Monday, June 13, 2005
France Travel - Trip One
I haven't been on a real "trip" for quite a while. I suppose that's why I'm getting very nostalgic for my past excursions abroad and statistics.
I've been looking at travel books and naming off the "sites" I've seen and those that are "still on the list".
My favorite place to travel to is France. I love touring around the country and spending time in Paris. I've been to France for 5 very different experiences.
My first visit in France was 10 years ago when I was traveling with friends from school; we were on our way to Rome to study for the summer but we left Philadelphia a week early to visit France. We landed in Paris on a unseasonably warm May morning. We made our way to our hotel in St. Michael via a difficult bus Metro combination. It probably wasn't that difficult, but we were each carrying 7 weeks worth of luggage and I actually fell down one of the staircases in the Metro. I thought I'd killed myself, or at least broken my leg, right then, on the first day of the trip - luckily my suitcase(s) broke my fall and was more scared than injured. That actually became a bit of a theme to the trip - as I proceeded to trip, and fall quite a few more times during our stay. We made it to our hotel and spent the afternoon walking around the left bank and over to Notre Dame on the Ile de Cite. We walked along the Siene the whole way down to the Eiffel Tower and got to see the sunset from atop the landmark. Before we went up the tower we had dinner at a very small cafe. My first croque Monsieur! Yum! After the tower, we walked back by the river and took one of the river tours, Bateau Mouche. The next day I got up extra early (I hadn't actually slept at all; but I waited for the sun to come up before I got up) and walked around the area; I watched the street sweepers and the shops opening up. I went back to the hotel and Kelly and I started our day. We walked from St. Michael the whole way up to the Sacre Coeur in Montmatre. It was quite a trek and we did get a little lost, but it was a wonderful way to see some of the city and the views from Sacre Coeur are amazing. We made our way back down near Pigale where we were to meet our traveling buddies, Lynn and Cydney. On the way, unfortunately, Kelly had a, well let's call it a "debit card nightmare" - which, unfortunately, dominated the majority of the day. But we did make it up to the Champs Ellyses, the Madeleine Church and The Arc de Triomphe. The next day Kelly and I went to pick up our rental car. We were very nervous about this because the car we had reserved from the US was standard transmission and quite small. As none of us were confident manual transmission drivers and, as mentioned above, we were 4 women with a ton of luggage, the prospects of us exiting Paris successfully were rather slim. But, when we got to the rental agency we were able to upgrade the car 3x and get an automatic (which is basically unheard of in France, but luckily we got one of the few on the continent). We drove off the lot and headed back to the hotel. It was a pretty challenging drive back to St. Michael - including a spin around the Arc de Triomphe - and trying to find a place to stop the car near the hotel but we finally got out of town and headed to Versailles.
Once at Versailles we toured the castle and the grounds. It was wonderful to finally be there. I had been waiting to go there since my mother had visited France when I was seven. It was surreal to finally be there. We toured the palace and walked around the gardens for a while.
