Hello everybody. This is NOT about an ABD, but I am posting because I think some of the information may be useful for people going on the ABDs to France, or adding pre or post trip days. This forum really helped us with our trip, our first time in Europe, for which I am really grateful. Hopefully sooner rather than later I will be able to go on an ABD. Here goes.
Since this is not an ABD, I will not do a trip report. I will list the things we did, in case anybody has any questions, feel free to ask or PM me.
We went to France because my dh has conference in the Giens peninsula, between Marseille and Nice. We decided to fly to Paris, then travel via train to Nice. I flew home by myself, and he stayed on for the conference. We did this totally on our own, with the help of this forum, and Rick Steve's books.
Our flights: We chose flights that left at 11 am, and arrived in Paris at 6:45 am. The airline changed our flights so that we ended up leaving at 8am. This meant a super early morning (I only slept three hours that night), and six hours at JFK. I mention this because if you do not have elite status with an airline, but do have a master card, you can go to the master card lounge where there are comfy sofas, free WiFi and even a kids area with movies.
Arrived in CDG and there we went to a tourist information center where we bought tickets for the Rossy Bus (took us to the Opera directly from the airport), a pack of 10 metro tickets (we ended up using 2 over the course of 4 days) and the Paris Museum Pass. From the Opera you can take many metro lines to different areas of the city. We are glad we did this because the Opera is a beautiful building we would have not seen otherwise.
A note about the Paris Metro. Very efficient, mostly clean and very easy to use. Two flaws, many metro stations are not clearly marked as such from the outside. And not prepared for disabled people. Many stairs, and lots of times the escalators were only for going up. This makes it a bit challenging if you have a lot of luggage, which we did not. Also not many places have people selling tickets, and the automated machines will only take cash or chip and pin cards. So at the Opera station, where there was an attendant, we purchased the tickets to go to Stade de France, and Versailles, which are more expensive because they are farther away.
Our hotel in Paris was the Les Jardins du Tour Eiffel. I chose it based on Rick Steves recommendation, and the location close to Rue Cler. The hotel was great and we loved the location. It is not a luxury hotel, but it was quite nice. The room was tiny though. We were very happy with our choice. BTW, the hotel cost around 1000k for the four nights, to give you an idea.
Places we visited in Paris:
Day 1
Notre Dame Cathedral
Concergerie
St. Chapelle
Concordia Plaza
Invalides
Stade de France (we went here to see a Coldplay concert, one of our favorite bands, which have never been to where we live for a concert)
Day 2
Louvre
Arc du Triumph (we went up all 285 steps, although later we were told there is an elevator, not sure if for everyone)
A bit of Champs Elysse
Orsay Museum
Eiffel Tower Summit (with previously purchased tickets and a reserved time)
Trocadero
Champs de Mars
Napoleons Tomb
Day 3
Orangerie Museum
Versailles (Chateu, Gardens and Trianons)
Pantheon (only from the outside)
Luxemburg gardens (only from the outside)
Now for the shoe debacle: I brought a two pairs of shoes. Some flat sandals, and a pair of Privo Clark flats that I purchased specifically for the trip. We were a bit late for the concert, because that was the day we arrived, and we didn't realize that the metro stop was about a 20 minute walk from the stadium. So I hurt my right foot trying to walk fast. Mainly I injured my heel, my foot only bothered me if I tried to put weight on it. The next day, at the Louvre it started getting worse. As a result of putting my weigh differently on the two different feet, and that I think my feet got a bit swollen, I could not tolerate my feel. It didn't help that I spent seven, yes 7 hours at the Louvre. As result, everytime dh stopped to admire something, I would take my shoes off. I could not believe I was barefoot at the Louvre. All because I wanted prettier shoes than my Keens. In hindsight, I should have bought 1/2 size larger. Upon leaving the Louvre we went to Rue Rivoli to get me shoes. Lucky for me, the Adidas store, which would have been perfect, was closed for remodeling
. Because shops were nearing closing time, we ended up at Aldo, were I bought leather sandals (similar to flip flops), as I really wanted to free my toes! Little did I know that for the next two days I would be constantly walking on sand/gravel, at the many parks in Paris and Versailles. The sand was rubbing beneath my sandal against my skin, and I ended up with blisters. After Paris I spent the rest of my time in the other sandals I had brought.
From Paris we went to Nice via a TGV train in first class. We purchased tickets Paris to Marseille directly through the SCNF website, and they were e tickets. For the Marseille Nice portion, I bought through Rail Europe (more expensive and they tack on fees), because for this part e ticket was not available. Even through Rail Europe I had to go the attendant to print them. This train ride through Provence was lovely! We left our luggage at the Marseille station in lockers and spent the day in Marseille. From there we went on to Nice in the evening. At the Nice station, getting a cab was chaotic and expensive, but it was late, so our only option.
