Alice

This is a report of our trip to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and more, between Oct 10-20, 2002. We have visited these at some time before, so we did not return to certain “must-sees” that others would be interested in. Also, you will recognize that we’re not foodies, so dining choices were based on decent food at reasonable prices, rather than anything approaching ‘gourmet’.<BR><BR>AMSTERDAM (3 nights) - We arrived at Schiphol about 10:30 am and I bought our train tickets for AMS-BRU and BRU-PARIS. Picked up the KLM Shuttle to reach our hotel. KLM hung around the airport about 15 minutes, probably waiting to acquire a few more passengers. Fare was 10 Euro each, one-way. There is a signpost at the curb outside the terminal indicating where to stand; tell the driver your hotel name, and he’ll confirm you’re on the right bus. We stayed at 2** AMS Hotel Holland on P.C. Hooftstraat, near Vondelpark and Museumplein. See “Hotels” for description.<BR>Summary of our entertainment:<BR>Friday – walkabout to outdoor book market at Spui, Begijnhof (oldest wooden house in Amsterdam, peaceful parklike area), past Dam Square, through Red Light District, over to Rembrandtplein, browsing and stopping for coffee. Stopped in at a bike shop off Dam and bought some accessories for our bikes at home. Easy dinner at Hard Rock Caf&eacute;, near one of the canal boat docks.<BR><BR>Saturday – train trip to Enkhuizen, to visit Zuiderzee Open Air Museum (recreation of 16-17th century village, using actual cottages; some craftsmen on hand to provide demonstrations; windmill; wonderful views of sailing ships, “Clipper” style). Lovely walk through town of Enkhuizen before boarding train to return to Amsterdam (about 1 hour). Delicious ‘rifstaffel’ at Srikanda on Stadhhouderskade.<BR><BR>Sunday – rented bikes at Mac Bike’s new location just past Hard Rock Caf&eacute; and rode streets of Amsterdam for 6 hours, including stops for coffee, lunch and a pass through the Heineken Brewery Museum. Near-miss with tram when crossing Leidsestraat, I’m not kidding – it passed THIS close ! Dinner was Italian at Da Pepino’s in the pedestrian area by Leidseplein. (if we plan to ride bikes again, I’m bringing a gel bike seat – all those cobblestones!)<BR>

Alice

BRUSSELS (2 nights) - We took a regional train from Centraal to Gare Midi (Thalys runs only 10 minutes or so faster, not sure what fare difference was) – trip was about 2 hrs 40 minutes. Taxi to our hotel (Atlas Hotel, about 2 blocks from Bourse; see “Hotels” below) was about 6 Euro.<BR>Summary of our entertainment:<BR>Monday – We walked from hotel to Gare Central and took subway to Brupark. My husband was interested in seeing what the Atomium was about (built as an Expo type of structure, highlighting ‘modernistic’ design of the 50’s – unfortunately, not well-maintained anymore, difficult to relate to many of the displays, but a nice view over Brussels). We also went to Mini-Europe for a lark, and it was actually kind of cheesy fun. Had the required mussels and waterzooi at Royal Safir in the ‘tourist’ restaurant area by Grand Place. We were given a complimentary glass of ros&eacute;, food was good, and enjoyed seeing a couple with their 2 pooches in the back. Pooches were very well-behaved, remained under their table. Must say Belgian ‘frites’ are the best fries in the world – always crisp. <BR><BR>Tuesday – took the train to Bruges (about 1 hr) to generally walk around, enjoying the charming architecture. Pulled ourselves up the 366 steps in the Belfort for the overview – fabulous! Took the canal cruise (nice way to see more of the buildings) which included a view of the Minnewater’s swans. The fall colors were in the trees and trailing ivies on the walls, very lovely. I couldn’t find the Tourist Office at the train/bus station and forgot my photocopied map; it sure does help you get oriented if you already have a street map; found one in a shop for about 3 Euros, all was fine after that. Would also like to say that the tourist crowd was quite minimal by this time of the year, had to actually wait 10-15 minutes for enough people to fill the boat tour. Trying to pass folks in the narrow stairwell of the Belfort must be a nightmare during full season. <BR><BR>Back in Brussels, we stepped into Cathedrale Sts Michel and Gudule and enjoyed some organ music while seeing the interior. We ended up walking quite a bit, passing by EgliseSte Catherine, the Tour Noire, and over to some modern shopping ‘mall’ along blvd. Adolphe Max (I believe).<BR>We’re originally from Texas, and we’d already had our mussels, so we stopped at a TexMex place for dinner, just to see how Europeans handle that. (not too badly, but we could’ve given them some pointers ). We also stopped by the infamous Mannekin Pis, and enjoyed watching a group of Japanese tourists take pictures of each other there. Closed out our visit by sitting in Grand Place that evening - so spectacular at night, when the lights are illuminating those wonderful facades.<BR>

