Greetings Fodorites! Returned a mere 8 hours ago from an 8 day trip to France. As ever France was a delight from start to finish. Despite the weak dollar, I got an airfare special Air France $362.00 RT DIRECT from Los Angeles to CDG.. well, though I had no plans to visit Europe I couldn't pass that up. Of course they had to be purchased right when I got the email update (Last October) and only for travel in Jan Feb, but it was worth it.
Flight was uneventful (best kind). Arrived in Paris and taxi'd to our hotel Nouveau Orleans, (a Best Western) hotel near the Denfert metro stop, nicely located paid $130.00 US$$ Per night.Booked through Expedia, good sized room, friendly staff, but either our walls were made of paper or our neighbors were hearing impaired party animals.. we could hear every word being said in the room next door (even while wearing ear plugs). Finally it got so intense that I called management. Luckily for us it stopped instantly.

We have been many times to Paris and so could by pass some things that we had already visited. We did visit Musee D'Orsay, my very favorite worth seeing as many times as you can, also Invalides had some new exhibits since last time I visited including a fantastic WW2 salon... we spent HOURS there. Then metro'd up to Montmartre for some terrific Italian food (sorry forgot the name) also we appeared to be sharing Paris with a million Scotsmen in kilts who where in town for a big football match (Scotland lost, BTW) it was pretty surreal to stroll down the escaliers /stairs of Montmartre listening to a full on pipe band!!! Also visited a wonderful and I mean wonderful jazz club in the latin quarter called the Caveau de la Huchette.. any fans of jazz out there have got to check out this place!!! Located on Rue de la Huchette just of Place d'St Michelle.. they had a swing band that just cooked with fire..! I got to dance with a delightful older man named Michelle who was a swing dance teacher at the club.. they had some amazing dancers and the atmosphere was extremely welcoming and friendly to a crowd that included locals and tourists alike.. highly recommend it.. (not too expensive either, unless you drink as much as we did
One more night in Paris then we made our annual stop at Shakespeare and Co, to buy books for our journey to Alsace... also had some hot cocoa at Cafe D'fleury.. not to be missed... We took the metro everywhere and bought our tickets at the automachine.. (generally I find that I loose money if I buy the passes since sometimes I like to stroll).

We picked up our rental car at Gare de Lyon.. now for anyone planning to head East you should definately get your car at this train station since the A4/N4 is the East heading highway and it's a pretty straight shot to the triain station. No rolling around Paris city in a panic. We managed to get all the way to our next destination despite our late departure.
Strassbourg(sp?) arrived past midnight.. to a lovely hotel Diane Dauphine.. Expedia $130.000 USD.. plus 8 EUR for parking. For those who may be interested Strassbourg is the current seat of the Eurpean parliment and also had a pretty cool old town and one very fine cathedral. Since our time was so limited we ended up only strolling through town about half a day before heading to Obernai. Now I have never been to Alsace but it's history for those who like things like that is absolutely fascinating. They are fiercely French, but they are right on the boarder with Germany and have gone back and forth between the two nations a dozen times in the past few decades.. also if you are interested in the history of any of the world wars.. Alsace is a must see, since as you can imagine it was on the front lines in both.

We regretfully left Stbg, and drove about 45 minutes to Obernai, a wonderful walled city that looks more German then French. this was our spluge hotel.. the Coer d'Alsace.. at $130.00 EUR per night, plus we bought a gourmet dinner at the hotel restaurant.. for 95 EUR Total for 2 incl. wine that was absolutely worth every penny.. service was impeccable and the food divine. During the day we made a day trip to Mt St. Odile, which was awe inspiring, also Haute Konignsburg (sp) a wondeful castle not too far away that, though it has been mostly reconstructed during the time of Wilhelm 2 (when it was German) still provided awe inspiring views. We also paid a visit to Munster of course to buy some cheese.. I must take a moment here to note a few things about the French.. at least the ones in Alsace.. first of all they were celebrating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Alsace by the American's.. and in each town we drove through there were displays honoring the American GI's who had fallen.. with French and American flags intertwined.. the current strained relationship between our two countries just made this all the more poignant for me.

We sadly left Obernai and our terrific hotel..and headed back to Paris.. with a stop at Verdun.. now anyone planning to visit historic Verdun should spend a lot more time then we did to do it right,,,, there is SOOO much to see. We ended up concentraiting on Fort Vaux.. where 225 French held out against the German advance for months.. to the last man.. until the Germans forced their way in with flame throwers and of course as this was WW1 mustard gas.. we arrived at the fort and spent several hours alone on the hill, still covered with barbed wire and the pock marks of over 60 million (yep, that's right, 60 MILLION )shells that had been dropped there to halt the german advance during WW1.. it was haunting and terrible.. we then went to pay our respects to at the Cemetary..again I was struck by the innumeral memorials to our "brother American's" the appreciation shown is overwhelming...
Sadly we had to leave all to soon and headed back to Paris via the A4.. of course my husband managed to get a speeding ticket.. which if anyone ever has this happen... you have to pay right then.. 90 EUR.. sheesh.. but it wasn't just us tourists.. everyone had to pay right when they pulled you over (at a toll stop).. but a tleast the police were nice.. (nicer then our LA Cops of that I am sure.. at least the LA cops I have met). What can I say, they had us dead to rights... we managed to get back to Paris around 8 ish.. checked into our cheapy hotel the Residence Montparnasse.. very near where Hemingway stayed.. the room was super SUPER tiny.. by US standards but clean.. and the bathroom had plenty of hot water.. I booked this throug Expedia for a mere $80.00 per night. and would be happy to recommend this hotel... but that the desk clerk in the morning tried to schill us for 2 EUR (city tax??) which clearly stated on my receipt that we paid.. that being said it was good value and well located.
We metrod back to CDG.. sorry for the long report.. Once again I found the French people warm and polite.. the food killer (I only had about 8 crepes this time out) prices were high.. but we didn't spend a lot on food... or rooms booking in the US through Expedia.. for anyone who travels in the off off season like we do.. just check all of your opening and closing times since many sights have limited days or hours of operation during winter.. also it was cold but no rain or snow.. -3C in Alsace.. but also NO tourists so we had many places all to ourselves.. Now I have to go unpack.. happy travels to all, sorry for the long report. Happy to respond to questions. T

How much did you have to pay for the rental car?

