Trip report 1-
Ok we just arrived back after an 8 day trip some background for everyones information we booked everything on expedia that is excursions passes, everything, for the budget watchers it might not be way the way to go(there were probably chepaer ways we know but were not interested in that so for us it was the way we wanted to do our trip. We booked through expedia tours were through Paris Visions, , museum pass, l%26#39;open tour. Remember this was just our perception of the events.
Ok, first we printed out all of our vouchers and we were on our way.
The flight was long, we were in first class and slept most of the way if you fly first class , you get a DVD player with a bunch of movies, we didnt fly first class on the way back though and sort of wished we did.
WEDNESDAY-1130AM
We arrived at the airport, and had previously booked our transport through expedia through PARISSHUTTLE
We found the Kiosk at the airport, they were nice spoke English and our shuttle driver came to us and brought us to the front door of our hotel no problems. Handed him the vouchers and that was it.
First thing we noticed is how big the city was and the weather was sort of cool, think of New England fall a nice jacket, scarf was a must, it did get warmer but we were glad we had brought our fall clothes. A very distinct thing is you can deffinately see Americans there you can see it in there shoes, clothes, sneakers etc. alot of people wear collared shirts, skirts, tights, slacks,scarfs a particular style.
We couldnt Check into out hotel(see hotel de louvre review) until 3pm and arrived at 1130 they held our bags. We decided we would cash in all our vouchers and hop on the L%26#39;open Tours Bus. We stayed at the Hotel De louvre%26#39; Perfect Location for us.
We went to the Main Paris information center on 25 rue de Pyramdides to cash in our vouchers for the 3 day museum pass and get some pamphlets it was a few blocks from the hotel. . They gave us a map we didnt need and some books we didnt use. The museum pass is consecutive 3 days you write it in the date and it goes from the days you wrote- gets you right to the front of the line except the Notre Dame towers.
We stopped by the ATM and took out our Euros I will post the conversion cost from our bank on the next post
We then walked to the Paris Visions office located right next to the Louvre on right side street Rue De Rivoli. I think in the future we would have just walked there and booked our tours seeing it was so close to our hotel Cityrama was also right there too. But being unfamiliar with Paris it was nice to have it planned out first. There is a nice cafe right next to paris Visons and alot of souvenier shops The cafe is called %26quot;le welcome%26quot; where we had a cafe au lait and croissant before our excursions. French we used alot there was
je voudrais(ja voodray) %26quot;I would like%26quot; je voudrais croissant and cafe au lait(coffee and cream).
After Paris Visions we went to walk the Le%26#39;open tour Bus stops which are located at some bustops and seperatlely it was up the street walked on and handed him the vouchers no problems and got our 2 day tickets.
http://www.paris-opentour.com/index_eng.htm
They gave us little head phones free and plugged in for a simple information recorded tour(don%26#39;t expect alot but adequate enough) you can sit outside upstairs on inside downstairs, we just sat and got oriented to the city where things were etc. there are a few color coded lines to simply hop on hop off. We did all loops the green blue orange and yellow we felt the green line is the most important of all of them. also remember the last bus ends at 6pm and thats it. It will end at the main bus terminal near 13, rue Auber and let everyone off so plan accordingly. We enjoyed it.
We checked into hotel and explored our surrounding, room was perfect see review.
We went out to eat at Le Musset down the street it was ok alot of americans there then returned to get some sleep.
