rkkwan

Inspired by almesq's nice high-end trip report today here: fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34871788 I finally decided to write my own for my relatively low budget trip to <b>Belgium, Normandy, Loire, and Paris</b>. Very different trip than almesq's.

<b>Background</b>

My friend D from Hong Kong called me late July, inviting me to join her on a bus tour from Paris to Italy. I said, &quot;no thanks&quot;, but proposed that she got to Paris early around Labor Day, and we could go around Western France for a few days. That is how the trip was born. I decided to make it a driving trip, and because I could only got award ticket to AMS, I decided to spend a few hours in Belgium on my own as well. Later, D's friend H decided to join, so it became a 3-person trip.

<b>Day 0, Fri 9/1/06</b>

IAH-AMS. Flight report in this thread: fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=126&amp;tid=34866819

<b>Day 1, Sat 9/2/06</b>

<b>AMS</b>

<b>Amsterdam Schiphol</b> airport was a real delight to use. First time there since 1995, but looked very familiar. I was in Schiphol Plaza buying train tickets 8 minutes after the plane door opened. I have only carryon.

Now I know manned ticket counters in the Netherlands charge money for tickets, so I tried to use the machines. Unfortunately, they require PIN for using a credit card, which I don't have for any of mine. So, have to pay <b>3.5&euro; extra</b> at the counter for my 26&euro; ticket to Antwerp.

<b>Schipol-Antwerp</b>

The <b>IC</b> train left Schipol at 12:40p, 5 minutes late, but it arrived <b>Antwerpen Centraal</b> right on-time at 2:32p.

As many already knows, the IC trains cost less and takes just 12 minutes longer than the Thalys for Amsterdam to Brussels-Midi. The main time difference is at Antwerp. The IC train goes into Antwerpen Centraal, a dead-end station while the Thalys only stops at Berchem.

<b>Antwerp Train Station</b>

First thing I did was find a <b>locker</b> for my rolleraboard. Three sizes of coin-operated lockers. Smallest cost 2.6&euro; and will fit my 21&quot; with room to spare. Public <b>bathroom</b> cost 0.3&euro;.

Second thing, er I guess third, was to use a <b>ticket machine</b> to print my Thalys ticket for my trip down to Paris. There are 4 machines right in the main hall, and one of them is for Thalys/TGV/Eurostar. Very easy to use.

I bought the <b>Thalys Smilys</b> ticket in advance as a Brussels-ABS to Paris-CDG roundtrip ticket, at 53&euro;, cost less than a regular one-way. The ABS part adds 1.5&euro; each way to the ticket but allows connection from <b>a</b>ny <b>B</b>elgium <b>s</b>tation. So, my Antwerp-Brussels trip cost 3&euro;, as they don't allow ABS one-way and non-ABS for return. Saved myself 1&euro; as regular ticket cost 4&euro;.

<b>Antwerp</b>

I had exactly 3 hours to spend in Antwerp, so I headed straight west from the station towards <b>Meir</b>. Lots of shoppers on a nice Saturday afternoon. I turned left onto Wapper to take a look at the exterior of <b>Rubenshuis</b>, then continue west to buy chocolates at <b>Pierre Marcolini</b> on Huidevettersstraat. Fodorite <b>yk</b> recommends them, and I wouldn't have time to go to their store in Brussels, so I got them here.

Continue west I came to the <b>Antwerp Cathedral</b>. It was almost 4pm, and they had mass starting at 3pm, so no visit. NW of the cathedral is the <b>Grote Markt</b>. Spectator stands were put in the square for events later that evening to commenerate Belgium Liberation Day 9/4/1944. Nearby were displays of WWII Allied vehicles which I saw parading in central Antwerp earlier.

Finally, I walked out to the <b>Scheldt</b> river, and it was time to go back. Passed by <b>Sint-Jacobskerk</b> where Rubens was buried, but it had just closed at 5pm. No time to visit the <b>Diamond Museum</b> either.

Got back to the station, used the bathroom again (these were only two times I spent money to use one for the whole trip), got my rollerboard, and got on the 5:42 <b>IC</b> to Brussels.

P_M

Hi rkkwan. Sounds like this was a fun trip--can't wait to hear the rest.

rkkwan

<b>Brussels</b>

First, thanks BTilke and stardust for their help on this thread about luggage storage and other stuff about Brussels: fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34851733

Anyways, my train arrived at <b>Bruxelles Central</b> on-time at 6:19p. Kind of scary that right after stopping at Bruxelles Nord, there was loud announcements in French, Dutch and English: <i>&quot;There are pickpockets ON THIS TRAIN&quot;</i> their emphasis, not mine.