I paid $$140 USD prebooked from expedia, though you don't pay for it through the website, just reserve it. I also opted for the ins. at 9 EUR daily.. when all was said and done it came to $185... through AVIS. but there are ALOT of toll roads in France.. chalk on about another $50 US for our trip just in tolls.. then gas running at about EUR 2.49 per litre.. luckily we had an economy car and only filled up twice.

Hi thyra,

Thanks for the whirlwind report of your whirlwind visit.

Sounds great.

What time were you at the Caveau de la Huchette? Which day?

We are planning on stopping in when we visit Paris.

Would it be a good idea to take a train to Strasbourg and get the rental car there?

Ira: We went to the Caveau DLH on Thursday, the music starts about 9:30-10ish.Apparently the nights to go are Thurs, Fri and Saturday, according to the locals.

Suzette: Yes, actually I would have preferred to book a train, to STSBG and then rent the car from there.. but you have to weigh the options depending upon how many days you will be using the car after you pick it up.. sometimes they charge a really high rate for a day or two of use as oppsed to 4 or 5 or a week, that and the train tickets are pricy! About $200.00 pp add to that about $100.00 per day for a day or two of driving and you may spend closer to $500.00 then the $250.00 we spent (minus my husbands ticket of course ). But for the convenience I would have actually preferred the train those French trains are fast.. and a lot more relaxing.. but since our time was so short we opted for a car.

I'm now considering flying from LA to Paris and then from Paris to Strasbourg since we can only spend 2 days in Alsace. Air France has round trip flights from CDG for around $100.00 and they only take an hour.Then we can spend the rest of the week in Paris when we come back. I saw in Rick Steve's book that there are some private tours available for the Wine Route. This might be a less stressful and less expensive way to see the area,. He recommends staying in Colmar though. What do you think?

There is nothing the slightest bit stressful about traveling the wine route. I would never opt for a tour of that area, because they will no doubt take you to the super-kitschy towns where the "maidens in native costume" come out and want you to pay to take their pictures.

It's a beautiful area you can see much more imaginatively on your own. And no, I wouldn't stay in Colmar. If you want to stay in a city, Strasbour IMO is far better. If you want to stay in a village, I like Obernai.

Like St.Cirq,I would never do a tour of the wine road either. I go to Strasbourg and Colmar often. I stay in Colmar, train back and forth to Strasbourg and do the wine road by bicycle. It's easy and you will see things you would never see any other way.

Larry J

It's a beautiful drive one should do on their own. Thanks for the report Thyra, welcome back. We also were stopped in September for speeding and had to pay the 90€ on the spot.

I was in Alsace for 10 days in October.I flew direct from CDG to Strasbourg on Air France, and rented car in Strasbourg (after staying there for 3 nights). It was very easy to get to Strasbourg from the Airport on the shuttle, then tram - no taxi needed.
I would definitely recommend Strasbourg over Colmar (if one has to make a choice). Colmar has some nice sights, though, for the day. And the Route du Vins if quite easy to drive - lovely.

Enjoyed your report, Thyra. Sounds like you had a great time.

I know the euro is high now but how pricey is say and evening out at the jazz club (we are drinkers too: ) ??? I am asking since a friend suggested a great bar there and I looked it up online and noticed drinks were about $12-$15! Was wondering if Paris is much more than out in NYC?

thanks!

Baemel, yes Paris is similar to NY in terms of a nice night out.. but also like NY, you can find backpacker type pubs (like the Irish Bar we visited in Montmartre) or hit the Ritz. The Caveau, had a covercharge (I think EUR 6??) and then my husband was hitting the pricy scotch, if we'd stuck to beer it might not have been so bad, though my memory is a wee bit hazy towards the end of the evening, I would guess we spent about 90 EUR all told at the caveau... Now, i went to NYC once and spent $85 on ONE round of drinks for 4 people !! For the music and the atmosphere IMHO it was money well spent.

Formal tour of the wine road...?? Hmmm I wouldn't the area is really easy to navigate on your own.. and there are some odd sights you may want to see.. it's worth noting that we were there in the dead of winter and got to miss the "damsels in costume" routine.. mostly we enjoyed driving through the frosty acres of rolling hills and vinyards.. eating really hearty food and puttering around the villages. We did drive past Colmar, but frankly it looked a bit lacking in charm to me.. we had originally planned to stay in Rhinqwhir (oh I slaughtered that spelling) but I never got a response from the hotel there. We were delighted with Obernai, enough of a city to have a diversity of restaurants.. but with oddles of medieval charm.. husband now hooked on riesling wine. We did pick up a pretty descriptive book in STSBG, which went over each village and sight in Alsace in great detail, then we cherry picked the ones that interested us.. that's how we found St. Odile's monestary. Have a great trip!!

Thanks thyra

Sounds like a great trip! I love Alsace. I will NEVER EVER drive to Strasbourg from Paris again though. I have done it a couple of times because it saves money over train tickets. I find it a VERY hard drive. Loads of traffic for most of the way. Also for a great deal of the way there is no central median so if you are driving at night you get all the headlights right in your face. The interstate tends to have loads of curves and hills as well. Next time its train for me!