Greetings Fodorites...

Just returned from an extended Honeymoon in Europe, which was, quite simply, the most amazing 3 weeks of our lives. I tried to take notes along the way, so this is my attempt at putting together our memories.

This is our first trip abroad, as well as my first trip report, so please grant me a little latitude. This is probably going to be too wordy, but hopefully entertaining nonetheless.

Day -5 through 0
Just to give everyone a little perspective, we got married in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 7th. Since this is the European board, I don't want to go into much detail, but here's a quick rundown: Drinking, Rain (huh?), Friends, Family, Drinking, Eating, Limos, Bachelor/ Bachlorette parties, Drinking, Chapel, Elvis, Wedding, Friends, Family, Drinking, Flight Home, Unpacking, Packing, Sleep.

Day 0 (Monday – DFW)
Our flight left out of Dallas/Fort Worth around 5:00. Usually, we would not be looking forward to a 9 ½ hour flight, but with the help of my mother-in-law, we were able to use her airline miles to get a Business Class ticket. Having never been in first class, this was truly a wonderful start to our trip. I’m sure the flight attendant, Pierre, could tell this was our first time up front – but he treated us as if we were the trendy jetsetters we tried acting like.
“Champagne”…Of course! “More wine sir?”…Why yes please! “Warm baked cookie”…Don’t mind if I do. “More wine?”…<snooze…maybe later…>
Needless to say, that is the only way to go to Europe on your honeymoon.

Now, the European leg of this trip.

Day 1 (Tuesday)
We landed in Paris around 9:30 am local time. I had to say I was less than impressed with the airport, although, that obviously was not what we were there to see. We were in and out in a flash, so that was all the better. Our first interaction with a Frenchman was the taxi driver. During the drive to our apartment, he was talking on his cell phone trying to get directions to where we were going (an apartment near the Bastille). With the tone of his voice, it sounded like he must have been saying “I don’t know where these stupid American’s are going, I’ve never heard of this street”. However, after hanging up the phone, he turned to us and spoke in English – “no problem, I know the apartment. Where are you from?” Breathing a sigh of relief that he didn’t hate us, we replied, “Dallas”. Of course, we get the usual questions about cowboy hats, boots, and horses, although I was surprised when he turned on his CD with country & western…impressive! As we got into the city, we got our first glimpse of what Paris driving was like - death-defying would be an understatement. Stop signs, street lines, yielding to oncoming traffic – all optional. Honking, however, appeared mandatory. Immediately the decision not to rent a car was lauded.

We made it to our apartment and met the owner, John, who was an American transplant that had been living in Paris for about 7 years. The apartment was a cozy little studio far enough away from the main thoroughfares to be quiet, but not a far walk to the Bastille, which ended being the hub of most of our transit. We took a few hours nap before venturing out for the evening for some food.

After a walk out to several eating establishments, we quickly realized 5 o’clock is not an ideal time for eating, as most places weren’t open until 7. No worries, we had a few drinks at a local tavern where we were first introduced to the intricacies of “bar service” vs. “table service” (apparently, you pay extra for sitting at the table). Not a big deal, as this let us sit down and begin to soak in Paris. We were surprised at how busy the city streets were with action, everyone walking home from work, every other one of them eating off of a loaf of French Bread (even though I guess it was technically just “bread” there). As we grew more and more hungry, and more and more envious at those with bread, we noticed the pizzeria across the way was open, so we decided to leave. This led us to the question that we would ask throughout the rest of the trip “do we leave a tip?” After leaving the bartender a Euro and receiving an extremely puzzling glance…this question would continue to be a mystery the rest of the trip.

After dinner at “Chez Tony”, which is a great little pizzeria that would be our choice a few nights that week, we were ready to get to bed – however, I wasn’t satisfied going to bed without seeing at least one landmark. Since we were so close to the Bastille, we ambled our way through the busy streets to see the monument. We were just amazed by the energy in the area, even on a seemingly random Tuesday night. We could tell already that this week in Paris would be something truly special.
Back to the studio for a good night’s rest...the Louvre awaited the next day.

Good start to your report. Waiting for the rest. My husband and I did a similar trip last year, also our honeymoon.

Hi K,

Good start. Looking forward to more.

>We were just amazed by the energy in the area,....<

That's one reason why I love Paris.

>This led us to the question that we would ask throughout the rest of the trip “do we leave a tip?” <

What, you went to Europe without having read:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1288831

Day 2 (Wednesday)
We woke up refreshed after a relatively early night (for us)…something we didn’t expect to happen with jet-lag. A leisurely walk to the Bastille metro station afforded us our first opportunity at what we had been waiting for to eat in the morning…fresh French Pastries. Two or three croissants and some chocolate pan later, our hunger was satisfied (for the time being). As we made our way to the Bastille monument in the day time, it was quite a different site. The stark contrast of the very modern Bastille Opera house to the monument was very interesting.