Against the advice of our fellow Fodorites, I decided to save time and got off at Central and store my luggage there instead of at Midi. Lockers were not as easy to find in this ugly underground structure, but I did find them. Cost is the same as in Antwerp: 2.6&euro;.

A very short walk down the hill is city center. My main goal of this stop is to have dinner. No problem finding the original <b>Chez Leon</b> on Rue de Bouchers. I had their standard meal - tomatoes with shrimp as appetizer, mussels and fries, and their beer La Leon for 25.5&euro;. It was still early on a Saturday evening, so it wasn't very busy. Good food, though I later found that all restaurants nearby cost quite a lot less for mussels and fries.

After dinner, I had under an hour before my Thalys departure. Walked out to <b>Grand Place</b> and found a large <b>beer festival</b> going on, but I had no time. On my way back to the train station, saw some <b>Belgian waffles</b>, but no time and too full.

Walked up the hill to Central, picked up bags, and then got on <b>a</b> train for the one-minute ride to <b>Bruxelles Midi</b>. Midi was much larger, modern, and better lit than Central, and I had no problem finding my Thalys train to CDG.

<b>Thalys Brussels-CDG</b>

I have no idea why they run this train, late Saturday night for Brussels-CDG-Marne la Vall&eacute;e, THA9986, departing 8:34p; because in my whole car was about 6 people. It was dark and I was tired, so I slept the whole way. Very comfortable, though I wish they'd dim the lights. I also only found out late that the seats recline. It's the first time I rode a 300km/h or 180mph train.

Anyways, not surprisingly, the train arrived at <b>Charles de Gaulle Airport</b> exactly on time at 9:50p. I went up to the top (5th) level of the TGV station and then waited for the shuttle van to the Hilton. It was quite a mess there as all airport and hotel shuttles use that <b>one loading lane</b>, and the curb is on the wrong side of the vehicle.

<b>CDG Hilton</b>

I bid 4* CDG on Priceline, and got the Hilton for $100+tax. Excellent deal as their regular rate is somewhere around 250&euro;.

The Hilton is one of 3 four-star hotels within the airport area. The other two are the Sheraton right on top of the TGV station and the Sofitel. It's in the Roissypole area next to the CDG1 RER station and near the budget terminal CDG3.

The room was very nice and I used their very nice pool before it closed at 11pm. The bar area was also nice, though 9&euro; for a beer was a bit much.

Anyways, my friends had sent me a text message that they'd been bumped from their Qatar Airways flight to an Air France non-stop from Hong Kong. So, they'd actually arrive earlier at CDG next morning.

rkkwan

Before I go on with the trip, let me add some more background stuff:

This was technically my 5th trip to France. <b>First trip</b> was in 1981 when I was 10, as part of a 3-week Western Europe bus tour. I remembered

1) riding the subway in Paris (line 6, with the rubber tires);

2) having picture taken in front of the Eiffel Tower with Fodorite <b>yk</b> my sister who was 8; and

3) seeing the Concorde at CDG1. (CDG2 wasn't built yet).

That was about it.

<b>Second trip</b> was one year later, when we joined a Cosmo bus tour from London all the way down to Portugal and back. We stopped at Rouen, and Bordeaux on the way down, and then Blois, Orleans and Paris on the way back. Even though I was a year older, I remembered even less <b>though I did remember one place during this current trip</b>. Stay tuned.

<b>Third trip</b> was 1995 when I spent several days in Paris with my ex-gf there. That time we visited most sites in the city, though we were on a very very tight budget. We were too cheap to do a Seine cruise or go up the Eiffel Tower! Unbelievable. We did visit the Lourve and Musee d'Orsay that time.

<b>Fourth trip</b> was winter of '04 with my parents and some acquaintances to Paris. Somehow, I became the tour guide. Visited most of the main sites again; went up Eiffel Tower, spent most of a day at Versailles, walked through Marais, etc. Not too bad.

---

Well, my travel companion <b>D</b> has never been to Europe, and <b>H</b> has never to been Paris, though she goes on business trip to Germany often. The natural thing to do is to show them Paris, but I really want to see places around it. So, I decided we'd only arrive in Paris at the end of the 4-day roadtrip and only spent one night there. [D will spend more time in Paris on her own.]

