Please sign in to post.

London, Paris, and Amsterdam Fall 2017 visit

October 6-November 7: LONDON! PARIS! AMSTERDAM! Whoo-hoo! We were excited to be heading back to Europe for five weeks of fun. We didn’t intend to visit Amsterdam this year but my sister was traveling with us on her first European adventure and hey – it was just a short, cheap train ride away from Paris, so why not?
The three of us had traveled short term several times before but not long term, so we knew there might be some challenges. I’ll tell you how that worked out at the end, but up front I will say that we all agreed that everyone didn’t have to do everything, everyone should be prepared to learn transit and explore some on his own, if someone wanted a down day it wasn’t a big deal, that even though we would use public transport there would still be a lot of walking/stairs required and better be prepared for it, there would be NO complaining about food/meals, etc.
This isn’t a report of everything we did but the meat of it. My favorite thing about traveling during shoulder season is the lack of huge crowds. The only place we were surrounded by a crowd was when visiting Mona in the Louvre. Oh, and Versailles.

Where we stayed: We rented a 2 bedroom London Connection Apt in London, a 1 bedroom Apt at the Citadines St. Germain in Paris, and our favorite Pied a Terre - Herengracht Apt. in Amsterdam from Kathryn Wentzel.

Background: We had never been to London and only spent two days in Paris when on the 2015 BOE tour so we wanted more time there. This was our third year in Amsterdam and I still found new things to do/places to go, along with some repeats. Hubby and I have only been to Europe twice but both times we have done a lot of walking. I knew we would be riding more this trip due to city sizes and locations of itinerary.

We traveled carry on only. Since we weren’t staying in just one city this year I took one less pant and three fewer shirts than last winter. Next trip I will pare down further to 2 pants (wear one) and 4 shirts (wear one). That gives clothes time to dry and a little variation.

This is what I wore and was in my backpack:
Plane – cuffed jeans, long sleeve tunic top, Teva low boots with special inserts for my trouble feet, knee high compression socks – traveled fine without them on way home so probably won’t use them again.
In my RS Convertible backpack:
2 more jeans – one dark blue, one light blue (one less pair would have been enough)
3 long sleeve shirts
2 quarter sleeve shirts (didn’t need – shoulda/coulda just rolled up long sleeves)
Thermaskin thermal shirt and pants – needed the shirt, not the pants
3 merino socks, 1 merino ankle sock
Fleece lined rain jacket with hood– Now this was lucky. On a whim I decided to throw this in my bag as I was walking out the door. Good decision as I ended up wearing it most of the trip. It is only water resistant but I waterproofed it last fall and I stayed dry with no umbrella during a downpour on the Jack the Ripper walk.
Marmot Precip jacket – only needed once or twice when weather was too warm for the fleece lined raincoat, but did need it – too windy for an umbrella. It would not have been warm enough for me the whole trip.
Fleece vest – wore it once or twice – will not take again. Prefer the fleece lined coat as it keeps my arms warm.
Winter cap and gloves – wore them often. I didn’t take a warm scarf and had to buy one in Paris. What a shame – ha.
Alegria Bree shoes – good for my trouble feet, mostly alternated days with Teva de la Vina boots
Alegria Eliza boots – experimental boots without fully trusting them. They were okay – but I still love my flat soled Teva de la Vina boots for lots of walking and used those the most. I have found though that the Alegria’s provide the high arch support that I need without needing a special insert.
Hubby had similar in his bag.
Still too much stuff!

Posted by
985 posts

Planning: I had made a five week itinerary on a calendar based on openings and walking tour days, trying to make sure that really long days were followed by easier days. I asked for places the others wanted to see, things they wanted to do in all three cities. I ended up doing all of the research and making the whole itinerary. I didn’t mind doing it but told them there were to be no complaints of what I chose, and there weren’t. There was some leeway to switch things out depending on weather/tiredness levels, but other than a few instances we pretty much followed the calendar. I downloaded Ulmon offline city maps and pictures of tube/metro/tram maps to my phone. I made all the reservations, bought all of the airline, train (at optimum time for cost savings), and venue tickets that needed to be reserved/pre-purchased, arranged all transport, researched ahead of time how to get some places and noted that on itinerary, and pretty much was ready for every day. It’s much easier for one person to make those purchases and that way you know everybody is traveling the same train/time/etc. I didn’t do as much pre-trip walking this time but didn’t have too many difficulties other than getting used to stairs again.