TMMalave
Since this is not an ABD, I will not do a trip report. I will list the things we did, in case anybody has any questions, feel free to ask or PM me.
We went to France because my dh has conference in the Giens peninsula, between Marseille and Nice. We decided to fly to Paris, then travel via train to Nice. I flew home by myself, and he stayed on for the conference. We did this totally on our own, with the help of this forum, and Rick Steve's books.
Our flights: We chose flights that left at 11 am, and arrived in Paris at 6:45 am. The airline changed our flights so that we ended up leaving at 8am. This meant a super early morning (I only slept three hours that night), and six hours at JFK. I mention this because if you do not have elite status with an airline, but do have a master card, you can go to the master card lounge where there are comfy sofas, free WiFi and even a kids area with movies.
Arrived in CDG and there we went to a tourist information center where we bought tickets for the Rossy Bus (took us to the Opera directly from the airport), a pack of 10 metro tickets (we ended up using 2 over the course of 4 days) and the Paris Museum Pass. From the Opera you can take many metro lines to different areas of the city. We are glad we did this because the Opera is a beautiful building we would have not seen otherwise.
A note about the Paris Metro. Very efficient, mostly clean and very easy to use. Two flaws, many metro stations are not clearly marked as such from the outside. And not prepared for disabled people. Many stairs, and lots of times the escalators were only for going up. This makes it a bit challenging if you have a lot of luggage, which we did not. Also not many places have people selling tickets, and the automated machines will only take cash or chip and pin cards. So at the Opera station, where there was an attendant, we purchased the tickets to go to Stade de France, and Versailles, which are more expensive because they are farther away.
Our hotel in Paris was the Les Jardins du Tour Eiffel. I chose it based on Rick Steves recommendation, and the location close to Rue Cler. The hotel was great and we loved the location. It is not a luxury hotel, but it was quite nice. The room was tiny though. We were very happy with our choice. BTW, the hotel cost around 1000k for the four nights, to give you an idea.
Places we visited in Paris:
Day 1
Notre Dame Cathedral
Concergerie
St. Chapelle
Concordia Plaza
Invalides
Stade de France (we went here to see a Coldplay concert, one of our favorite bands, which have never been to where we live for a concert)
Day 2
Louvre
Arc du Triumph (we went up all 285 steps, although later we were told there is an elevator, not sure if for everyone)
A bit of Champs Elysse
Orsay Museum
Eiffel Tower Summit (with previously purchased tickets and a reserved time)
Trocadero
Champs de Mars
Napoleons Tomb
Day 3
Orangerie Museum
Versailles (Chateu, Gardens and Trianons)
Pantheon (only from the outside)
Luxemburg gardens (only from the outside)
Now for the shoe debacle: I brought a two pairs of shoes. Some flat sandals, and a pair of Privo Clark flats that I purchased specifically for the trip. We were a bit late for the concert, because that was the day we arrived, and we didn't realize that the metro stop was about a 20 minute walk from the stadium. So I hurt my right foot trying to walk fast. Mainly I injured my heel, my foot only bothered me if I tried to put weight on it. The next day, at the Louvre it started getting worse. As a result of putting my weigh differently on the two different feet, and that I think my feet got a bit swollen, I could not tolerate my feel. It didn't help that I spent seven, yes 7 hours at the Louvre. As result, everytime dh stopped to admire something, I would take my shoes off. I could not believe I was barefoot at the Louvre. All because I wanted prettier shoes than my Keens. In hindsight, I should have bought 1/2 size larger. Upon leaving the Louvre we went to Rue Rivoli to get me shoes. Lucky for me, the Adidas store, which would have been perfect, was closed for remodeling
. Because shops were nearing closing time, we ended up at Aldo, were I bought leather sandals (similar to flip flops), as I really wanted to free my toes! Little did I know that for the next two days I would be constantly walking on sand/gravel, at the many parks in Paris and Versailles. The sand was rubbing beneath my sandal against my skin, and I ended up with blisters. After Paris I spent the rest of my time in the other sandals I had brought.From Paris we went to Nice via a TGV train in first class. We purchased tickets Paris to Marseille directly through the SCNF website, and they were e tickets. For the Marseille Nice portion, I bought through Rail Europe (more expensive and they tack on fees), because for this part e ticket was not available. Even through Rail Europe I had to go the attendant to print them. This train ride through Provence was lovely! We left our luggage at the Marseille station in lockers and spent the day in Marseille. From there we went on to Nice in the evening. At the Nice station, getting a cab was chaotic and expensive, but it was late, so our only option.
TMMalave
