Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - TRIP REPORT--Jennie's three week European vacation (London, Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome)

OK, kids . . . here is the first section of my trip report. This was a three-week long trip and I am a long-winded person, so . . . . my trip report will be long. I?ll be posting it in sections by city. So here?s part 1. I?ll be sure to post all subsequent sections to this same thread.

SUMMARY: My mother and I traveled to Europe for the first time for either of us over three weeks from Sept. 18-Oct. 9, 2003. We went to London, Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome. This was our first trip to Europe so we wanted to stay on the beaten path so to speak, which is why our trip was limited to larger cities. We did take several day trips over the course of the three weeks, however. We were traveling on a fairly tight budget ($2000 for hotel, gifts and food for the 21 days). Therefore our choices of hotels and restaurants reflect that.

ITINERARY: Our itinerary was as follows:

Fly in: 9/18
London: 9/19-9/23
Paris: 9/23-9/27
Venice: 9/28-10/1
Florence: 10/1- 10/3
Rome: 10/3-10/8
Fly home: 10/9

LUGGAGE: We each took a 22 inch bag and one large purse (app. 13wide x 11 tall x 6 deep). We carried everything on. Did not get challenged about this at all. I had read/heard that we probably would not be allowed to carry on BOTH the 22 inch bag and the large purse, but the Northwest people did not say a word about any of it. My bag was a backpack and my mom?s bag was a roller bag. Each bag had its own pros and cons. There were times when we were walking longish distances over relatively flat terrain that I wished I could just drag my bag behind me and not have to bear the weight of it on my shoulders. However, when it came to going up and down stairs (of which there are many in Europe!) and/or on and off the metro/vaparettos, etc. I could see my mom wishing she could strap her bag on her back and not have to lift it up and down. So . . . it really comes down to your preference. If I had it to do over again, I would probably keep the same bag.

Each of us took a few basic pieces of clothing (3 mix and match pairs of pants and 4 mix and match tops, a black skirt, etc.) two good pairs of shoes (my mom did bring her sneakers after much deliberation and was glad she did. I had 2 good, sturdy comfortable pairs of Easy Spirits?one a basic walking shoe and one a little dressier looking mule style.), a good weight cardigan sweater to wear as a jacket in case it got chilly and assorted underclothing. We did basic hand washing in the sink of the hotel about every other evening and then a major, more thorough washing at the halfway point of the trip. This worked out fine. All of our clothing was made from quick dry, low maintenance fabrics, which dried overnight. We did bring a small travel iron, so anything that wasn?t 100 per cent dry in the morning was just dried by the iron. For that reason alone, the travel iron was worth it (it added some weight to my bag) to bring.

Along with the clothing, our bags held a conglomeration of odds and ends (general first aid stuff, a portable CD player, various guide books, Febreeze, travel Handi-wipes, travel-size packs of kleenex, etc, etc., etc.), some of which we used, some of which we did not use. I do not think there is anyway to determine conclusively what you will or will not need, so I will not list what we brought and/or list what I think YOU should take on your trip.

THE TRIP

Days 1 & 2:

Thurs. 9/18/03- Fri. 9/19/03
We flew Northwest Airlines RT from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Detroit and then Detroit to Paris CDG. The flight was uneventful. I did not sleep more than 45 minutes at a stretch, but I did doze off 3 or 4 different times, so I did get some sleep. My mom did about the same. We had taken Tylenol PMs, but they really didn?t seem to have an effect.

The Detroit airport is REALLY nice. If you have the choice to connect there or fly in/out of there, do it. It was well organized and easy to get around in. Unfortunately we went from there to what is, possibly, the WORST airport I have ever had the misfortune to fly into/out of: Paris CDG. Terminal 1 was, pretty much, a nightmare. First of all, the place looked like something out of a bad 1970s sci-fi movie! Second of all, it is not easy to find your way around once you get off the plane. We basically followed the crowd, but still . . . it was confusing. Trying to get from the terminal to the RER station was even worse. Had it not been for some very detailed instructions on how to get to the RER station, we might still be there wandering around in a circle . . . Suffice it to say that I will avoid this airport at all costs in the future. My advice for any first-timers who have to fly into this airport: Figure out where you need to go and how to get there in advance.