There are many ways to travel, of course, and because of the limited time, I decided on a pretty aggressive itinerary, though I was flexible on the details. So, if we wanted to stay at one place longer, that would be fine. We would then just skip or hurry through the other stuff. I did not need to see everything I planned for, as long as we were enjoying the journey.

rkkwan

A bump of this thread during the day. I will continue later today. Meanwhile, here's the link to my report about rental car and driving during this trip:

fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34866860

BTilke

Glad you had a great time, but a shame you saw so little of Brussels.
Personally, I avoid the Gare Centrale and Nord in Brussels, they're just a little too grungy for me. I still get confused at the Gare du Nord, esp. when trying to go from the train to a bus at night. I'd rather go out of the Gare Midi or Gare Luxembourg (much more limited service, but a nice station).

yk

Too bad you weren't able to see the inside of the Antwerp Cathedral.

I agree that the Bruxelles Central is quite an ugly structure, but it was designed/built by the famed Victor Horta.

rkkwan

yk - I did walk inside the Antwerp Cathedral to take a glimpse, but that was it. Your DK &quot;Top Ten&quot; guidebook says the cathedral closes at 3pm on Satuday, and it is correct!

111op

I was surprised that there're lockers in Brussels Central. I used a manned bag service last year. In August I was in Brussels for a few hours again, and I thought about leaving my bag at the station. After a very quick check I couldn't find the counter or lockers, so I carried my bag with me.

I look forward to reading more about your trip!

rkkwan

111op - I found the lockers at the concourse level (one level above tracks) in the North side (i.e. Amsterdam side, not Paris side). It's underneath the stairs that lead up to Putterie, a side entrance and not the main one.

yk

What I found most absurd is that there are no ATMs at the Central station. Fortunately, there's a Citibank ATM across the street.

111op

Thanks. I'll try to remember it for next time. I never looked on that level. I think the manned bag check was at the lower level.

rkkwan

<b>Day 2, Sun 9/3/06
A Day of Monet

CDG1 - Vernon</b>

My friends D &amp; H arrived at the CDG Hilton around 7:30a, and used my room to freshen up after their long flight from Hong Kong. We then headed out to CDG1 to pick up the car. We could have used any Europcar's counter at CDG, but we went to CDG1 so that D &amp; H would know where the Qatar Airways check-in is for their return flight, and I hadn't been to CDG1 for 25 years. Anyways, <b>it's a dump</b>.

By the time we finished inspecting the car, getting back to the counter to mark all the scratches, and waiting forever for the elevators, it was mid-morning before we finally departed CDG.

As D mentioned to me earlier that she's a fan of <b>Claude Monet</b>, it's a no brainer to visit Giverny. Took A1 towards Paris, then A86 to A14 to A13 and then N15 to get to <b>Vernon</b>. It was almost lunch time, so we stopped there for lunch. Well, Vernon is a pretty non-descriptive French town, but for my friends who'd never been to France and who live in a place like Hong Kong, it's very quaint, fresh, and &quot;different&quot;. We went into a pastries shop to get bread and cake, which became our breakfast the next morning. Lunch was at a cafe next to the main church (35&euro; for 3).

<b>Giverny</b>

Few minutes after crossing the Seine is Giverny. Plenty of parking and not crowded at all on the Sunday. (5.5&euro;/each, house and garden) We visited the house - I'm intrigued by the Japanese paintings and I love the view from 2nd floor - then took a lot of pictures in the two gardens. The contrast between the two gardens are striking and amazing. We spent about an hour there, and the only part that was crowded was the gift shop. Many stuff have been posted about Giverny on this site, so I don't need to repeat.

<b>Rouen</b>

Got back onto A13 and Rouen is only about half an hour away. Rouen is the capital of Upper Normandy, and the region is famous for its ever-changing weather. [Just ask Monet! ] We got exactly that. Sunny one minute, rainy the next.

I visited Rouen in 1982 on the bus tour, but remembered nothing, except that there was a big church. So, this was just like a 1st visit. I found street parking near the banks of the Seine (free on Sunday), and it was just a few blocks to the Cathedral.

<b>Cath&eacute;dral Notre-Dame</b> is most famous for its two towers, its west facade (thanks to Monet), and its spire (tallest structure in the world for one time). And we admired the exterior for a while near the spot where Monet's spot is. But now, the facade is blocked by trees if you stand at that exact spot.