Anyway, we made it to the metro and without too much trouble (read staring at the machines for 5 minutes before understanding how to change the language to English on the automated machine) and we were off to Tuileries garden. It was always fun walking up the stairs to see what awaited us. This day was bright and sunny, but without too many crowds. We walked around the gardens for a while contemplating whether or not to head directly to the Louvre or to take a quick peak at Place de la Concorde. It was at this moment after several minutes of deliberation that we got the first “chills” of the trip as we saw a tiny piece of the Eiffel tower peaking over the trees. It was at that moment that we knew we were somewhere very special.

Since the Louvre was open late on Wednesdays, we decided to head on over to Place de la Concorde. Incidentally, on the way this was also our first introduction to the concept of “pay toilets”, unfortunately without any coins (quickly remedied by a stop at the gelato stand next door) [sorry, that kind of ruined the mood].

After a visit to Place de la Concorde, we decided to get a bite to eat at one of the few pure vegetarian restaurants we had researched prior to going, La Victoire Supreme du Coeur (if that wasn’t a hint, we are vegetarian). This was our first challenge in menu ordering (surprisingly enough from the one place we could order anything off the menu). Nothing terrible, just DW inadvertently ordered a plate of bread with olive paste whilst despising olive paste. This would be the first of many times I would exchange my plate with hers, as my palate is more easily satisfied (very chivalrous of me, huh?).

With (relatively) full stomachs, we figured it was time to tackle the Louvre. Lines were not bad, so getting in was easy. Deciding where to go was impossible, with so many options. We wanted to leave something special for near the end, so we decided to pass up the Mona Lisa for the time being. It was shortly after this point that “chill” number two came up, as in the distance down a long corridor stood Winged Victory (there would be many times in this trip that turning a corner, or ascending a set of stairs would reveal something to give us that total feeling of awe). After Venus de Milo and a nearly complete circumnavigation of the 2nd floor, it was time to see Mona Lisa. Crowds were picking up, so we knew we wouldn’t get an “intimate” viewing with her, but it didn’t matter. Just being there to see it was pure enjoyment enough.

After a jaunt through the very well laid out French Sculpture area, our 5 hour tour of the Louvre was over. With tired feet, thirsty mouths, and hungry stomachs, we did the most logical thing and decided to – walk to the Arc de Triomphe (if you continue reading this report, you’ll continue to notice a little thing called sarcasm). We thought we might take a “shortcut” through the area to the north of Place de la Concorde and catch something to eat at a little bistro on the way (our area was teaming with bars/restaurants on every corner, so why wouldn’t this neighborhood?). As we passed the armed security guards on embassy row, we quickly realized a flaw in our plan. We pushed on through and finally ended up at the beginning of the “retail” stretch of Champs-Élysées (yeah!).

…to be continued

Day 2 (Continued)

Anyhoo, after stopping off for a bite to eat along the Champs-Élysées, we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe. This was the first 236 steps of what would turn into thousands by the end of the trip (the lift was not working, although we probably would have walked it anyway). The view at the top was worth it, however, as we got our first great look at the Eiffel Tower at night. After we were thoroughly satisfied and impressed with our visit to the top, we headed back to the Metro back to the Bastille & our apartment to get some rest, as tomorrow would include an early train ride to Reims.

I love your style---keep truckin'.

Day 2 (Thursday)

Knowing full well we had an 8:40 train to catch to Reims, we intended on getting up early enough for a croissant to go and a leisurely walk to the Bastille Metro where we would catch the #5 to Gare de l’Est. Leaving the apartment at 8:00, we felt relatively confident (this was only our second day, and the Metro was beginning to make sense). The walk to the Bastille took a little longer than we remembered, and mild panic began to set in. As long as the #5 got us to Gare de l’Est, we thought we’d be OK. As we made it to Gare de l'Est at 8:35, panic began to rise as the signs to the SCNF trains lead to a dead-end (hmm, what else shall we do today?). We were about to give up as we saw a throng of people coming from one general direction. We figured that many people probably just got off a big train like we were trying to get on, so like salmon (or is it tuna?...doesn’t matter) swimming upstream we fought our way through the crowd to reveal the station. Feverishly looking at the board to find our platform, we see the platform number for Reims and make a final sprint. I’ve never attempted to board a moving train, but this trip was a time for many firsts. The conductor realized we were obviously bound for this train and motioned for us to go on, so like a scene out of a movie, we hopped aboard and made our way to our seats (ok, the train wasn’t moving *that* fast, but it was moving!). After the walk of shame through first class to our second class seats - with no breakfast, no water, and no change for the vending machine – we were on our way to Reims. Hooray!!

