So, to set the record straight. I never encountered any French people being rude to me (despite the rumors). I do tend to blend in – and caught many people attempting to speak to me in French. The areas I visited were much cleaner than Italy. It can be done on a budget….
Category: 2016 Paris and Normandy Trip
Departing Paris
Departing flight scheduled for 11:00 AM. Left the hotel at around 7:00 to the local metro station. Just a few stops to get to a RER B station. I used the ‘Moovit’ app to know the RER schedule. Once at the RER the first train to CDG was a direct train (no stops between Gare…
Day 6 in Paris – the Louvre again
Purchased another timed ticket for 9:00 AM and printed it at the hotel the night before. There seemed to be significantly less people this morning (Friday) than on Wednesday. This was a successful attempt to visit the remaining open areas of the museum. The Americas and Oceania section was closed as well as a…
Day 5 in Paris
Started the day at Palais Garnier, the opera House. It was quite amazing. Unfortunately the auditorium portion was closed, so I didn’t get to see all of it… Saved 3€ by showing my ticket for Musee d’Orsay. Below is a picture from the Palais Garnier. From there walked across the…
Day 4 in Paris – the Louvre
The Louvre… 12 hours of the Louvre and didn’t even see half of it. 1. Visit on Wednesday and Friday for bonus hours (open late) 2. Buy tickets in advance directly from the Louvre’s website. (Must be printed) 3. If you can not buy them from their website then there is a Tabac shop…
Day 3 in Paris
Today will sound less productive, but the first stop Musee d’Orsay is quite large. Once again the early bird gets the worm (which isn’t too early because the Musee d’Orsay doesn’t open until 9:30 AM) and I arrived around 8:35 (my app misinformed me of the opening time of 9:00). Was nearly the first…
Day 2 in Paris
Started the day at the Notre Dame Cathedral… Got there early enough to avoid any queue. After visiting inside the queue for the bell tower was massive and it had not yet opened so I went to Sainte-Chapelle. Again no queue, but there was a significant one when I left. This was much…
Day 1 in Paris (not including Versailles)
Eiffel Tower…. There’s two ways to visit. 1. Purchase a lift ticket far in advance (and still wait in queues), however there is no way of knowing the weather on the day you choose. http://ticket.toureiffel.fr/index-css5-sete-pg1-lgen.html or 2. Purchase tickets the day you visit. You can either purchase a lift ticket to…
Le Havre -> Versailles -> CDG -> Paris
Early drive from Le Havre to Versailles. Spent the entire day at the palace. On weekends in the summer (this was the last weekend for the year) they have musical fountain shows at specific times. The Neptune fountain only operated once between 1720 and 1728. All the other fountains were operating from 1530-1700. With the…
Omaha has a beach…
Well not Omaha the state… But France has a beach in Normandy that was given the code name Omaha… Unfortunately I was not able to arrive before the cemetery closed at 1700. Above is a monument on the beach. Above is a monument just at the edge of the beach. Some of the German…
Deauville and Trouville (Normandy, France)
In the evening I was given a short tour of Deauville and Trouville. Definately a wondeful place to visit if you are in the Normandy region. Below are pictures from Deauville. Had a nice French dinner in Honfleur. As you can see I started with escargot. First time I had them in their shells, and first…
Arrived in Le Havre
I arrived in Le Havre after navigating the toll roads… Expense report will have many receipts… The Garmin did a good job for the most part. A picture of my hotel room in the Novotel in Le Havre
Quick dinner enroute
Hire car picked up
Unfortunately it’s an automatic…
Bienvenue en France
Only a simple Bonjour and I received my newest passport stamp. Now I wait for my luggage and find my hire car and drive 3 hours to Le Havre…
France…. 2016
So, another new stamp in my passport… Not preferred flight routing to France from Houston….