Surprise Trip to Paris
 

Hello everyone!

I am planning to surprise my mom with a trip to Paris next fall. I'm going to tell her THIS fall on her birthday so we can plan together (I will be going with her) but I need some ideas on how to surprise her.

A little background on my mom:
-So loves Paris but she has never been.
-She almost went a couple times but she always comes up with excuses last minute when it comes to booking a ticket.
-She is touched very easily so I'm pretty sure she'll be mad and then cry happy tears.
-She has worked her butt off to support her kids.

I don't have a lot of money but I have been saving for a year and a half to make my mom's dream come true. I will be booking the tickets and the AirBnB apartment (beautiful Eiffel Tower view) at the end of this summer to get the main expenses out of the way but I need an amazing way to surprise her!

It will be her 50th birthday and I am throwing her a Paris themed party where I will give her a Pandora charm shaped like the Eiffel Tower in front of the family.

To sum it all up these are my main questions:
1) How to Surprise her (i.e. a wrapped travelers guide with the tickets, a box of macarons, etc.)
2) Should I tell her in front of the whole family or when we are alone
3) Any advice for Paris

Thank you so much!!! :)

Welcome to Fodors awyeaha. This is a generic/slow forum more for topics like luggage, electronics, etc.

See the Change Forum pull down menu up top? Click that and re-post on the Europe forum . . . MANY more people will see/respond to your questions on that board.

1. The macarons and travel guide are a good idea. Maybe also print off a fake set of boarding passes.

2. You know your mom better than I do but if it was my mom, I'd do it alone and let her tell everyone herself.

3. You are sure to get tons of advice so check back often. It would be helpful to say how many days you have, what you and her want to see and do, likes, dislikes, etc.

sparkchaser is right, you know your mom better, and I think the best way to go would be to tailor this trip to her likes - if she likes art for instance, add the galleries/museums/festivals/street art that you think she'd enjoy and so on.

I think telling her when you're alone would make of this a much more personal experience.

As for the surprise, I think wrapping the tickets inside a travelers guide sounds good. And she'll even get to use it afterwards :)

I would tell her alone, first, and well before the party. Not everyone likes to be surprised or put on the spot like that. Even for a wonderful gift like you are putting together for her!

I gave my niece a trip to Paris/London for her graduation. The way I told her was to give her a photo album with her photoshopped into all the places we would be seeing; in front of Buckingham Palace, next to the Eiffel Tower, on a Bateau Mouches boat... I also faked a boarding pass and added some metro tickets and pounds/euros.