie gras, the main meat course, cheese, a little pre-dessert plate of mouth-sized bites, two dessert courses, coffee and chocolates - that makes eleven in total, but of the three places my least favourite dish was here. Having said that it was a superb evening and I loved every minute and a more lovely setting is hard to imagine. It was a bit of a shame that I had to think about not being too extravagant with wine choices and we stuck to a bottle and a half.
I'm very happy to forego many things in order to be able to dine extremely well very occassionally.
Aug 3rd, 2013, 12:03 AM
#31
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Agree with u Kerouac but the key word is sometimes - certainly amongst my most memorable are cheap meals - a little place in Bergamo in the old town on the hill with a most fantastic view - and harry café de Wheels in Sydney harbour - pie n mash n peas outdoors. But more cooked by great chefs who love what they do is hard to beat usually.
Aug 3rd, 2013, 06:39 AM
#33
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Popov - I'm meaning green in an environmental sense rather than lots of trees and parks - this is an extract from Wikipedia - "The city is known for its medieval university and minster, as well as for its high standard of living and advanced environmental practices." As a town planner this is what I was so looking forward to visiting Freiburg for.
Aug 3rd, 2013, 06:50 AM
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To coincide with my upcoming Freiburg post the BBC is kindly showing a mini documentary series on Germany. It starts Sunday 4 August with a programme on the Germany auto industry, Monday there is a programme on food and Tuesday it's about German lifestyle where a family from Britain trying to live in Germany as Germans.
Just read this in an article in the telegraph that reports that the number of British tourists in Germany is up 8% this year compared to 2012.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...g-Germany.html
Just read this in an article in the telegraph that reports that the number of British tourists in Germany is up 8% this year compared to 2012.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...g-Germany.html
Aug 3rd, 2013, 07:57 AM
#35
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 4,287
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks, we've seen the previews for it and plan to watch it -- but the dates slipped our mind. We'll make sure to book it on a TV's viewing guide.
We live about an hour from Freiburg and like to go there to wander around -- and have a good sushi lunch. Japanese restaurants in Basel (and in most of Switzerland) are...underwhelming, but Freiburg has a couple of good ones.
General note: although you can get to Freiburg quickly (about an hour) from Basel by ICE, it's more expensive. If you leave from the Basel Bad train station, you can get cheaper lander tickets but the trains take longer. However, from the Basel airport there's a bus service (it's a nice bus) that goes straight to Freiburg in about the same time as the ICE and the same cost as the cheaper, slower train. Most of the buses zip to Freiburg with no stops; at most there is one other stop along the way.
We live about an hour from Freiburg and like to go there to wander around -- and have a good sushi lunch. Japanese restaurants in Basel (and in most of Switzerland) are...underwhelming, but Freiburg has a couple of good ones.
General note: although you can get to Freiburg quickly (about an hour) from Basel by ICE, it's more expensive. If you leave from the Basel Bad train station, you can get cheaper lander tickets but the trains take longer. However, from the Basel airport there's a bus service (it's a nice bus) that goes straight to Freiburg in about the same time as the ICE and the same cost as the cheaper, slower train. Most of the buses zip to Freiburg with no stops; at most there is one other stop along the way.
Aug 3rd, 2013, 02:57 PM
#36
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,152
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Still enjoying your trip report.
I looked up Neuf-Brisach the overhead visual was very impressive.
We will be travelling to Freiburg from Montreux in September, by train.
Waiting to hear of what to do and see. We will also be picking up a car for further exploration in the Black Forest, Alsace and the Mosel area.
I looked up Neuf-Brisach the overhead visual was very impressive.
We will be travelling to Freiburg from Montreux in September, by train.
Waiting to hear of what to do and see. We will also be picking up a car for further exploration in the Black Forest, Alsace and the Mosel area.
Aug 4th, 2013, 02:01 AM
#37
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
No need for breakfast again so straight off towards Germany. One of the things that made this trip right for us was that we would be so close to Freiburg, which has been on our list of places to visit after I read an article years ago on how environmentally advanced Freiburg was. One of the merits of good planning is that every day there was something new and different to look forward to based on the things that we know we like and think we might like. Its hard not to despair sometimes at some of the questions that get asked on this forum - "Can you recommend the must sees in whichever country or city". I was looking forward to Freiburg immensely.
And one of the merits of not planning too closely arose pretty soon. While we were on the road in France still we saw a little museum about the Maginot Line just outside the village of Marckolsheim. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casemat...rckolsheim_Sud
Just as yesterday we'd seen a fortified town dating back 100s of years this museum related to more modern day defenses. It was very small and only cost a few euros but it was unexpected and lovely and sobering.
At the Rhine we stopped and watched as two big boats used the lock, one a cruise boat and one a barge carrying cargo. Then on into the Black Forest with the poor little overladen car struggling up the hills. Luckily again traffic was light. The difference in the vineyards was striking - in Germany every last scrap of land seemed to be terraced and used for growing vines.