Inside, the most striking thing was how bright it is. Most of the windows are plain glass, not stained. The picture exhibits inside show why - Rouen was basically flattened during WWII and the cathedral was heavily damaged. Gone too were most of the color windows.

Next, we walked west along Rue du Gros Horloge to see the <b>Great Clock</b> (the side that faces east is under restoration, the side that faces west has been restored), and then continued to Place du Vieux Marche, where Joan of Arc was burnt to death in 1431 at the age of 21. In the plaza now is the new <b>Eglise Ste-Jeanne d'Arc</b> which was closed.

With the rain getting heavy and time running late, we got back to our car and continued west.

<b>Ouistreham</b>

It was too late to visit Honfleur, so I just stayed on A13 to Caen, then D514 towards Ouistreham on the Normandy coast. Traffic was extremely light on the autoroute. Very easy drive despite the changing weather. Our hotel, Le Canada, is actually in Hermanville-sur-Mer, another few km to the west. I took the wrong route and almost got onto the ferry to Portsmouth, UK, but at least we found where all the restaurants are.

It was past 8 after we checked in, and the small hotel restaurant was closed. So, we headed back to Ouistreham and ate at Le Roulis. Good food, friendly service. Lots of seafood dishes. (55&euro; for 3).

I also found that this is one area in France where everybody speaks English, most likely because of the numerous British vacationers.

<b>Hotel Le Canada, 2*</b>

In order to cut cost, D, H &amp; I decided to get triple rooms whenever possible. That cut down a lot of choices, but I found Le Canada on venere.com with okay reviews. We paid 100&euro; for the family room (3 beds), breakfast is about 8&euro; extra per person and we passed because we had pastries from Vernon.

It's a small 3-story family run inn on the main highway, 2 blocks from the beach. Very easy to find. Narrow staircase led to our 2nd floor room, which is large enough to put the three beds (one full sized, 2 twins) but not much more. I couldn't get the TV remote to work and one of the ceiling lights was out. The owner was friendly, but since it was late, I told him not to bother fixing them. Our room faces north towards the ocean, but the view is blocked by other buildings. 3rd floor rooms will have oceanview. At night, Hermanville-sur-Mer was very very quiet. No traffic on the main roadway, and no noise of any type.

It was an okay place to stay. Nothing that special, but nothing really to complain about either.

rkkwan

Bump for the morning. And a small correction. I booked Le Canada via Activehotels.com, not venere. I've used Activehotels for a small hotel in Florence last year with no problem. Instant confirmation, no hidden cost, no problem at check-in.

shootingst8r

This is a great report! I will be in Paris the 2nd week of October (which is TOO soon)! This will be a gOOD REFERNECE!

JaneB

Interesting report, Rkkwan!
Was it cooler there than in Houston?

rkkwan

JaneB - The weather was wonderful except for the rain in Rouen. Two days later when we got to the Loire, it was just perfect. I will comment about that later on.

It does get a little warm when we get to Paris, but fortunately, our 3* hotel has <b>cold</b> AC; and the temperature was again perfect when toured around at night.

Sometimes, traveling makes me really HATE Houston, at least weather-wise.

Underhill

I really like the way you've laid our your report...easy to read.

rkkwan

Thanks, Underhill and everybody who's still reading. All comments welcomed.

<b>Day 3, Mon 9/4/06
The longest day</b>

<b>Hermanville-sur-Mer to Courseulles-sur-Mer</b>

This was going to be a very long day. We started around 8:30, but spent some time at a supermarket buying lunch (including red-wine and bubblies, ham, etc) and then stopping for photos at the not-so-interesting beach at Lion-sur-Mer in the <b>Sword Beach</b> area. Even though our hotel is called Le Canada, it is still in Sword Beach, the eastern most of the 5 D-Day beaches landed by the British.

A few km west along D514, we stopped again, this time at <b>Coursuelles-sur-Mer</b>, which is at the heart of <b>Juno Beach</b>, the Canadian landing site. We skipped the memorials and aquarium, but stopped at its little harbor with lots of sail boats and some seafood stalls. Various types of flounders, but also mussels and oysters. We didn't buy anything, but watched the stall owners throwing fish heads and fish guts into the water, feeding a <b>harbor seal</b> there. It's actually more fun than going to the aquarium.

It was a bad sign that we spent half a morning going 10km when we had about 300 to do that day.