Originally, we were looking for an open-jaw ticket into London and out of Rome. However, after finding a $372 RT fare in/out of Paris, we made arrangements to fly in/out of that city. However, some friends of ours were already in London and we wanted to meet up with them, so we had to go immediately from Paris to London via the Eurostar. To do this, we had to go from CDG via the RER to Gare du Nord train station. Once we found the RER station (we had to take a shuttle from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3), we then had to wait over an hour in line to buy tickets. (Out of 5 possible windows, they had 2 operating. Also, there was only a slight suggestion of a line for the windows. Many, many people just walked up and cut into the line and bought their tickets.) However, once we finally bought our tickets and got on the RER, it was a quick (maybe 30-40 minutes) and easy ride to Gare du Nord. At the Gare du Nord, we went straight to the Eurostar boarding area with no problems, it was very well signed all the way from where we got off the RER to the boarding area. Between trying to find our way around CDG and then waiting in line for the tickets, etc. we only had about 20 minutes to spare between arriving at the Gare du Nord and boarding our 2:45pm train for London.

LONDON

After a relatively uneventful 4 hour train ride (it was supposed to be only 3 hours long, but we were delayed for some unexplained reason) we arrived at London Waterloo station. We hit the ATM machine there (This worked with absolutely no problems whatsoever as it did for the entire rest of the trip. We never even had the suggestion of a glitch with our ATM cards.). We then took the Underground (very easy to find in Waterloo station) to our tube stop (Gloucester Road) and then walked the rest of the way to our hotel, the Oxbridge Apartments on Collingham Road in South Kensington.

PROS: The Oxbridge Apartments were a fantastic deal (60 pounds per night for a one-bedroom apt. that slept 3 people.) and well located (Maybe a 5-10 minute walk to the Gloucester Road tube stop. Also, between the hotel and the tube stop there were several restaurants, two large grocery stores, a small grocery/convenience store, a Laundromat, a souvenir-type store that sold phone cards and rented cell phones for International use and an Internet Café with decent rates?2.50 pounds for an hour). Our apt. had three single beds (two in a bedroom, one in the living room) and a pull-out sofa. We also had a kitchenette with a fridge, stove, plates, cups, cutlery, cookware, etc., etc. In addition to the bed and pull out sofa, the living area had a small dining table, a coffee table, a TV and a phone. Also, we had a full bath with excellent water pressure. Finally, the guys who ran the place were very friendly (one of them even let me use his personal cell phone to make a local call when I was having trouble with my phone card.). I will mention (because I know there are those out there for whom this will matter) that the guys who ran the hotel were all middle eastern as were several of the other guests we saw. This didn?t bother us at all, but I realize it might make some people uncomfortable. I will say again that they could not have been nicer to us.

CONS: This place is not beautiful. While comfortable and functional, the apartments are not ?charming? at all (the color scheme is kind of a late 80?s Maroon/Green/Gold combination). The website claims that the rooms have satellite TVs. We had a grand total of about 8 channels, and I think all but 2 or 3 of those channels were in Arabic and, thus, not understandable to us. (Still, it was nice to have a TV.) The telephones in the room ONLY made 800 calls. This was fine for calling home on our calling cards, but not so fine when we were trying to make local calls (If, for instance, we were trying to make a reservation for dinner.). Finally, the elevator always seemed a little sketchy to me (it made this pretty awful sound -- kind of a loud whine or squeak -- on the way up/down), so I did not ride it if I could avoid it. This was fine for me, but for anyone who had issues with stairs (like if you had a lot of bags or were an older person or whatever), it could be an issue.

All in all, we were happy with our accommodations. We always felt safe and literally had pretty much everything we could want outside our doorstep. We are pretty low-maintenance people so they were fine for us.

After checking into the hotel, we just basically hung out and rested for a while (because of the transfer from Paris, it was almost 6 by the time we got to London.) before heading out to dinner. We ended up going to an Italian place near our hotel that was fine, but unmemorable. After dinner, we went to the Internet café and checked in with the folks at home. Finally, we went to one of the grocery stores and bought snacks, drinks, and breakfast items.

Around 9 o?clock, we decided we had stayed up long enough to beat the jet lag and went to bed.