London (11 days): cool to chilly
Great flight over from Knoxville, Tn. to London LHR. Sister flew Delta comfort on the long hauls and us first class. Her fare was $1200 RT and ours $3200 RT. I like first class and am willing to spend for it on long flights while I can afford to, although after seeing her seat on the way over I might opt for comfort seats. I bought sister a middle section aisle seat and the center seat was not sold, so she had a little extra room on the way over. She had wheelchair transport through the airports. Unfortunately they lost her fleece jacket on arrival in London. They insisted on taking it from her and then it slipped off the cart somewhere on the way to arrivals. The wheelchair people had left before she noticed it was gone, so yeah, it was gone. None of us were going back trying to look for it and she was unhappy. Very unhappy. Her whole trip was ruined unhappy – uh oh. We felt sorry for her as she was so upset. I had the fleece vest she could borrow if needed and had loaned her a thermaskin undershirt so after a few minutes she got over it.

We had rented from London Connections and arranged for car service to our apartment. A driver was there to meet us. Although I would have probably used the tube if it had just been my husband and me, it was nice to get off the plane and leave the “getting there” to someone else, especially in a city we hadn’t traveled to before. We also used the service for early morning transport to St. Pancras. Once again, prompt with timely arrival to the train station.

The Egerton 2-34 Apartment: Fairly well equipped but the furniture and twin bedding were decidedly uncomfortable. The living room couches were like sitting on a pad of concrete after a few minutes and both of the twin beds sloped toward the center. There was one decent chair in the living room to sit on. One. I have informed them of that and they were going to investigate and make a decision about whether to replace the bedding and living room furniture.

It has now been three months since our visit and I see the same furniture when I look at the website so I suppose they are going to leave it like it is. I guess they don’t count on repeat visitors and figure that like us, people who have already rented and paid for the apartment aren’t apt to leave and rent a hotel room. I also noticed that there were no recent reviews of the apt. although it was rented out. Things that make you go Hmmmmm….

The rest of the apartment was fine and the only kitchen item that we lacked was a cookie sheet. I would not rent that apartment again unless the furniture was updated and will probably try somewhere else next time.

Posted by
985 posts

The apartment was a ten minute walk to the South Kensington tube. A friend of my sister had some oyster cards that she sold us to use so all we had to do was load funds onto three of them. I liked that we had the District, Circle, and Piccadilly lines nearby and that really came in handy when we had some line closures and had to figure out alternative routes. There were a few small groceries 10-15 minute walk from our apt and one really nice one about 20 minutes away but it was too far to carry much from. Most had some good choices, just not as many choices. What they really excelled in was premade dinners that just needed to be heated. We liked that.

We were on the tube heading back to go to the Natural History museum when the accident occurred there. The tube stopped at our stop but only to let off train personnel who were securing the station. We ended up going on to Gloucester Rd. stop where a teeming mass of humanity was clamoring to be let in as we tried to exit. This was the first time I really needed to use my offline map to navigate as I had not expected that route, but it was an easy trek. Sirens bellowed and helicopters buzzed overhead as we made our way back toward S. Kensington, knowing something had happened but not what. Of course the whole area around the museum all the way down to the tube was a mess, blocked off with barriers and people just wandering, so we maneuvered back streets to get back to our apt and stayed in for the evening.

Maybe it was just the experience of riding the metro in Paris in 2015, but I found the tube fairly easy to use and navigate. At some of the deepest stops there were escalators to take you up much of the way – Thank God! I live in Fl in a one story home and those stairs really gave me a workout. I found my legs much stronger by the time we left London. We often traveled during rush hours and it was amazing the number of people who could crush their way into a car. At times I wondered how the doors even closed and once knew that I would not be able to fall down no matter if I tried! The buskers on the tube – loved them!!! I noticed that the locals were not as enthused so I guess they are tired of them making noise and begging money? We were careful to be good tourists and stay to the right when we were not the fastest ones.

