Anyone hearing from Fodorites in London or Paris?

Just got back from London, Paris, and a few other places. No line in London at Tower, Abbey, or the Eye. Walked right up at the London Eye and got immediate boarding - security is tighter - police check each capsule between each load of tourists - no guide on board this time. The Brits are very supportive - sang "America the Beautiful" to us in a pub. Paris was hot (80F) - How do they wear those leather coats? Thanks to you (Fodorites) I always have an alternate plan in Paris and I needed it this time. Museum strike! On again, off again - d'Orsey opened at 7PM one evening - Ste Chappell closed during the day but open for concerts - Louvre & Versailles open at times and letting folks in for free as a protest (I like that kind of protest) Notre Dame tower closed for the day says the officer, but was open at noon. Surprisingly, no line at the Eiffel tower at 7PM. Thought everyone would be there with the strike on at the museums. Lots of police with automatic weapons at the tower. <BR> Security was tighter going & coming. If you weren't carrying a US passport, you got an extra look over when boarding the aircraft. Came back from CDG to Miami instead of RFK due to a 4 hour flight delay. Had all luggage x-rayed a second time at customs. Dogs sniffing every carry on. National Guard patroling throughout with automatic weapons. <BR> The AA flight over (RDU to LGW) was a 777 with only around 50 on board. We each had a row to ourselves. The flight attendants said it had been fairly empty lately. If you can connect through RDU to London, it might be worth considering. <BR> Coming back, we got re-routed through Miami instead of RFK and got the last row on a very full 767. If you're 6'5" and have never done a 10 hour flight on the back row where the seats don't recline, my advice is to accept the four hour delay. The time saved ain't worth the back ache. <BR> Overall, it was a wonderful trip. Can't wait to go back. E-mail me if you have questions.

Im not in Paris now, but my mind is...and it is right in a Parisian gutter.....oh la la.....

Just got back 12 hours ago from 10 days in Paris and London. It was wonderful, felt totally safe in both places. <BR> In Paris, all museums and St. Chapelle were closed (due to a supposed worker's strike). Eiffel tower, Notre Dame and everything else was open and relatively empty. <BR> In London, everything was open and very easy to get in to. <BR> The only place I would have liked to see more security was on the Eurostar from Paris to London. Everyone was paying very little attention. Heathrow on the other hand was unbelievable, they searched carry on luggage of every passenger. It was a terriffic trip and the weather was gorgeous. <BR> <BR>

I am currently in transit in hong kong airport (free internet access!!) on the way back home to Sydney after just over 3 wonderful weeks in France & the last 9 days in Paris! Felt totally safe at all times but museum strikes were very unfortunate to say the least - my 5 day pass was worthless as it coincided exactly with the strikes beginning. I was resourceful though & got around St Chapelle being closed by going to a night time concert - brilliant! Managed to at last get into Rodin museum the 4th day I turned up there - luckily it was worth the effort!!! Got into Musee Dorsay, Louvre & Versaille with no prooblems fortuantely. Also went to the ballet at Opera Garnier. My months of detailed planning never really paid off but I still managed to have a fantastic time - & thats despite the magnetic stripes on all my cards being wrecked somehow 3 days before the end of the trip curtailing my shopping plans...probably just as well <BR>I enjoyed just wandering around the many different & contrasting areas & soaking up the atmostphere...& indulging in the yummy food! <BR>The extra security was very obvious with plenty of gendarmerie, national police & CRS (equivelent of national guard) out on the streets. Bags were searched or x-rayed before entering anywhere even shops but that was no problem . The weather was beautifully mild - I certainly didn;t need my wool coat I packed! I stayed at Grand Hotel des balcons which was perfect for my needs & in a great location. <BR>Please forgive my atrocious typing - i am very jetlagged & groggy...sigh, & have a 9 hour wait for another 10 hour flight.... <BR>Cheers & best wishes all!

Off tommorow for Paris and London and points in between.. will post full report when we return.. <BR> <BR>Anyone remember that wonderful TV show.. and the theme song was "and life goes on"?? or some such

If the magnetic strips on your "cards" were demagnetized, you can still use them by manually punching in the numbers on the card. Hello?

Lucy, what a great attitude you took with you on your trip! Improvise, improvise! Whatever works, right? Glad you had such a good time, you deserved it. Enjoy the memories!

Also just back from Paris - back at work - what a drag...;-) <BR>I agree with most of what i've read - tighter security etc was pretty evident, but the most annoying thing was the wast of the Museum Pass, we paid lots of good money for our 5 day passes and found that they were useless due to all the strikes. The museums were either closed or free. It would have actually been nice to be warned about the strikes by the hotel before they sold us the passes IN THEIR LOBBY! Oh well, we learnt our lesson for next time! Paris is still as beautiful as ever, but my bank balance is STILL reeling from the effects of the French Franc versus the Australian dollar - not pretty! <BR>Furthermore, the collision of the Cesna with the plane in Milan and the explosion of the airplane in Russia on the day of our departure didn't help my growing paranoia about flying - I might take sleeping pills next time I fly to knock myself out for the 24 hour flight! <BR>I won't be travelling again for some time to Europe- it was a bit too scary and experience in terms of getting there and back!