Getting the car close to the hotel was a challenge though as it was right in the heart of the city, close to the Cathedral. Eventually we worked out that there was a car park very close by and all was well. Until that is we got to the hotel where we were informed that they had overbooked and that we were now in a hotel two doors away. We'd been bumped from a hotel ranked 4th out of 52 on TA to the one ranked 43rd!! At least it was a little cheaper. Not nearly cheap enough though. So another grim hotel room and another excuse to get out into the city. We'd checked in early so that we had time to explore the city and see an area called Vauban, which is at the end of one of the tram lines.
One of the great little bonuses about Freiburg is that you get a travel card from your hotel for free travel on the trams and buses so after a good walk round the centre of the city and the cathedral we got the tram out to Vauban. Everywhere is landscaped so well here - the dedication both private and public to making public spaces and gardens as green as possible really is inspiring. It is very evident that cars rank very low in the transport hierarchy with pedestrians, cyclists and public transport being obviously prioritised. The city centre, like Strasbourg, is so very much nicer for having an absence of cars. We just wandered through the residential areas close to the tram lines thinking how very different it is to home - we live just a few minutes walk from Manchester's metrolink and I do use it occassionally to get to work but I doubt that it has made much impact on car ownership. On the way we pass a new eco-hotel hotel that had just opened three weeks before http://www.hotel-vauban.de/hotel.html - how lovely it would have been to stay here for virtually the same price as we paid for such poor accommodation in the centre.
There is a vibrancy to Freiburg that Strasbourg didn't seem to have. The University is quite close to the centre and there were lots of young people around. The centre is very walkable and the little streams running in most streets were quite a feature. It may not be as picturesque as Strasbourg but coming from Manchester I appreciate cities that don't wear their charms so obviously.
By now our remaining budget was quite limited and luckily this lead to an unexpected delight for that nights food. By chance we checked out the Markthalle where they have lots of little food stalls - all looked to be independents rather than chains - and bars and a live band playing old rock numbers. The place was packed and so we had beers and two small plates of bread, olives and cold meats. This was obviously a place of choice for locals and we considered ourselves hugely fortunate to have stumbled across it. We felt like we couldn't have found a more typically local way to spend an evening - fabulous.
There was only so much of the music that we could take though so we stolled through the city centre again. We passed lots of people with ice cream and eventually came across a huge cafe that just seemed to serve ice cream desserts. After our very abstemious meal earlier it seemed an appropriate way to end the night. Freiburg is definately to be recommended.
And one of the merits of not planning too closely arose pretty soon. While we were on the road in France still we saw a little museum about the Maginot Line just outside the village of Marckolsheim. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casemat...rckolsheim_Sud
Just as yesterday we'd seen a fortified town dating back 100s of years this museum related to more modern day defenses. It was very small and only cost a few euros but it was unexpected and lovely and sobering.
At the Rhine we stopped and watched as two big boats used the lock, one a cruise boat and one a barge carrying cargo. Then on into the Black Forest with the poor little overladen car struggling up the hills. Luckily again traffic was light. The difference in the vineyards was striking - in Germany every last scrap of land seemed to be terraced and used for growing vines.
Getting the car close to the hotel was a challenge though as it was right in the heart of the city, close to the Cathedral. Eventually we worked out that there was a car park very close by and all was well. Until that is we got to the hotel where we were informed that they had overbooked and that we were now in a hotel two doors away. We'd been bumped from a hotel ranked 4th out of 52 on TA to the one ranked 43rd!! At least it was a little cheaper. Not nearly cheap enough though. So another grim hotel room and another excuse to get out into the city. We'd checked in early so that we had time to explore the city and see an area called Vauban, which is at the end of one of the tram lines.
One of the great little bonuses about Freiburg is that you get a travel card from your hotel for free travel on the trams and buses so after a good walk round the centre of the city and the cathedral we got the tram out to Vauban. Everywhere is landscaped so well here - the dedication both private and public to making public spaces and gardens as green as possible really is inspiring. It is very evident that cars rank very low in the transport hierarchy with pedestrians, cyclists and public transport being obviously prioritised. The city centre, like Strasbourg, is so very much nicer for having an absence of cars. We just wandered through the residential areas close to the tram lines thinking how very different it is to home - we live just a few minutes walk from Manchester's metrolink and I do use it occassionally to get to work but I doubt that it has made much impact on car ownership. On the way we pass a new eco-hotel hotel that had just opened three weeks before http://www.hotel-vauban.de/hotel.html - how lovely it would have been to stay here for virtually the same price as we paid for such poor accommodation in the centre.
There is a vibrancy to Freiburg that Strasbourg didn't seem to have. The University is quite close to the centre and there were lots of young people around. The centre is very walkable and the little streams running in most streets were quite a feature. It may not be as picturesque as Strasbourg but coming from Manchester I appreciate cities that don't wear their charms so obviously.
By now our remaining budget was quite limited and luckily this lead to an unexpected delight for that nights food. By chance we checked out the Markthalle where they have lots of little food stalls - all looked to be independents rather than chains - and bars and a live band playing old rock numbers. The place was packed and so we had beers and two small plates of bread, olives and cold meats. This was obviously a place of choice for locals and we considered ourselves hugely fortunate to have stumbled across it. We felt like we couldn't have found a more typically local way to spend an evening - fabulous.