<b>Omaha Beach</b>

Picking up speed a little, we didn't stop until getting to the <b>American Cemetery</b> at Colleville-sur-Mer. No need to explain what it is. It does have a very nice view from the cliff down the white sandy Omaha Beach. Quiet, peaceful, sunny, calm. If not for movies like Saving Private Ryan, it'd be very hard to imagine what D-Day was like.

After a brief stay, we continued west to <b>Pointe du Hoc</b>, the cape that was heavily armed by Germans. By that time it was already around 2pm, so we had a picnic out of the back of our spacious Renault Laguna Wagon in the parking lot there. Many other visitors were doing the same. Sparkling wine, red wine, nice sun, light sea breeze. What else can one ask for? [Answer: more time]

rkkwan

<b>Day 3, continued</b>

<b>Mont-St-Michel</b>

Skipping the sites at Utah Beach, we picked up E3 to A84 for the track down to Mont-St-Michel. It was past the peak Summer season, and I know they stop selling tickets (8&euro;/adult, &amp; 4&euro; parking) at 5pm, so we had to hurry. Fortunately, most cars were already gone, so we parked very close to the island, and we walked straight up to the abbey without stopping for anything. I bought the tickets at 4:53pm.

We were the last group to enter the abbey church, and finished the tour at around 6pm. As MSM is a popular tourist spot, I don't need to give details of it. However, I have to say I was a little underwhelmed. Not disappointed, but just didn't feel it being <b>that</b> special.

How come, you may ask? Well, I guess the main reason is that in May of 2005, I visited Cornwall, and went to St. Michael's Mount, which was built by the same order as Mont-St-Michel. Trip report here: fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=346284

I found that visit more magical. Perhaps because I had a much lower expectation then - in fact, I know nothing about it until actually getting there. Or because visitors have to actually walk along the causeway to get there instead of just drive.

I also expected Mont-St-Michel's abbey to be larger. And the fact that we got there just after low-tide didn't help with the look. The bay was just a big mud flat.

Now, let me get this straight. I still enjoyed the visit a lot (especially the sunset view by the time we left the island at around 7pm, after buying plenty of souvenirs). Just that it was like me going to Disney World the 2nd time, at age 20 - it didn't feel as magical as the first time when I went there at 13.

<b>Le Mans</b>

Because I had planned to visit the Loire chateaus the next day, I booked us at a hotel in Le Mans. [I also had a couple other reasons to go there.] Le Mans is another 2 hours from MSM, via A84, N12, D31 and A81. It was an easy drive, but I made the worse mistake of the trip. Instead of dinner first then drive, I decided to get to our hotel at Le Mans first, then eat.

Well, there wasn't any eateries near our hotel, and it was already like 10pm. The lady at the front desk suggested two restaurants, but I got lost trying to find the first one, due to construction and tiredness. [As some of you know, I was a truck driver before, and was very proud of my sense of directions, so getting lost was a real downer for me! ]

Anyhow, we finally figured where we were, and decided to look for that second restaurant instead. Well, this one was a lot easier to find as <b>La Taverne de Ma&icirc;tre Kanter</b> is right in city center, in the shadow of the famous <b>Cathedral of St. Julien</b>.

Now, when I drove onto the square, I immediately recognize the place. How and why? Well, a few days before the trip, I rented Steve McQueen's <b>Le Mans</b> (1971), one of the classic race-car movies. In an early early scene, McQueen drove his Porsche to the square, stopped for a very long time staring at Elga Andersen buying flowers, I think, right at that square.

Anyways, Ma&icirc;tre Kanter is a German-style restaurant with 4 other ones in Central France. I ordered one of their sauerkraut plates. It came in a huge dish, heated with a candle. A German knuckle, 3 sausages, a thick piece of bacon and bunch of potatoes sit on a bed of sauerkraut! I couldn't have finished it even if I had the best appetite, and definitely not at 11:30p. I ate 60% of it, at the most. What a steal at ~15&euro;. (Total cost 60&euro; for three). Oh, I also want to say we had the only bad waiter for the whole trip here. Yes, it was late and we didn't speak French, but there was no excuse.

<b>Mercure Le Mans Batignolles, 2*</b>

I booked the Mercure through the accorhotels.com site. Many Mercures and Novotels have family room with 3 beds, but this one doesn't. Instead, they let us have one single room and one double room, <b>for the price of one!</b> at 80&euro;. It's a no frills place, but is clean and that price was incredible. I then realized that there is an abundance of hotels in Le Mans, and prices are very reasonable except during race times.