Alice

PARIS (4 nights) - Thalys from Gare Midi to Gare de Lyon took about 1.25 hours; we arrived about 10:30 am and waited in a quick-moving line for a cab (light rain) to our hotel, Hotel St Christophe on rue Lacepede in the 5th, next to Place Monge (see “Hotels” below). Taxi fare was about 15 Euro (there’s an extra 1 Euro charge per bag, so be aware).<BR>Summary of our entertainment:<BR>Wednesday – I determined that we could still benefit from a weekly pass (Carte Orange) and purchased from the ticket window in the nearby Metro. The lovely lady in the booth tried hard (in French) to make sure I understood it was only good until Sunday, and I managed to either convince her it was OK, or just simply wore her down with my poor French attempts. There was no problem with the request, only her consideration of the partial time left on the pass. We had saved our C.O. from prior visits and only needed the coupons. After this, we spent our afternoon enjoying a “pinch me, I’m in Paris” exercise: baguette lunch under the Eiffel, glass of wine off the Place du Tertre (very uncrowded), dinner at Vesuvio’s Italian about 1 block off Champs Elysee, followed by evening stroll down the Champs . We also stopped in for fun visit at the Musee de Magie (Magic Museum) at rue St Paul – a display of antique ‘magic’ and illusion props, with a 15-min magic show, lots of school kids having a great time. All in French, but you can get the drift. We always return to Montmartre each visit, hoping to once again see the hilarious “Ninja” busker (1999), but alas, he has not returned.<BR><BR>Thursday – starting in the morning, we did a walkabout through the rue Mouffetard market, stopping in to see Eglise St Medard at the foot of it. Continued up toward Pantheon (was going up for the view, but you can only do that as a group at stated times so we passed). Pretty gardens around the oldest church in Paris, Eglise St Julian le Pauvre. Lunch in a good Chinese ‘cafeteria’ in the rue de la Harpe/Huchette area. Walked across to see the Deportation Memorial – a little disappointing as the 200,000 crystals weren’t gleaming at all; but I did understand the historical significance. On the Right Bank, we saw perhaps the oldest wooden/timbered houses left in Paris, on rue du Francois Biron, then headed to BHV to look for ‘house’ things. Dinner at Brasserie Ecole Militaire (7e), a place we liked from our prior visit.<BR>

Alice

Friday – After the Dec ’98 storm that toppled over 10,000 trees at Versailles, we had donated for one tree replacement. The organization sent us a grid/map to show where our tree had been planted. So, we had to trek to Versailles to find ‘our’ tree – the fall leaves were gorgeous, and the flower beds were still planted, so the colors were wonderful. To crown that, the sun came out for us! We had a nice lunch at La Flotille in Versailles, by the canal. Upon returning to Paris, we visited Mus&eacute;e Marmottan, situated in a nice park, with a great collection of Monets in the basement (evidently 9 of these had been stolen then recovered between 1985-1991). The Marmottan also highlights a collection of ‘’Illumination” (illustrated manuscripts) and a number of paintings by Berthe Morrisse. Onward to Cimitere Pere Lachaise, which put off wonderful ‘lights’ with dramatic clouds overhead and gorgeous yellow/orange leaves. We found the graves of Colette, Heloise/Abelard, Jim Morrison and Raspail, before hints of rain sent us back to the Metro. That evening, we had fun at the UGC on Champs Elysee, watching ‘Minority Report’ and reading along with the French subtitles.<BR><BR>Saturday – This is flea market day, so we went to the Puce de Vanves street market ; a friend is always pleased with the piece of faience I purchase for her there, and bought myself a pretty plate from Giens to hang on kitchen wall. We took the remainder of the day to go to Fontainebleau, seeing the Chateau and grounds, and also to walk around the nearby streets in town. It is an easy train ride from Gare de Lyon, followed by a ride through town on Bus A/B to Chateau. The Chateau is beautiful, inside and out, especially enjoyed Napoleon’s Throne and the Chapel, and the very unique fountain in the Jardin de Diana, featuring the dog statues (which provided the water output in very amusing fashion). My husband enjoyed giving visiting children pieces of crackers to drop down to the huge koi in the carpe pond.<BR><BR>Sunday – This morning we ate a delicious croissant breakfast at Caf&eacute; Monge, before taking a taxi to CDG Terminal 1. I chose to utilize a taxi for the airport trip, because I was coming down with bad cold, was tired, and just didn’t feel like lugging any bags through the RER system. Our Carte Orange would have covered that scenario, and I surely plan to try it next time, especially as the taxi fare was the most expensive we’ve ever encountered in Paris – 60 Euro before any tipping! This was from low end of Latin Qtr, around the east periphique, to CDG, minimal traffic. If the RER trip doesn’t sound feasible, the Paris Shuttle service is certainly a better alternative than the taxi. It took us nearly an hour and a half to clear the security check at T-1, then another 20-30 minutes in the check-in line to get boarding passes. We had about 40 minutes to spare, but don’t kid yourself at all about the “2-hour” allowance for checking in – you will need every bit of it.<BR><BR>We had a wonderful trip, enjoying a variety of sights and activities, and of course, can’t wait to return. Below are some miscellaneous trip notes that someone might find useful in their planning.<BR>