There was only so much of the music that we could take though so we stolled through the city centre again. We passed lots of people with ice cream and eventually came across a huge cafe that just seemed to serve ice cream desserts. After our very abstemious meal earlier it seemed an appropriate way to end the night. Freiburg is definately to be recommended.
Aug 4th, 2013, 06:14 AM
#38
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 4,976
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What a shame to do all your research and then wind up at a different hotel. At least you made the best of it! Years and years ago we visited Freiburg and liked it very much... stayed at Hotel Colombi.
Thanks for providing a trip down memory lane!
Thanks for providing a trip down memory lane!
Aug 6th, 2013, 02:17 PM
#39
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We had a last look round Freiburg on Saturday morning and I wanted to have black forest gateau before we left. There was an excellent farmers market in the square in front of the Cathedral that looked excellent, the quality and range of food is so good - I dont know why we can't do these better in UK.
Our only stop before having to drop off the car and get the train to Paris was at Gengenbach, a town on the edge of the Black Forest that is one of the prettier ones in the area. It was lovely and felt comparable to Obernai and we found out later that the two towns are twinned.
The journey to Paris went smoothly and uneventfully. Oddly I hadn't been able to get a direct train from Strasbourg to Paris for some reason and we had to change in Nancy, with our overladen bags. In the end though the Paris train was from the same platform so it was quite easy.
The hotel in Paris had been deliberately picked to be convenient for the military parade down the Champs Elysee the next morning and as it was under 100 Euros it was just a 2 star place. It was just a couple of blocks down from the Arc de Triomphe on one of the many main roads that radiate out - one of my favourite things I've done in Paris is standing on the top of the Arc de Triomphe and watching the traffic navigate round. There are no lines marking lanes at all and yet it all seems to work well and smoothly. When we've had our car in the past I've also driven it as well - a much scarier experience than watching from above but almost as much fun.
With funds limited, we were just down to 70 Euros by now, we decided to head to the centre of the city - one of my most best memories of Paris is walking up from the metro in front of the Hotel de Ville at night when it is floodlit - such an amazing view. So we relived a happy memory and then set off to find a branch of Quick - the European version of McDonalds and Burger King - one of our less happy Paris memories - they are cheap though. Sadly we couldn't find one so settled for a pizza in the Marais and blew half our budget. Have to say it's fairly dispiriting to have to be so careful about money in Paris.
One of the bonuses though is that we walked back to the hotel through the Louvre and up the Champs Elysee - even being poor for a couple of days in Paris can be pretty lovely.
Our only stop before having to drop off the car and get the train to Paris was at Gengenbach, a town on the edge of the Black Forest that is one of the prettier ones in the area. It was lovely and felt comparable to Obernai and we found out later that the two towns are twinned.
The journey to Paris went smoothly and uneventfully. Oddly I hadn't been able to get a direct train from Strasbourg to Paris for some reason and we had to change in Nancy, with our overladen bags. In the end though the Paris train was from the same platform so it was quite easy.
The hotel in Paris had been deliberately picked to be convenient for the military parade down the Champs Elysee the next morning and as it was under 100 Euros it was just a 2 star place. It was just a couple of blocks down from the Arc de Triomphe on one of the many main roads that radiate out - one of my favourite things I've done in Paris is standing on the top of the Arc de Triomphe and watching the traffic navigate round. There are no lines marking lanes at all and yet it all seems to work well and smoothly. When we've had our car in the past I've also driven it as well - a much scarier experience than watching from above but almost as much fun.
With funds limited, we were just down to 70 Euros by now, we decided to head to the centre of the city - one of my most best memories of Paris is walking up from the metro in front of the Hotel de Ville at night when it is floodlit - such an amazing view. So we relived a happy memory and then set off to find a branch of Quick - the European version of McDonalds and Burger King - one of our less happy Paris memories - they are cheap though. Sadly we couldn't find one so settled for a pizza in the Marais and blew half our budget. Have to say it's fairly dispiriting to have to be so careful about money in Paris.
One of the bonuses though is that we walked back to the hotel through the Louvre and up the Champs Elysee - even being poor for a couple of days in Paris can be pretty lovely.
Aug 6th, 2013, 03:09 PM
#40
Paris is only as expensive as you want it to be, but to fully benefit from the economics, you have to decide to venture at least 5 metro stations from the Seine. Unfortunately, too many visitors never do that, hence the reputation of expensiveness continues.
And Quick is far superior to McDonald's because they are more innovative, although I did not think that July's Homer Simpson Donut Burger was one of their best ideas. (Don't worry, it was just donut shaped -- not actually made with a donut or a cronut.)
And Quick is far superior to McDonald's because they are more innovative, although I did not think that July's Homer Simpson Donut Burger was one of their best ideas. (Don't worry, it was just donut shaped -- not actually made with a donut or a cronut.)
