Money:
We had 20 EU and change from our last trip and we got another 150 from our bank before we left. We only used an ATM once in Villefranche for 150 and still had 20 when we got back home. We used our credit card the rest of the time. We did have a bad experience which I posted on the forum about when it happened. Here is the link: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/new-pick-pocket-scam-a-pigeon-pooped-on-you
I did check my credit limit and balance every day after this incident and all was well. When I got home and looked at my account on my computer, it was as if the charges never happened. I sort of expected to see the fraudulent charges post, then the minus sign showing they were taken away but they were not there at all, just purchases we had made. Thank you Barclaycard and thank goodness we have different account numbers on our credit and debit cards even though we are one account. So that is the end of that experience, we learned something and time to move onward and upward!!!
Phone use:
I used the Verizon Travel Pass very successfully as I did two years ago on another trip. I would always do that, it works great and many times I needed to use my data if Wifi was not available or strong enough. I have Verizon up so I had been using my credit to get a free gig of data so I would have a few extra if needed.
Packing:
We each checked a Briggs and Riley carry on size bag. My husband had a back- pack and I had a Vera Bradley bag for the plane. We had plenty of room for all of the clothes we needed as well as space for a few small purchases to bring back. We were able to move around easily and quickly because of the size we chose to manage with.
Food and drink:
We didn’t go hungry although sometimes we were so busy doing things that we ate later than we intended. I think we ate all but one lunch at an outdoor setting. That is what France is all about after all. We knew that we should expect to allow time to enjoy meals and expect service to be slow compared to the US. We were up for that and had overall very good experience and some very good meals. Our favorite meal (lunch) was at a café called “Le Concorde” in St. Germain neighborhood. We had roasted chicken and potatoes. I think the potatoes were cooked in a confit which was all over the plate for dipping the chicken and potatoes. While we were in Paris, we got decided to eat our big meal at lunch and then just have a cheese plate, some cocktails and a dessert in the evening. That worked out great for us, especially since we don’t like to eat that late. We really enjoyed the people watching and and also watching the servers and the dynamics of the various cafes/restaurants. We usually had lovely conversations with people at adjacent tables. My husband spoke French as much as possible and was told he was doing very well. Some servers appreciated it but others seemed to not have the time to want to deal with it! We met people from China, New Zealand, Great Britain, Turkey, France, Corsica and the US of course. Traveling to different countries does make our world seem smaller and it was such a nice part of the experience.
I am sorry this section is in three posts; is there a better way to submit a trip report without limited length?
I will post more specifics about the areas of France we visited and what we did in additional posts.
Posted by
Vermont, USA
729 posts
To answer your question about adding to your trip report in one posting, you can hit the “reply” button on your own post and continue building your trip report that way. It may take several replies depending on how much you are writing, but you can add as many as you need.
Thanks for the great trip report so far — good information!
Posted by
Cincinnati
207 posts
Thank you for this trip report! The outdoor lunches sound wonderful. As the previous poster said, just hit "reply" to keep adding to your original post, so that all of the information can be in one post. I personally prefer it when people do trip reports that way, because it makes it easier to keep track of the information. Thanks again!
Posted by
Vacaville, Ca
1441 posts
Enjoyed the report, I was in Paris myself this past May & June. Will return in Dec 2020 during my Christmas Markets trip. What I do is type of my full report first, then copy and paste into the forum. As others have said, by selecting Reply after each pasted posting.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14725 posts
Thanks for your trip report!
I usually do mine in a WORD document and then break it up and add it as replies as the others indicate.
Posted by
OP
231 posts
Yes, I finally got on the bandwagon with that for the rest of the report about the specific areas we were in. I also used Word this time as well as a couple of years ago on another trip report. It was handy to look at the old one and see how I organized it last time. Thanks for input!