Day 3 ? Sat. 9/20/03

Woke up a little before 8am feeling refreshed and ready to go. Jet Lag was really a non-issue for us.

After showering and having breakfast in the room, we headed for the Portobello Road market. We took the tube (Will take this opportunity to add that we bought a 4 day, zones 1 & 2 tube pass online prior to our trip. Was WELL worth it.) and made it over there before the crowds got really big/bad (were there by 9:00am). They have everything you could possibly want at this market. We bought quite a few souvenirs for family/friends (everything from a silver flask to some antique art prints to magnets to tee-shirts, etc.) and felt like we got pretty good deals on everything. We stayed here until around 10:30am and then walked over to Kensington Park. This was a pretty good walk but was pleasant and not strenuous at all. We got to the park and walked around the grounds near the Palace (did not take a tour), checked out the gift shop and then had lunch at the Orangerie Restaurant. My meal (their house sandwich?pastrami with cream cheese and pickles on wheat bread?a salad and potato chips) was about 7 pounds, I think. With my drink I think I paid about 10 pounds total. I don?t remember what everyone had, but we were all satisfied with our meals and the price. I would recommend this restaurant.

After lunch we walked through the rest of the park to the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall. From there we walked to the Victoria and Albert Museum. We absolutely loved this place! The clothing, the religious artifacts, the textiles . . . it was all just so fascinating. Plus, it was FREE! We stayed for almost three hours before deciding we had had enough. After the V&A (at this point it was almost 5pm), we decided to head over to Harrod?s since my mom?s friend REALLY wanted to see it and we didn?t know when else we could/would work it into our schedule. I honestly don?t remember if we walked or tubed it to Harrod?s (I think we rode the tube), but we got there shopped for a little while (picked up some more little things) and then headed back to the hotel to rest for an hour or so before going out for dinner.

Dinner was at Blackfriars Pub (Across the street from the Blackfriars tube stop. Very easy to find/get to.). I had fish and chips (excellent) and everyone else (my mom and two of our friends) had hamburgers w/ chips (fries). My meal was about 8 pounds and, I think theirs were about 6 or 7 each. I also had a pint of beer. Total, I think I paid around 10 or 11 pounds for everything. The pub itself is beautiful. Lots of old, dark wood and beautiful leaded glass windows, with kind of an overall ?Art Nouveau? style. I would highly recommend this place to anyone.

After dinner, we took the tube home and went to bed.

Day 4 ? Sun. 9/21/03

Sunday we started our day at the Tower of London. We got an early start (after another breakfast in our room) and were at the Tower about 20-30 minutes before it opened. We bought our tickets at the tube stop (13 pounds) and headed under the underpass and to the entrance to the tower. As a result of getting there early AND buying our ticket at the tube stop, we got to stand in the ticket holders line and were behind 4 or 5 other people at most. They opened up right on time and we went straight for the crown jewels. There was NO wait whatsoever and we were able to look at the jewels at our leisure (we also watched the entire coronation video which was very interesting and gave us an added appreciation of what we were looking at.). All told, we rode the little moving escalator past them 4 times (twice on each side)! After gawking at the jewels we walked back to the entrance where we picked up a Beefeater tour. Our tour guide, Mick, was OUTSTANDING. This was the best tour we had of any site on our entire trip. Mick made the history of the tower really come alive. In addition, he was funny and personable. After the tour we (and over half of the other people in our group) tipped him. He did not act as if this was expected, but neither did he seem surprised. I gathered this was a perfectly acceptable thing to do and that it was appreciated, but not expected. After the tour (which lasted about an hour) we wandered around the tower complex a bit longer (went up inside several of the towers, which you don?t do during the guided tour) before checking out the gift shop and then heading across Tower Bridge for a quick peek at David Blaine (bizarre!).