As we arrived in Reims around 10:30, we weren’t exactly sure how we wanted to get around. We knew we wanted to go to Notre-Dame de Reims, as well as a couple of Champagne houses, but weren’t exactly sure about the bus schedules. In a flash of brilliance (or thinly veiled stupidity, take your pick), we decided to rent a car. It was a pretty simple transaction at the Avis counter – a fine little manual car for 60 euros. We were only there for the day, so we figured having our own transportation to get where we wanted to when we wanted to would be worth it.

Luckily, driving in Reims was not quite as hectic as in Paris. We made our way to the street that leads you to the cathedral, and were immediately blown away. This was the first piece of gothic architecture we had really seen on the trip. We drove around the area for a little bit, looking desperately for something to eat. We finally found a little pastry shop and made our way to the Cathedral (after returning to the pastry shop and getting a plain croissant to substitute the tuna one we accidentally got (we found it more difficult to communicate in English in Reims).

We opted for the audio tour, as big tour groups are not our thing. The audio tour was done very well in comparison to others we would encounter in the future. We loved the architecture as well as the stained glass on the inside. It was amazing to think it was built so long ago in the 13th century (something we would be astounded by many more times throughout the trip).

We had a 15:00 appointment Veuve Clicquot to visit their cellars. It was around 11:30, so we had plenty of time to grab some lunch, hit Piper Heidsieck, and make it to Veuve (or so we thought). Trying to find the “restaurant row” as suggested by the Reims tourism representative, we began running out of time. We did, however, find a lovely little traffic circle that became our good friend before the end of the day. We finally settled upon a little pizzeria (what else?) near the Cathedral. One decent meal with terribly slow service later, Piper was looking like a pipe-dream (I’ll wish I didn’t write that years from now). We had passed it several times when looking for a restaurant, but for some reason it was eluding us - not so for the traffic circle! As we gave up on Piper, the priority was finding Veuve Clicquot. We found Veuve and arrived a little early to our appointment, but who said we couldn’t have a tasting before the tour?

The tour at Veuve Clicquot (by appointment only…we made it several weeks in advance) was absolutely amazing. If you have any interest in Champagne, or wine for that matter, I highly recommend this tour. The trip down to the cellars was something I couldn’t even have imagined…very interesting. After a few more tastings and a few purchases (as expected, the Champagne is *much* cheaper than in the States), we made our way back to the train. DW wanted to take a stab at driving, and sure enough, managed to only hit the traffic circle once on the way back (at least I was a very good navigator!).

The train ride home was much less eventful (thankfully). Back in Paris, we had pizza at our now favorite spot (Chez Tony). We stopped off at a little pub on the way home for a brew before heading to the studio. We had the house special (something with “blonde” in the name) beer and relaxed among the crowd. Ordering another round was fun…”I’ll have the Cheap Blonde” (I was sure this was the name of the beer). The perplexing look on the bartender’s face didn’t look good. “What?”, she said. “The Cheap Blonde” I said confidently. “You mean the Dirty Blonde?” Oh well, in any event, the beer was great. How was I supposed to know that was actually the name of the bar too?

After a short walk back to the studio (we loved the location) we settled in for the evening, looking forward to *not* driving again for the rest of the trip!

Looking forward to more of your adventures!

I also am enjoying this and looking forward to more.

Day 3 (Friday)
After a hectic day, this day ended up being quite uneventful (as far as drama goes). We started with Musée d'Orsay – which ended up being a nice change of pace from the Louvre. There were so many well-known paintings that we saw that I didn’t even realize I would be seeing. Van Gogh, Money, Degas…simply amazing. In addition, the architecture of the building itself was a masterpiece (especially considering it was originally built as a rail station). After this, we made our way to Les Invalides, with a visit to Napoleon’s tomb and Musée de l'Armée. A leisurely walk back to the metro past the Palais Royale afforded us an excellent photo-op on the bridge over the Seine with an understated view of the Eiffel tower. Satisfied we had done enough for the day, took the Metro back to the apartment, got more pizza, and settled in for the evening. Little did we know one of the most challenging days of the trip was coming up very soon!

KrunkoDallas,

Were you pleased with your Paris studio apartment? If so, please give us more info, and contact URL for reference.