We next piled back into the car and drove south toward the Loire Valley. On the way we stopped in Chartres for dinner. IT was quite late by the time we arrived in Tours, and we didn't have a hotel booked. We had seen a billboard for a Holiday Inn on our way into town, and while we were trying to be very brave and adventurous, the prospect of a familiar (sounding) hotel for the evening, seemed like a great idea. BUT, we couldn't find the hotel once we got into town. It was after 12am at this point, and we were getting a little desperate. (our hotel in Paris did not have a shower - so we were all hoping to "get clean" and some sleep). We stopped at the train station - which is near where the hotel was "supposed to be" to try and find better directions, or someone who could help us. Kelly got out of the car, she had taken high school French (as had I) - Hope springs eternal, as they say. But the only person who would help was an older gentleman who did not speak English, and Kelly did not understand him I walked over, thinking maybe my high school French knowledge might be of use (it wasn't) and the gentleman looked at me and asked "Parle vous Anglais" - at first, I was like "yes!" - but then I realized that he was asking me if I spoke English, so I could help this poor little lost girl (ie, Kelly). Sadly I had to explain that I was just as lost as she and my speaking English, wasn't going to help. We, got back into the car and went back in the general direction of the "hotel" and finally found it, hidden behind trees, with no street sign - those French, how droll. We drove up to the front door - I scampered out, mustering all my courage and knowledge of French and ask "avez vous une chambre pour quatre, pour ce soir?" and the clerk answered "non". Well now I was panicked - so I asked "parlez vous Anglais?" he answered yes, so I asked if he could recommend another hotel. He did, the Hotel Ibis which was, plainly visible, across the street. I got back into the car and we drove across the street, very likely illegally, and checked into the IBIS - which had a room for 4, and a TV, and a shower, and was very affordable. On that evening IBIS became my favorite French hotel chain. We got a relatively early start the next day (before lunch anyway), and when we checked out we decided to pre-book another IBIS room along our travel route. The desk clerk was extremely helpful and we booked (this time 2 rooms) with an IBIS in Grenoble, France which is right at the foot of the Alps. We next made our way to the town of Amboise, which is a lovely little town, filled with shops and cafes and the spectacular Castle Amboise. We were ready for some food so we stopped at an outdoor cafe (there are many) and we had, again, Crouque Monsieurs. I know that they are typical tourist food, but they are just delicious. Next we toured the castle and its grounds. We piled back into the car and drove toward Chenonceau. After our stop there we traveled to Chambord, which is an amazing site both visually, architecturally and historically. After leaving Chambord we drove into the neighboring town and had a simple dinner. We had a very long drive ahead of us to Grenoble. We finally got into town around 1 - 2am. We were exhausted and extremely happy to have our rooms at the IBIS to go to. We got up the next morning and began the most ambitious leg of our journey - the Alps. Kelly drove most of this leg, and she did a great job. The fact that I'm here today and able to type all of this is, in itself, a testament to her skill - because, THAT WAS A CRAZY DRIVE! right through the mountains - which are awe inspiring. We had an 8pm train to catch in Nice so that we would arrive in Rome on time - and we made it - returned the rental car and, while the train ride itself was a bit harrowing and entirely too stressful - we arrived in Rome early the next morning.
My first trip to France was one of my favorites - I don't think I slept more than 10 hours the whole time (I slept a lot in Italy) we were there - I was just so happy to finally be there - and I didn't want to miss a second of it!
I've been looking at travel books and naming off the "sites" I've seen and those that are "still on the list".
My favorite place to travel to is France. I love touring around the country and spending time in Paris. I've been to France for 5 very different experiences.
My first visit in France was 10 years ago when I was traveling with friends from school; we were on our way to Rome to study for the summer but we left Philadelphia a week early to visit France. We landed in Paris on a unseasonably warm May morning. We made our way to our hotel in St. Michael via a difficult bus Metro combination. It probably wasn't that difficult, but we were each carrying 7 weeks worth of luggage and I actually fell down one of the staircases in the Metro. I thought I'd killed myself, or at least broken my leg, right then, on the first day of the trip - luckily my suitcase(s) broke my fall and was more scared than injured. That actually became a bit of a theme to the trip - as I proceeded to trip, and fall quite a few more times during our stay. We made it to our hotel and spent the afternoon walking around the left bank and over to Notre Dame on the Ile de Cite. We walked along the Siene the whole way down to the Eiffel Tower and got to see the sunset from atop the landmark. Before we went up the tower we had dinner at a very small cafe. My first croque Monsieur! Yum! After the tower, we walked back by the river and took one of the river tours, Bateau Mouche. The next day I got up extra early (I hadn't actually slept at all; but I waited for the sun to come up before I got up) and walked around the area; I watched the street sweepers and the shops opening up. I went back to the hotel and Kelly and I started our day. We walked from St. Michael the whole way up to the Sacre Coeur in Montmatre. It was quite a trek and we did get a little lost, but it was a wonderful way to see some of the city and the views from Sacre Coeur are amazing. We made our way back down near Pigale where we were to meet our traveling buddies, Lynn and Cydney. On the way, unfortunately, Kelly had a, well let's call it a "debit card nightmare" - which, unfortunately, dominated the majority of the day. But we did make it up to the Champs Ellyses, the Madeleine Church and The Arc de Triomphe. The next day Kelly and I went to pick up our rental car. We were very nervous about this because the car we had reserved from the US was standard transmission and quite small. As none of us were confident manual transmission drivers and, as mentioned above, we were 4 women with a ton of luggage, the prospects of us exiting Paris successfully were rather slim. But, when we got to the rental agency we were able to upgrade the car 3x and get an automatic (which is basically unheard of in France, but luckily we got one of the few on the continent). We drove off the lot and headed back to the hotel. It was a pretty challenging drive back to St. Michael - including a spin around the Arc de Triomphe - and trying to find a place to stop the car near the hotel but we finally got out of town and headed to Versailles.