Pam (Troy, Idaho) from this forum joined us one night for wine and dinner out. We had a great time visiting (we even gave her the comfortable chair- haha) and our meals at Pappa Roma’s were good. Pam – if you read this, I kept an empty wine bottle and carried it the rest of the trip, safely back to the states. I will decorate it with our names, the date, and London, and place it in my bottle garden as a memory of our fun time together! I’m sappy like that.

We visited many of the usual tourist sites and added in Kensington Palace and the Diana collection. Although many of her dresses have been sold off for charity there was enough on display to satisfy. The Palace itself seemed in need of repair and refurbishing, but maybe the Prince’s private apartments are in a better state? We also did a bunch of London Walks. I love seeing and hearing about the history of a city and most London Walks did not disappoint. For first timers I felt this might be a good intro to London and it was. Husband and sister got the senior rates and I purchased the discount card on the first walk and used it to get discounts on all the rest.

Posted by
985 posts

1] Royal Kensington Walk – excellent!!! The guide even offered to walk/talk people over to Kensington Palace after the tour ended for any who wished to join him. We arrived early, lunched at Sticky Fingers over near Holland Park, and then walked the gorgeous subdivision and through Holland park. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and the colors of the park were brilliant. It was busy with kids playing and business people enjoying their lunches.
2] Notting Hill and Portobello Market – good, but a little less informative and engaging. Tube lines were down that day and we had to zig-zag through several different lines before arriving but that was okay and we made it just in time.
3] Tower of London – THIS made the day! Excellent, excellent, excellent!!! Lots of history and great stories before we ended and were left to continue exploring on our own. If I could only do one London Walks while in London it would be this one.
4] Covent Garden Interiors – very interesting walk although sadly one of the buildings to be toured was closed without warning. We ate at St. Martins in the Field after the tour and the food was very good and reasonably priced.
5] Westminster Abbey – so disappointing! The group size kept growing and growing. It ended up split between the guide and a helper. They must have expected that since the helper was there before the guide? Well, we got the helper for our guide and she bored us nigh to tears, although she certainly found herself amusing. It was so bad that people left the group to go explore on their own rather than listen to her further. We did too, but by then only had a few minutes to explore before leaving for the Churchill War Rooms. Next time we will just tour the Abbey on our own. I guess on this one I would recommend showing up, seeing how big the group is, and if it is going to be split up then leave - don’t pay for the tour, just do the Abbey on your own, or else make sure you are in the lead guides group, not the helpers group.
6] Jack the Ripper – again, excellent! We toured on a cold and rainy night which just added to the mood. When leaving we somehow got on the tube in the wrong direction but it all worked out in the end. This was our only mishap on the tube.

Hubby and I love markets, so we ended up going to Borough market two different days and exploring different things in the area along the way. I never did find the bubble gum art on Millenium Bridge. Pooh. Next time.

My favorite experiences from England? Hampton Court, Borough Market, and the Tower of London.

St. Pancras: We arrived about 1.5 hours early for the Eurostar to Paris. We wandered a bit but there is very little seating (except at restaurants) until after one goes through security. We waited a few minutes until it was our time to enter the secure area and then it was pretty much a breeze. There were two personnel to tell us which escalator to take up to the train but it was well marked anyway. The train ride was comfortable and uneventful. We had booked three seats around a table and had a cute young French businessman join us for the trip. He had lived in the US for a bit and wanted to talk so we enjoyed conversation the whole trip. He seemed to enjoy saying “s***” a lot, lol, and was able to use the word in the most imaginative ways. Hahaha.

I had purposely chosen a car that would have us exiting at the front of the train when we arrived at Gard du Nord, so that put us near the front of the taxi line. That was a good choice as the line quickly filled up behind us. I can’t imagine those at the back had a very long wait though as the taxis were lined up and quick to load passengers.

Posted by
985 posts

Gare du Nord: I was very wary of this station having read about the touts and thieves. We hopped off the train and easily made our way to the taxi line without interference. I saw no touts until we were at the very front of the taxi line waiting on our taxi to pull up and then I saw a man in front of the taxis, beyond the little barrier, motioning us to come to him. I just turned my head and ignored him. It cost the three of us 12.80 euro to taxi to our apartment at the Citadines St. Germain.