Alice

FLIGHTS - We flew on United, at a fare of $510 pp that came up on Orbitz in April ($434 base fare) – that sounded good enough to me, so we booked at that time (we do not live in a hub city). Our originating flight was 2 hours late, therefore we missed our connecting flight at Dulles by 7 minutes. Not to despair, United was ready with a backup plan, and got us on another flight through Heathrow in 40 minutes. Due to this route change, we arrived 3 hrs late in Amsterdam, but that is far better than having to spend a night in DC and miss a full vacation day in Europe. Also, the Dulles-Heathrow flight was in the Economy Plus section, which meant I could actually cross my legs! The flight home from Paris was on time and uneventful, just what a passenger wants. We packed into 2 pilot cases and 2 backpacks, and carried these onboard for the outgoing flights. Took an extra tote bag for purchases, so we checked the 2 pilot cases on the return.<BR><BR>TRAINS / luggage - We used the trains for 5 trips, and had no problems at all. I felt prepared having printed off schedules ahead of time to show the agent what I wanted. There were no strikes going on, or any other problems. The only leg that required a seat reservation was the Thalys from Brussels to Paris – when we boarded, someone was in our seat, then she tried all the other seats until the rightful owners had all boarded. Guess she knew she would be facing into the sun…We carried our luggage on board the regional train from Amsterdam to Brussels, and could put the 2 pilot cases on the overhead shelf. On Thalys, we used the luggage area at the end of the car, and secured them with a retractable cable lock. <BR><BR>LOCAL TRANSPORTATION – In Amsterdam, we used a dayticket, which you stamp on board the tram at the first use, to begin the valid period. We got a 3-day ticket at the VVV Tourist Office window for 11 Euro (I will learn to use strippenkarts next time, as we did not ride as much as we did our first trip, especially the day we rented the bikes). In Brussels, we bought individual metro tickets for 1.40 Euro each, which needed to be validated in a machine near the platform entrance. In Paris, we are fans of the coupon jaune “hebdomodaire”, and choose the zones based on our plans outside of Paris; otherwise, we just buy carnets. For all trips between trains and hotels, and hotels and airports, we used taxis (except for KLM Shuttle at Schiphol). Inner city taxi fares are usually very reasonable.<BR>