After the Tower, we took a tube to the general vicinity of the British Museum where we had a quick lunch at a?everyone gasp in unison?Burger King restaurant!!! Like I said, we are not foodies and we were in a hurry and on a budget (which we didn?t stay on very well the day before!). After lunch we walked to the Museum where we stayed for several hours. The British Museum was also, quite awesome. The newly restored reading room is just HUGE and very beautiful. We toured the Egyptian, Greek and British wings. After the museum, we split up and my mom and I headed to Browns for afternoon tea. We got there about 5pm and waited about 30 minutes for a table (they don?t take reservations on Sunday) in the extremely sumptuous and comfortable ladies room downstairs from the tea room/library. The meal itself was wonderful. The service was impeccable and the food/tea was delicious! I had the house blend and my mom had some sort of a fruit blend. They brought us sandwiches, cakes, cookies, pastries, scones with clotted cream and jam . . . you name it! We were absolutely stuffed. Plus the ambiance was just wonderful. The room was beautiful, yet comfortable and inviting with little tables surrounded by comfy, chintz-covered chairs. We felt 100% comfortable even though we were in casual slacks and blouses. Even though our meal was 25 pounds each, I felt as though it was worth every single pence! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

After tea, we went back to the hotel and took a nap before heading back out to the Tower for the Ceremony of the Keys. This 700-year-old ceremony during which they lock up the Tower of London for the night was absolutely fascinating to witness. The tickets were free, so I?d encourage anyone who has the opportunity to send off for them and attend.

After the Ceremony we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Day 5?Monday 9/22/03

On this day, we took the tube to the Westminster stop and started our day by checking out Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye (which we did not actually go for a ride in due to my Mom?s great fear of heights).

From there we walked to Westminster Abbey, which is across the street from the Parliament building. Westminster is absolutely amazing. We actually got there about 20 minutes before it opened and were very close to the front of the line. We took the audio tour at Westminster and it was well worth the 3 or 4 (I can not remember exactly now) pounds it cost us. There are so many tombs in Westminster that you really do need to either take a guided tour or get the audio guide to really appreciate it.

From Westminster, we headed west towards Buckingham Palace. We were hoping to see the changing of the guards, but, due to the fact that at this point in the year, they only do it every other day, we were unlucky and found ourselves there on an off day. From Buckingham Palace we headed back east, down the mall, under the Admiralty Arch and into Trafalgar Square. After taking a bunch of pics in the square (great shots from every angle!), we decided to have lunch at St. Martin?s in the field?s crypt café. IMHO, the food was both mediocre and overpriced. I?m afraid I can?t really recommend it. After lunch, our group split up and my mom and I walked south down Whitehall, past10 Downing St. (kind of a bust . . . you can?t really see much) to the Cabinet War Rooms.

I have to say that my visit to the Cabinet War Rooms (I went alone, my mom needed to get off her feet for awhile, so she spent the 45-50 minutes I was touring the War Rooms sitting across the street in St. James park and writing in her journal) was one of the highlights of my trip. This is a fascinating tour! I?d highly recommend it to anyone.

After the Cabinet War Rooms, we walked back over to the Westminster tube stop (where we?d started our day) and headed back to the hotel to rest before the Jack the Ripper tour we?d planned to take later that evening.

When we got back to the hotel, there was a message for me from my boyfriend at home that said I needed to call him ASAP. This is not a message you want to receive while on vacation, 5,000 miles away from home, let me tell you! When I called him, he told me that everything was OK, but that someone from London had called him (our home number is listed on the Emergency Contact page) and told him that they?d found my passport at a tube stop and were trying to figure out how to locate me to return it! To this day, I?m not exactly sure how my passport came to rest at the tube station. I had it in my money belt and don?t remember going into the money belt for any reason while at the tube stop. However, the zipper was open when I checked it. The only thing I can think is that, when I put it on that morning, I neglected to zip it and, over the course of the day, my passport just worked itself out of the money belt. I was wearing a skirt that day, so if that is, in fact, what happened, I probably wouldn?t have felt it fall to the ground. At any rate, the guy who found it left his number, which I called, and was gracious enough to come to the hotel to bring the passport to me. I tried several times to give him some money as a reward, but he refused to take it. He was just an angel! I didn?t get his name, but I was so very, very grateful. The bottom line, I guess, is don?t forget to zip your money belt! I was very, very lucky!

Because of all this, we ended up missing the Jack the Ripper tour. Instead, my mom and I went and had dinner at a lovely Indian restaurant on Cromwell Road called The Delhi Brasserie (134 Cromwell Road. SW7) The food was good and the prices were reasonable.