THURSDAY-1130
Woke up Late 1130 Jet lag hopped on the Le open tour focused just on Green Line went up champs elysee(think NY park ave, or las ramblas, barcelona)got off at the ARC De triomphe-Didn%26#39;t know about the undergound tunnel couldnt find crosswalks, so we ran accross the street that was crazy lol. Found the underground Tunnel to the Arc after we came down from the Arc, alot of stairs so get your cardio, used our Museum Pass no problems. Nice View was foggy though. Hopped back on the L%26#39;open tour around the eifel tower got off at the Rodin Museum the gardens are beautiful (thinker,gates of hell) they are remodeling the inside of the museum so limited access a nice cafe on the corner stopped for a bite, we used pass no problems. Hopped back on the tour bus dropped off at the Palace de Concorde %26quot;Big Obelisk%26quot;(this is where the Guitine once stood) we walked up toward the arc and had a Crepe at one of the side stands, Je voudrais crepe Jambon fromage(i would like ham and cheese crepe) my wife had the fromage crepe. Wow, they were great made right there not like the onese near Eiffel Tower big difference than the pre-made crepes. We walked along towards the Louvre through the gardens a few people asking for money, clue %26quot;do you speak english%26quot; we said no, lol, we sat down in the Jardin De Tuilleries were the water is just took it all in got to the Louvre snapped some photos and went back to the hotel We then went to Paris Visions office for our excursion to Eifel Tower Dinner and Seine River cruise. We dressed casual jeans collared shirt sweater and felt comfortable some were going to the Moulan Rouge and dressed in suits dresses etc.
we got on the bus and got to meet some English speaking people from England,Ireland, nice they put you together(english speaking) Went to the the first floor together quick right to the front of the line because of a group, the meal was nice wine included, no real view though the restaraunt faces towards the Palais De Challot, no tour of the Eiffel tower, left the Eiffel there are alot of pushy kitchy sellers out around the Eiffel tower selling typical touristy junk. We then were guided to the River boat cruise (takes one 1hour)( we didn%26#39;t do the dinner cruise though several others did, they did not Recommend it at all) We enjoyed the cruise sit on the right of the boat. or the back if you can, they have a recorded tour which is hokey but informational. We both enjoyed it. They also take your picture when you get on, you can buy it for 6 euros. They bring you back to the Eiffel tower and you have the option of getting back on your own or taking the bus back to the Paris vision office. We opted for the bus back and got back and crashed.
FRIDAY-930am
Louvre-
Ok we both love art but not antiquities(egyptian, roman, asian artifcats) so we just wanted to focus on the Italian paintings and Dutch(Red ZONE) we got up had a cafe au lait and croissant at the cafe connected to the hotel. Went to the louvre no lines really we walked to the Pyramid entered used museum pass. Ok focused we went right in followed the red zone up the stairs passed the winged victory statue took a right onto the second floor %26quot;Denon%26quot; wing and there on the right room Mona Lisa actually bigger than I thought and there were maybe only 10 people in the room at that time. No pictures though they won%26#39;t let you I did get caught taking a picture of another painting in this area and was yelled at. After going through the Denon wing we came back to Mona Lisa and the groups started forming in the rooms from the tours there were like 60 people in there after an hour. We went over to the Dutch Masters took pictures of the Rembrandts, Vermeers(you can though, ironic huh) then went into the palace rooms. after 3 hours we saw the paintings sections and left. Went to the metro kiosk got 10 carnet tickets for aroun 11 euros and went through the metro to go to The Museum of modern Art(It CLOSED for 2 years the collection is now at the Pompidou) on our way to the Metro we saw the place wear Princess Diana died there is a replica of the statue of liberty torch laying on its side at the bridge and alot of mourning graffiti along the bridge %26quot;place du canada%26quot;(Note on the metro very easy to follow and safe just stay focused on the Last stop to know your direction of the line your on.) We ended up in the latin Quater after that and went to the Musee Maillol (not on museum pass) that had a special Basquiat exhibit we were interested in. We walked around the latin quater enjoyed Rue De Bac, St Germain and headed back to the hotel ordered in see hotel review%26gt;
I will post the next 3 days in a seperate entry
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Great first part trip report!
I sure laughed out loud read your post: %26quot; Didn%26#39;t know about the undergound tunnel couldn%26#39;t find crosswalks, so we ran accross the street that was crazy lol.%26quot;
I could just picture you all dodging buses, taxi, cars and vans!
I think I took the tunnel information as a given -- not any more! LOL
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