Alice

HOTELS - <BR>AMS Hotel Holland, P.C. Hooftstraat 162, Amsterdam 1071<BR> – we had stayed at AMS Hotel Terdam before, and while it was very nice, it was also 150 Euro/double. I decided to try and save here, so chose a 2** in the same hotel group for 89 Euro/double. This would have been OK except for the moldy bathroom ceiling (source of my cold?). The staff was friendly, the breakfast was quite good, and the location was very good – about ½ block from Vondelpark, off 2 or 3 tram lines, and walking distance to Leidseplein or Museumplein (10 minutes). The room d&eacute;cor – well, there was none – was mismatched bedspreads, drapes, and dark paneling, and a carpet that needed replacing. The bathroom was clean enough but had moldy ceilings. The beds were firm and had clean bedding on them, so all in all, we accepted it. I stopped in at Hotel Prinsen for a look in the lobby and to get a brochure, and will try that one next time (120Euro/double). <BR> <BR>Atlas Hotel, Rue du vieux March&eacute; aux Grains 30, Brussels 1000<BR> – this might be classified as a ‘business’ hotel, was very nice and had a large bedroom and huge bathroom (by Euopean standards) situated off an internal courtyard. This one was very nice and I would recommend to anyone (115 Euro/double). The bedroom had plenty of space to maneuver around the beds, a desk/chair unit, and two armchairs. There was a small foyer with a full-length mirror and a closet/cupboard. The bath was a tub with shower, gleaming fixtures, and plenty large. The location was good, about 2 blocks the opposite side of the Bourse from the Grand Place, ie. walk past Bourse to get to Grand Place. The only unfortunate thing here was so much road construction, but that’s the way it goes. Stopped in at Hotel le Legende and met a very friendly proprietor, who gave me every conceivable brochure or card he had. Said the hotel is small but has numerous regulars, so early booking is recommended. Might try this one next time, about 2 blocks off Grand Place. <BR> <BR>Hotel St Christophe, 17, rue Lac&eacute;p&egrave;de, Paris 75005<BR> - This hotel would be wonderful except for one flaw: the older building's plumbing system is extremely noisy. Every flush or shower can be heard in the groaning pipes, any hour. Otherwise, the staff is very service-oriented, speaks English, and well organized. Decor is nicely done, baths had shower curtains, all was clean, and there is a minibar. The phone room has a slow-loading pc for Internet access (45 min @ 1.8 Euro or so). Breakfast was ok; if you prefer, go outside to nearby cafes instead. Conveniently located between Metro Place Monge and Metro Jussieu. Our twin-room rate in Oct was 123Euro. We will probably not return, due to the noisy plumbing/bathroom sounds, unfortunately. We stopped in at Hotel la Motte Picquet in the 7th and the proprietor actually introduced himself with his first name. We like staying in the 7th and would consider this 2** hotel on a future visit. Also walked by Hotel l’Empereur in same area, but it seemed unappealing in both outer appearances and location, so not so interested anymore.<BR>

Alice

RESTAURANTS - We had a variety of ethnic dining experiences, and bought our lunches and snacks at walkups (ie. baguette sandwiches, quiches, burgers, pastries, ice cream, etc.).<BR><BR>Amsterdam - Hard Rock Caf&eacute; (I know, not imaginative, but easy and reliable for first day); Srikanda for 'rijsttafel' - very good, reasonably priced and located near the Hard Rock / Leidseplein area; Da Pepino’s for Italian, pedestrian street off Leidseplein.<BR><BR>Brussels – Royal Safir in the rue de Bouchers area of Grand Place – probably no different than the 50 others like it, but it was good food with a complimentary glass of ros&eacute;. We had mussels in garlic cream sauce and chicken waterzooi. ChiChi’s TexMex chain – this was a ‘hmmm, wonder what that’s like?’kind of decision. The food was OK but could use a little more authenticity.<BR><BR>Paris - Vesuvio’s – we liked this place the first time we tried it, and return every trip. The food is good and the manager is friendly (sometimes amusing), and you can eat rather casually (off Champs Elysee; there is another one on C/E, but don’t know if it is comparable). Brasserie Ecole Militaire – we ate here several times when we stayed in the 7th, and returned this trip, too. Good selections, casual enough to order what you want, delicious desserts if you have room. The night we wanted to make the earlier movie, we just ate at Brioche Dor&eacute; on the Champs, so nothing spectacular there. The last night we had a picnic in our room, with wine, beer, and the last of the patisserie offerings (must clean out the fridge!) while we packed for our departure.<BR>We had a nice lunch at La Flotille behind the chateau at Versailles, and the waiter rolled up to fresh placemats for my scrapbooking d&eacute;cor. We also had some tasty Chinese dishes in a tiny place off rue de la Harpe or Huchette, don’t have the name of the place.<BR>