Day 6?Tuesday, 9/23/03

On this day, we were scheduled to take the Eurostar to Paris later that same afternoon, so we only had about a half a day to sightsee. We spent the majority of our day at St. Paul?s Cathedral. St. Paul?s was beautiful on the inside, but was unfortunately covered with scaffolding on the outside. However, we thoroughly enjoyed our time there and spent a good two hours there looking around, climbing the dome (just myself and one of our friends. My mom stayed at ground level), touring the crypt, etc. After St. Pauls we headed back to the hotel to pack up and check out. We were able to leave our bags at the hotel while we ran around and got some last minute souvenirs and had a quick lunch. Finally, we went back to the hotel, caught a cab and headed to Waterloo station and, ultimately, to Paris.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF LONDON: I loved London. After having a week to process the entire trip, I would have to say that London was my overall favorite city. While Venice was more beautiful and Paris was more romantic, London was just the total package. The people of London were so incredibly charming and friendly and helpful. The tube made getting around SO easy. There were more things to see and do there than you could do if you had three weeks probably. And so on and so on. I would highly recommend London to anyone . . . especially someone who is going overseas for the first time. I was completely charmed and beguiled and can?t wait to go back and give this city the attention it really deserves!

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone. Sorry for all the question marks where commas and/or apostrophes should be!

Here's part 2:

PARIS

Day 6 (con?t)

We arrived at Gare du Nord in the early evening and quickly and easily made our way into the metro(where we bought a carnet of 10 metro tickets) and headed straight for our hotel, the Hotel les Argonautes in the 5th arr. Les Argonautes is located at 12, rue de la Huchette.

PROS: Les Argonautes is very centrally located and convenient to the metro. I?d say it?s maybe a 5-minute walk to the St. Michele metro stop. It is also very inexpensive. Our double with private bath was only 71 Euros per night. The room was not huge, but not tiny either. We are about 200 yards from the Seine and Notre Dame (We even have a view of a sliver of the river from our streetside window.) The people at the front desk were very friendly and helpful and the lobby was very funky (kind of an African safari theme) and inviting with a TV and tables to sit at, etc.

CONS: This place is BASIC. There were no phones, no televisions, no nothing in the rooms. Also, the rooms had an even worse color scheme than our London hotel (garish yellow, orange, and blue). There was no charm at all to the rooms despite the beamed ceilings. Finally, our streetside room was LOUD!!! This is a very touristy area with bars, restaurants, etc. lining the street. Even with the window closed tight, we could hear shouts of Opah! (sp?) emanating from the Greek restaurants until the wee hours. I am a pretty sound sleeper, so this really didn?t bother me that much, but my mom didn?t sleep well, even with earplugs in. If noise bothers you, you shouldn?t even consider this hotel. Even our friends, who had a room at the back of the hotel, were kept up. There really aren?t any quiet rooms.

After our arrival and check-in, we just kind of wandered around the area and then across the Seine and over to Notre Dame. It was just about sunset at this point and it was a wonderful introduction to Paris: Sunset over Notre Dame and the Seine. Ultimately, we wandered around until we found, of all things, a Mexican restaurant. We were intrigued by the idea of Mexican food in Paris that we decided to try it. It was FULL of Parisians (we were the only people that I could tell of speaking English), which we took to be a good sign. When all was said and done, it was actually fairly decent. The price was reasonable, too. The name of the restaurant was Tampico and I believe it was on Rue Xavier-Privas. Didn?t get the exact address, sorry. After dinner, we walked around a bit more, found some crepes for dessert and then called it a day.

Day 7?Wednesday, 9/24/03

We got up bright and early and took the metro to the Eiffel Tower (Trocadero metro stop). We got there about 15 minutes before it opened and were thus able to get in line to the top of the tower before it was too long. While waiting in the line, we had our first small world experience. The young man who got into the line directly behind us turned out to also be from our home state of Oklahoma. Funny. Once the ticket window officially opened, it took app. 25 minutes to get through the line, buy our tickets, and get to the second observation level (which turned out to be as far up as my mom could tolerate.). We spent about 45 minutes walking around and looking at the view, taking pictures, and then shopping in the gift shop before heading back down and out. I found it more than enough to go to this level, but our friends went up to the top level and said the views from up there were even more stunning.