Hi again... <BR> <BR>Kathleen- thanks for your kind words! Its hard not to have a positive attitude & find something wonderful to do in Paris - strikes or no strikes!!! Plus I figure the things I never got to do give me an excuse to go back.... <BR> <BR>Susan- A fellow Aussie! Aaah yes, the dismal exchange rate of our ailing dollar - I ended up using an imaginary & much more healthy rate of 4FF to the $A when calculating approximate cost when in reality it is now much closer to 3FF!! <BR> <BR>One thing I should mention is the highlight of the Paris portion of my trip was being at Versailles on a Sunday for when they have the fountains all turned on & classical music playing out of speakers - absolutely beautiful & certainly worth the effort to make it then if you can. Like Richard I had no wait for the Eiffel Tower either despite the museums being closed - just goes to show the sharp drop in tourists at the moment. <BR>Cheers...

TTT

We'll be in Paris at the end of the month. Any suggestions for getting updates on the museum strike?

I thought the concerts and lights at Versailles were over for the season? Will be in Paris next week. Are they still on? Also heard Eiffel Tower was closed for rest of year due to threats & need for renovation. Glad to hear they changed their mind.

I got back from Paris on September 19th. My stay was longer than anticipated because I was stranded due to the tragedy of September 11th. Luckily, I didn't have a problem getting into any of the museums. Everything was open, no strikes. I found the French to be remarkable. They were kind, considerate and so helpful towards me. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Paris. It was all I hoped it would be and more.

Unfortunately, I'm in Paris right now....like the rest of the time....

John <BR>FYI. A lot of merchants will NOT key the card numbers in on American cards so if your stripe is wrecked you are SOL. Don't ask me why, my foreign language skills don't extend that far.

I totally agree with Carol - I tried to purchase something in a store and the card strip wouldn't work in their shop (it did everywhere else) - they just handed it back to me and stared at me. I don't know that they manually key in the numbers there. <BR> <BR>Chrissy - I wouldn't be holding my breath that there won't be more strikes when you are there. They seem to be very common so I don't particularly recommend that you buy a museum pass. Mine was a total waste of money. Everything was either closed or free due to striking! That's ok though, there are so many places to go in Paris that you'll always have something to do! <BR>Have fun! Elizabeth

Returned today from Paris. It was just a wonderful trip. Empty planes(American Airlines). Also the 3 hour check-in time requested by the airlines is a joke. It took less than 1 hr at JFK to get from arriving at the terminal to sitting at the gate. The return from CDG was even shorter, including stopping at the VAT refund window. The weather was perfect, the people went out of their way to express their sympathy and support and most restaurants and stores seemed much less crowded. Don't have a second thought about going if you have plans for a trip.

Hi Bonnie, I think the day I was at Versaille (7th Oct) may have been the last Sunday of the year the fountains were running in which case I was very fortunate! <BR>Hi Carol & Elizabeth, you're absoltuely right - manual processing at the department stores for credit cards did not seem to be an option. I was fortunate my hotel had one of those old gadgets that makes an impression of the card through carbon paper - it was the first time the lady on reception had ever had to use it!! I think French credit cards are mainly chip based rather than using magentic stripes so they presumably don't ever have that sort of problem. Unfortunately for me I discovered the problem on Saturday when the banks were closed & my usual savings account ATM was affected as well as my visa card - I guess Travellers cheques have their place after all!!

In Paris at the moment. Getting here on Monday was a MAJOR pain, however. There was a 24 hour train strike in Belgium, no Thalys service to Paris. A friend was going to drive me to Lille where I could take a French train, but had to work late. My husband rented a car from Europacar at the Gare du Midi in Brussels but on the way back to the apartment to pick me up, it almost burst into flames!! Thick black smoke filled the inside of the car and my husband caused a major traffic jam in the Brussels tunnels. By the time Europacar sent somebody to pick it up and take him back to get another car it was 8 pm; we got on the road about 9 pm and didn't make it to Paris until 1 am. On Tuesday, the French trains were on strike; metro workers weren't completely on strike but they were "manifesting" and there were "perturbations" most of the day. Nonetheless, the weather has been great, just like the food and wine. So far, we've had good meals at Les Fous de l'Ile on the Ile St. Louise, Brasserie Bosquet on Ave Bosquet (7th) and Cafe de l'Esplanade, across from Les Invalides. <BR>Lines are very short for the most part and the city feels very "open". <BR>