Alice

WEATHER - the weather in all places was high 40’s in the mornings to high 50’s in the afternoons, usually overcast. We had 2 days where full sun appeared, and very little actual rain fell on us. Out in the Zuiderzee village, it was very chilly with the breeze coming off the water, needed hats and gloves.<BR><BR>DRESS - I know everyone worries about what to wear in Paris, but for all the types of traveling we did and places we went, there were no ‘fashion plates’ to be seen; mostly working class people wearing all kinds of clothing. You can wear nice casual or business/casual and you will be fine most anywhere. If dining in a nicer restaurant, then adjust accordingly, with a nice top &amp; silky scarf, and a jacket on men. Still wouldn’t wear the white Reeboks-type shoes, unless you must do so for foot comfort. Plenty of jeans being worn, but mostly by younger types, and black or subdued colors (especially this time of year?) will always be safe. Our routine for colder seasons is to wear the ‘silk’ type long underwear, knit pants (hubby wears jeans or khakis), cotton turtlenecks and a jacket, and soft-soled black walking shoes. If really chilly, extra layer with lightweight sweater style zip-up, and a hat of some kind. Hubby uses a lightweight trench coat, I have a pant-length black microfiber jacket. Sometimes I tie on a scarf or just carry one in my daybag.<BR><BR>LANGUAGE – we speak no Dutch or Flemish, and have a smattering of French – usually we can’t process the French replies that follow, but it is rarely a problem. We found that English is widely spoken in Holland and Belgium, for the places we have thus far visited, and though I might try a weak ‘goedemorgen’ or ‘dank u’ it doesn’t seem to be expected that you speak Dutch. In France, I concur that it seems to open the door to cooperation if you start in French, and at least ask ‘’parlez-vous Anglais” before launching into English. This time, people seemed to give you a chance in French but readily switched to English upon seeing the lack of immediate understanding. Sometimes, the first half of my sentence was French and the second half was English, and their response was often a mixture, too! It was all fun, and we did not find anyone to refuse to help us, except for one instance (bus driver in Fontainebleau seemed to not understand our query to verify his bus was returning to the train station; again, I don’t think we approached him properly because we were hurrying). There will be isolated occasions but just treat them as learning experiences, and do your best.<BR>

Alice

EXPENSES - this is meant to assist in trip-planning, not to say ‘’we spent $$$ on our vacation”.<BR>Flights $1050<BR>Trip Insur $ 115<BR>Hotels $1052 (avg. $116 night)<BR>Meals $ 240 * (avg. dinner was $35-40 for 2, usually with 1 drink or bottled water)<BR>Shopping/fun $ 165 *<BR>Orig currency $ 800<BR>Add’l cash advs $ 300<BR> ________<BR> $ 3722<BR> * these were on credit cards; all other meals, entries, shopping, etc was out of the cash on hand, including all the train tickets, metro tickets/passes, etc. Trains were about $415 total for all the legs we did, Carte Orange was about $30 each for zones 1-6 (covered trip to Fontainebleau, Versailles, and many metro uses). KLM was 10 Euro pp, taxis ran about $100 total. <BR><BR>PICKPOCKETS / TOURISTS - had zero incidents of any crime, pickpocketing, etc. Had none, saw none, heard about none. Noticed a very high ratio of tourists were European rather than North American (just an observation).<BR><BR>THE END !<BR>

xxx

Regarding the language subject I found it to be true also in Paris that if I said a &quot;Bonjuour, madame, parlais vous anglais?&quot; the person will acknowledge you more than if you launch into English. I do not know French except for the above and a few others only. But most people do know English especially in Amsterdam and Brussels although there are quite a few who really do not know English except for a few words. I am sorry I'm not bilingual or even trilingual as the Europeans are. Of course, it's not too late to learn so I'm thinking about it.

Grasshopper

Thank you Alice, for a very thorough trip report! It sounds like you had a great time. Very good tip regarding bringing a gel bike seat!

kevin

Thanks Alice good report. The expense area is most helpful, will help us plan. again thanks. kevin

Tippy

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topper

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Dave

Alice - Many thanks for a truly spectacular!! trip report. I enjoy reading many of these reports, but this one is just the best of the bunch!! <BR>Sounds like you had a great time!! <BR>Best wishes.

trying

Alice: Great report!

Alice

Glad some of you have enjoyed my report. Had not produced one before, but wanted to contribute, since I've found so much help here.

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topping. . .

Alice

topping for Jeanne, who wants daytrips from Ams and Bru...

Ladybug

Alice, terrific detailed trip report, THANK YOU! I especially appreciate your sharing price info, because one of the most important considerations in our trip planning is the cost of things. <BR><BR>