Once out of the tower, we headed back to the Trocadero metro stop and got back on the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. Once out of the metro, we walked over to the arc and walked around it and looked at it from every conceivable angle, but did not go up inside. From the Arc, we walked down the Champs Elysees. We even got to stop and actually BUY something on this super-posh boulevard, which was fun. (Our friend?s boss had asked him to please stop and buy a purse for him at the Louis Vuitton store for his daughter?s birthday, so we did.). We walked all the way down to the Place de la Concorde, at which point, we took a left and headed down the Rue du Rivoli. Our goal was to find Angelina?s for lunch and hot chocolate, which we did. It was absolutely FANTASTIC. I just had soup and salad for lunch (which was fine), but it was the desert that was so amazing. I had the hot chocolate and a lemon tart. Both were out of this world. This was a little pricey, but was worth it. The hot chocolate was like someone took a milk chocolate bar and melted it and then put it in a cup. It was served with a small mountain of pure whipped cream. Amazing. The address of Angelina?s is 226 Rue du Rivoli.

After Angelina?s we headed to the Louvre, which was only a short way up the street. At some point, we crossed over the Rue du Rivoli to the Tuileries gardens, so that we entered the courtyard of the Louvre from the front. After taking the requisite pictures at the Pyramid, we began to search out the museum pass holders entrance (we bought our pass with no problems at the Trocadero metro stop earlier in the day. €30 for a three day pass.). The passholder entrance was a little difficult to find, but we just kept asking people to point us in the right general direction until we found it. Once at that entrance, we walked right in to the museum with no wait. Once inside the Louvre, we realized that it is quite true what everyone says: It is, in fact, HUGE. So, we decided to start with the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities, which included the Venus du Milo and the outstanding Winged Victory (this statue, which has always intrigued me in pictures, just blew me away. It is really, really beautiful and amazing).From there, we kind of wandered through the portrait gallery to the Mona Lisa Again, everyone is correct: it IS kind of a let-down. Very small, behind glass and absolutely mobbed. The way TO the Mona Lisa is lined by amazing artwork that it seems as though 99.9% of the people there don?t really care to see. They just want to get to the Mona Lisa. This is fine, of course. To each his own, but they are really missing some great art. Anyway, after Mona we toured Napoleon?s apartments before ending up in front the enormous ?Coronation of Napoleon? by Jaques-Louis David. Wanting to go out with a bang, we called it a day and left the Louvre.

After the Louvre, we went back to the hotel for a rest and tried to decide where to go for dinner. After much discussion, we decided on Le Petit Prince (12 Rue de Lanneau) based on the recommendations from this board. We called for a reservation and were able to get one for later the same evening (probably because our requested time was still relatively early for dinner in Paris). This restaurant lived up to its reputation. I had the prix fix menu (a delicious fried potato and sausage concoction for an appetizer and veal with a creamy oregano sauce for a main course) and then one of our friends and I shared a chocolate mousse for desert. Total, it was around €25 (I did not have wine, just mineral water). Everything was excellent. I would recommend this place.

After that it was back to the hotel and to bed.

Day 8?Thursday 9/25/03

On this day we stayed close to home and toured Notre Dame, Sainte Chappelle and the Conciergerie in the morning.

We started at Notre Dame. What can I say about Notre Dame that hasn?t already been said? Nothing. So I won?t even try. It?s a must see, that?s all you need to know. We did not go up to the top, unfortunately. I really, really wanted to but the line was long and I was really the only one who felt strongly about doing it. So, I decided to be philosophical and leave it for another time. I will definitely be back to Paris, so I just chalked it up to leaving myself something to look forward to next time!

After Notre Dame, we walked to Sainte Chappelle, which ended up being one of my top 5 favorite sites on the entire trip. I was just so blown away by the room. The weather was perfect that day (warm, but not overly bright) and the even light made the stained glass look just perfect. I could have stayed for several hours, but ended up being dragged away by the rest of the group. Again, I resolved to come again the next time in Paris and take all the time I wanted.

After Sainte Chappelle, we skipped on over to the Conciergerie (literally about 100 yards from Sainte Chappelle), which I ended up really liking. I know many people consider it a let down, but I actually found it interesting . . . Probably because I had pretty low expectations to start with. It?s worth doing if you have a museum pass and enough time in Paris.