Thanks,

Day 4 (Saturday)
On this day we decided to walk around the Marais area on our way to the Picasso Museum. After stopping at Musée Carnavalet, we had a leisurely sit in a nondescript park sipping our Oranginas and people/pigeon watching (It’s amazing how relaxing on a park bench in a foreign country can be so much more fascinating than at home). Our trip to the Picasso Museum was a nice change of pace from the art we had seen in previous days.

Next up was a visit to Notre-Dame. After visiting Notre-Dame de Reims, we were excited to see the one in Paris. Once again, we were not disappointed as this was an extremely impressive sight. After waiting in the long line to get to the towers (at least the sugar-crepes kept us occupied), we finally made it up another 387 steps to a wonderful view of Paris. It’s interesting how in many big cities, an ascent up to a landmark for a view is often anti-climactic – as the landmark you are in is an important part of the skyline. Not so in Paris…it seemed every time we were at a high elevation, the view of the city took on an entirely different and brilliant shape. Afterwards, the tour inside the cathedral continued to wow us, although our hungry stomachs and expiring time kept the visit short (our last stop of the day was to be the Musee’ Rodin).

Determined to finally have a meal not involving pizza, we found a café where we got cheese crepes, cheese sandwiches, and Fren…well…fried potatoes. Never before did something so simple taste so good! As I looked at the map, it seemed that the fastest way to the Rodin would be by bus. It wasn’t until we got on the bus and forgot about the fact that it seemed to be as close to rush-hour traffic as this area of Paris could get, so our hopes of hitting Rodin were fading fast (it was around 16:30 and the Rodin closed at 16:45). We finally hopped off and made a run (well, harried walk) for it. As the museum came into sight, we thought maybe – just maybe – we would get lucky. No such luck – they had already stopped people from going in (our first introduction to the fact that you should always subtract one hour from the published closing time if you actually want to get in).

Slightly dejected, we wondered what to do next. This was the second day of our 2-day museum pass, and me being the “get the most for our money type” had to get at least *one* more use out of it. Luckily, the Centre Pompidu modern art museum was open until 21:00 (Haha, Paris – you’ll not get the best of us!). Making use of our time, we stopped for some more people watching & shopping on the way down Rue Rivoli to the Pompidu. Arriving at the museum we noticed it seemed as dark as the night that had recently set in...Hmm…interesting. There also did not seem to be many people around (it was only 19:30, so I was sure they were still open). When I made it to the attendant standing at the door, I was quickly greeted with “the museum is on strike”. Hmm..the museum is on strike. The entire museum is on strike. Perfect.

I could picture a smirk on Paris’ face develop ever-so-slightly.

By this time, getting back to the studio was the only thing we figured we couldn’t screw up. A short walk to the metro had us on our way back to the Bastille…somewhat annoyed, and extremely tired. The metro must have put us in a trance of contemplation, as I was suddenly roused by DW – “Isn’t this our stop?” Crap! Yes, it is. So – what do I do? Get off of course. What does the train do? Close its doors, of course. Where is DW? Still in the train, of course…with no money, no passport, no map, and only a partial idea as to how to get home.

Paris was in full-on laughter at this point.

A million things went through my mind as I thought about what to do. What would DW do? I felt as if I were on the ‘Newlywed Game’ trying to win a brand new dishwasher by guessing her answer. I started walking out of the station – still thinking. I then decided to get back on the train and head to the next stop to where I figured she might be waiting. Just as I made it back to the platform (and missed the train), the train heading the other direction left the station…revealing DW standing on the other side. Once again…like a scene out of some movie. We finally met up outside the station and vowed to hold hands getting on/off any train from there on out.

Our day would be salvaged, however, as we had a bottle of champagne waiting at the studio, as well as tickets for the 23:00 show at Moulin Rouge, something both of us were extremely excited about. Moulin Rouge turned out to be very entertaining. I’ve read many on this board suggest not going to this show, but I think the bottom line is if you *think* you might enjoy it, then you probably will. Two more bottles of champagne later, our trying experiences of the day were already just humorous anecdotes. I love Paris!

Nukesafe - yes, we were very happy with our studio. We found it through vacationrentals.com, although here is the owner's direct link:

http://www.studioinparis.com/studiobernieenglish.html

It was a very clean, simple studio with sufficient amenities. Quiet neighborhood, although a quick walk to restaurants & pubs in the Bastille area (as well as the #1 metro line).

Plus, the price was very reasonable.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks, I'll put this studio on my list for next year's trip.

My DW and I want to spend several weeks in Paris next September/October without breaking the bank, so I have been searching for studios, or small apartments.