Once at Versailles we toured the castle and the grounds. It was wonderful to finally be there. I had been waiting to go there since my mother had visited France when I was seven. It was surreal to finally be there. We toured the palace and walked around the gardens for a while.
We next piled back into the car and drove south toward the Loire Valley. On the way we stopped in Chartres for dinner. IT was quite late by the time we arrived in Tours, and we didn't have a hotel booked. We had seen a billboard for a Holiday Inn on our way into town, and while we were trying to be very brave and adventurous, the prospect of a familiar (sounding) hotel for the evening, seemed like a great idea. BUT, we couldn't find the hotel once we got into town. It was after 12am at this point, and we were getting a little desperate. (our hotel in Paris did not have a shower - so we were all hoping to "get clean" and some sleep). We stopped at the train station - which is near where the hotel was "supposed to be" to try and find better directions, or someone who could help us. Kelly got out of the car, she had taken high school French (as had I) - Hope springs eternal, as they say. But the only person who would help was an older gentleman who did not speak English, and Kelly did not understand him I walked over, thinking maybe my high school French knowledge might be of use (it wasn't) and the gentleman looked at me and asked "Parle vous Anglais" - at first, I was like "yes!" - but then I realized that he was asking me if I spoke English, so I could help this poor little lost girl (ie, Kelly). Sadly I had to explain that I was just as lost as she and my speaking English, wasn't going to help. We, got back into the car and went back in the general direction of the "hotel" and finally found it, hidden behind trees, with no street sign - those French, how droll. We drove up to the front door - I scampered out, mustering all my courage and knowledge of French and ask "avez vous une chambre pour quatre, pour ce soir?" and the clerk answered "non". Well now I was panicked - so I asked "parlez vous Anglais?" he answered yes, so I asked if he could recommend another hotel. He did, the Hotel Ibis which was, plainly visible, across the street. I got back into the car and we drove across the street, very likely illegally, and checked into the IBIS - which had a room for 4, and a TV, and a shower, and was very affordable. On that evening IBIS became my favorite French hotel chain. We got a relatively early start the next day (before lunch anyway), and when we checked out we decided to pre-book another IBIS room along our travel route. The desk clerk was extremely helpful and we booked (this time 2 rooms) with an IBIS in Grenoble, France which is right at the foot of the Alps. We next made our way to the town of Amboise, which is a lovely little town, filled with shops and cafes and the spectacular Castle Amboise. We were ready for some food so we stopped at an outdoor cafe (there are many) and we had, again, Crouque Monsieurs. I know that they are typical tourist food, but they are just delicious. Next we toured the castle and its grounds. We piled back into the car and drove toward Chenonceau. After our stop there we traveled to Chambord, which is an amazing site both visually, architecturally and historically. After leaving Chambord we drove into the neighboring town and had a simple dinner. We had a very long drive ahead of us to Grenoble. We finally got into town around 1 - 2am. We were exhausted and extremely happy to have our rooms at the IBIS to go to. We got up the next morning and began the most ambitious leg of our journey - the Alps. Kelly drove most of this leg, and she did a great job. The fact that I'm here today and able to type all of this is, in itself, a testament to her skill - because, THAT WAS A CRAZY DRIVE! right through the mountains - which are awe inspiring. We had an 8pm train to catch in Nice so that we would arrive in Rome on time - and we made it - returned the rental car and, while the train ride itself was a bit harrowing and entirely too stressful - we arrived in Rome early the next morning.
My first trip to France was one of my favorites - I don't think I slept more than 10 hours the whole time (I slept a lot in Italy) we were there - I was just so happy to finally be there - and I didn't want to miss a second of it!
# posted by PSUgirl @ 2:47 PM 