After leaving the Conciergerie, I decided to split off from the rest of the group for some much needed alone time. I love my family and friends, but this was Day 8 and I really had not had any time to myself. During this time, I did not do anything special. I just wandered around the streets of Paris in the general vicinity of where the 5th (Latin Quarter) meets the 6th (St. Germain des Pres). I didn?t really do anything specific, but I highly recommend a walk in this area. It looked like what I imagined Paris would look like . . . know what I mean? Lots of small streets and cool shops . . . stuff like that. Later in the afternoon, I found myself in the lovely park that?s next to the church of St. Julien le Pauvre church, where I had a ham and cheese baguette that I shared with a flock of pigeons and a stray black cat. Very nice.

After about 3 hours on my own, I went back to the hotel to meet back up w/ my group for dinner. We ate at an unmemorable café near our hotel. Not bad, but rather blah . . . didn?t write down the name.

Day 9?Friday 9/26/03

Today was Versailles day. Getting to Versailles was quick and easy. We were able to catch the correct RER train directly from the St. Michel tube stop. I can?t remember exactly how much the ticket was, but it was pretty inexpensive. Once we got to Versailles, we walked the approximately half mile or so to the Chateau. It was very easy to find (there are signs, but we just basically followed the crowd).

Versailles is really overwhelming. Since we had a museum pass, we were able to bypass the gigantic line to get in. This was great. However, because we bypassed the main line and went in a side door, we were a little confused as to where, when, how, etc. to get on the main tour loop. Once we figured it out, however, we were all set. We just took the basic tour inside, didn?t pony up any extra cash for the special tours you can take. This place is really unbelievably grand and opulent to the extreme. It?s really not surprising the peasants eventually revolted. If I had been one, I would have revolted too! It did seem as if old Louis the XIV was quite the Renaissance man, though. Seemed like a very interesting fellow. Expensive tastes, though!

The only bad thing about the Chateau is the hoards of people. And, to be specific, it?s not really so much the average, everyday tourists that are the main problem. It?s the massive tour groups of 40 or 50 people that are so desperately trying NOT to lose their guide (you know, the guy or girl with the hanky tied to a stick) that they move from room to room en masse, gumming up the works like a too-big wad of toilet paper through a sewer line. Versailles was the first place they really caused any major problem (although I?d noticed them at the Louvre, too) and I grew to hate these groups. I began to purposefully turn down offers for guided tours just so I wouldn?t be one of THOSE people. But I digress . . . where was I?

Oh yeah . . . we were just finishing the main chateau of Versailles. After that, we walked outside and DID pony up the extra money to tour the gardens (€3, I think). It was money well spent. Talk about amazing . . . wow! I can?t even estimate how far back from the chateau the gardens went. 5 football field lengths? 6? 7? I have no idea. It wouldn?t matter though, even if I did know the exact distance. It really must be seen to believed. We began walking through the gardens towards the general vicinity of the Grande and Petite Trianons (where the king and queen went to get away from Versailles, which in and of itself was a getaway house . . . interesting. Again, is it any wonder the peasants eventually had enough!?) and Marie Antoinette?s Hamlet (A little village that Marie had built where she and her friends could go to pretend they were just average peasants living the simple life in the French countryside). About 1/3 of the way down on the left, we found a small café where we grabbed a quick lunch of sandwiches and potato chips. Of course, being the eatery of a major tourist attraction, this food was mediocre and over priced. Still . . we had fortified ourselves for the massive amount of walking that was to come.

After lunch we headed back towards the Trianons, which we eventually found. Both the Grande and Petite were impressive. I actually liked the Petite better, though. After leaving the Petite Trianon, we walked and walked and walked and walked some more until, eventually, we came to Marie?s Hamlet. Now THIS was cool. I loved the little houses and the little farm and the little gardens and the little lake and all the little stuff that was out here. If I ever get rich, I?m going to build myself a Hamlet like Marie?s to play in! I loved it.

What I did NOT love, however, was the LOOOOOONG walk back to the chateau. I?m talking miles here, people . . . Like maybe two or three. I realize there was a little tram we could have hopped on, but we couldn?t ever seem to catch the little sucker! My poor Mom was about ready to just chop her feet off at the ankle by the time we made it back through the gardens, past the chateau and down the street the half mile back to the train station. I know she was really in pain because she did not even want to stop and look in any of the gift shops that line the route between the chateau and the train station! Getting back to Paris was just as easy as getting out to Versailles and we found ourselves back at our hotel by 6:00pm.

At this point, I called the hotel of a fellow Fodorite, Barb, and arranged to meet her for drinks and dinner. After scouting ahead to find a restaurant and installing Mom and one of our friends, Ken, at said restaurant, I went to Barb?s hotel, picked her up, and took her back with me. The place we picked to eat was Italian (our friend Ken picked it because he was not going to be able to stay with Mom and I as we went on into Italy and he was craving Italian food.) and was pretty good. It wasn?t super great, though, so again I did not get the name of the place. After we finished eating, Mom and Ken went back to the hotel (Ken and the rest of our friends were flying back home the next day.) and Barb and I stayed to have desert and finish off our bottle of wine. We had a nice long talk about life, travel, and the Fodors board before finally calling it a day and going our separate ways. I really enjoyed meeting up w/ Barb. She was traveling alone, which I found incredibly gutsy. Also, she was very smart and articulate and just an all-around nice person to talk to. On the way back to my hotel (which was very close to the restaurant), I actually got kind of turned around (stopped to take pictures of a little, tiny car from several different angles and then forgot which direction I had been facing originally) and got lost for about 15 minutes. I?m sure the half bottle of wine I?d just polished off didn?t help my sense of direction any! But, finally, I found some nice college girls (we were near the Sorbonne) who helped me find my way. It was kind of fun, actually, to be lost in Paris! By the time I got back to the hotel, I said good-bye to our friends and then just crashed.

Day 10 --9/ 27/03

Today was our last day in Paris and Mom and my first day to be on our own. As such, we didn?t have much on the agenda. It was a day for sleeping late and then going around and picking up any last minute souvenirs before indulging in some general wandering. We ended up spending a few hours exploring the Ile St. Louis (had some Berthillon ice cream?pretty good) during which time we were privileged to catch the act of a street performer named Clark from Princeton, NJ. Clark juggled fire, rode unicycles while carrying an American tourist named Rachel on his shoulders and just generally entertained a large group of people for about an hour on the bridge that leads from behind Notre Dame to the Ile St. Louis. I enjoyed his show immensely. Very funny guy.

At around 4:00 we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage (they?d been holding it for us since we checked out that morning) and head for Paris Bercy station to catch our night train to Venice. Finding Bercy station was not as easy as I anticipated. You have to take the metro to the Bercy stop and then go completely out of the station, across a street, up a flight of stairs and across another street to the train station. It is not a really far distance, but with luggage it is feels like a bit of a trek. The good thing is that Bercy station is really small, so it?s EASY to find your way around and figure out which train is yours, etc. After sitting and waiting (and chatting with a very nice older woman who was born in France but who had lived in the US for the past 40 years named Irene) for a couple of hours, it was time to board our train. Despite the fact that we?d only reserved two berths in a 4 berth couchette, the other people in our compartment didn?t show and we actually had the entire compartment to ourselves. This was nice. Those compartments are small. Unless you get a compartment to yourself, it is really imperative to pack light. There was a couple in the compartment next to ours that ended up having to leave a piece of their luggage out in the hallway all night because their 3 massive bags wouldn?t fit in the compartment they were sharing with another person. It was really ridiculous. At any rate, as we realized we had lucked out and were on our own, we settled in and began to eat the sandwiches and other assorted goodies we?d bought at the train station for dinner. Sometime during dinner, the conductor came by to take our passports. As we freely and willingly handed them over (because I new to expect this from the Fodors board!) he said, ?Ah, you have done this before, no?? When we told him we hadn?t, he said, ?Really? Never??he asked ?Nope, never,? we replied. ?Hmmm . . .? he said. ?I can not believe it. Usually Americans who are on the train for the first time do not want to give their passports away at all!? Funny. Chalk another one up to the Fodors boards! We finished dinner and watched the French countryside until it was too dark to see. At that point, we folded out our beds, put the sheets on and called it a night. Au Revoir, France!

Next stop, Venice!