Paris (11 days): hot, cool, chilly
Since we were arriving in Paris on a Sunday I knew it could be hit and miss regarding groceries and restaurants, so on recommendation from someone on this forum, I had the Citadines make dinner reservations for us at the Le Petit Chalet, and the wood fired steaks were excellent. It is right next door to Shakespeare & Co.
We had a heat wave and Dh finally gave it up and bought a 2/$20 t-shirt deal so he wasn’t burning up. They served him well and counted as souvenirs.

The Citadines was a nice enough aparthotel and about a ten minute walk to St. Michel metro and the RER C and B. It wasn’t anything special but it was clean and in good repair. I would happily stay there again, although 3 people in a one bedroom apt. was a little tight, but we made do. The two single pull out beds in the living room couch were regular mattresses, not the thin ones typically used in a pullout couch. Sister opted to sleep on the pullout in the living area. They had a set up in the lobby for free coffee, espresso, hot chocolate, cold and hot milks, and we never walked by it without stopping for something. We felt it was a good deal at 1900 euro for three people for the eleven days. I would happily stay at a Citadines again, although next time I might pick a different location, just to be based in a different part of the city. The lack of decent grocery nearby was a pain.

I had made pictures for our Navigo cards and then couldn’t find the darn things, so we all had to pay to get our pictures made- no biggie. Of course I found them when unpacking once we were home. We bought our passes at a manned window and the employee put our passes together for us. Hubby and I loaded ours twice but sister chose to just buy tickets the last few days since she opted out of some of the places we went.

We were only really bothered once or twice while out and about. The petition girls were just outside the metro one day and we just ignored them as if they weren’t there and walked right past without being bothered further. The second time was when we were dining outdoors at a restaurant and an old man begging began going table to table not asking for but demanding money (we assumed from his tone of voice). He reached across me to stick his hand in my husband’s face and then yelled, Bumba! (or something that sounded like that) when my husband shook his head no. The waiter came running at the shout and chased the man away with shouts and waving of arms. We called my husband Bumba much of the time after that, evil ones that we are.

We had a big snafu on the day for Versailles, and thank heavens we had gotten up early and left the apt. about a half hour earlier than we had planned. We walked down to the RER C, got on the train, went one or two stops and then BOOM – the line was out of order for the rest of the way. We ended up making our way to Gare Montparnasse and then took Line N to Versailles Chantiers, the only way for us to practically get there. Gare Montparnasse seems a huge station when one doesn’t know what he is doing, but we just trudged along (and along) and we finally got to the right place. Arriving at Chantiers left us a little longer walk to the palace but since we were early that was okay.

Posted by
985 posts

We had tickets to the Kings Private Apt tour. BORING. I mean twiddle one’s thumbs boring. Instead of interesting tales of intrigue it was mostly about the furnishings, what time period they dated from, and which palace they had come from as none were original to the site. Would I do this tour again? Only if I arrived to the main entrance line late. Even though we got to see some rooms that others didn’t see I would rather have stood in the short security line to enter the Palace with everyone else. We saw the Hall of Mirrors and then were ready to escape the teeming mass within the Palace walls.

Oooh – we caused a big incident with more shouts and waving of arms when we found our original secret entrance closed and tried to backtrack to find an easy out. Other people must have been tired of the crush as well and followed us. We had no map of the palace so had no way of knowing where we were or where the exits were. Waving of hands and cries of “Go back! Go back! Eet is IMPOSSIBLE!” still makes me laugh to think about it. Foolish Americans causing an uproar, yep, that was us. We rented a golf cart for the gardens which were so massive I don’t see how anyone sees them without riding.

The trip back to Paris was interesting too. We had intended to return the same as our outward journey but ended up on the wrong train on Line U, even though we had checked the board for time, track number and even queried helpers at the top of the escalator. I didn’t realize we were on the wrong train until I could see Montparnasse Tower far in the distance and sure enough, our train line ended at La Defense. Major oops! But, a quick jump onto Line 1 and transfer to Line 4 had us back in a jiffy. It actually might have ended up being the better choice as we didn’t have to walk through the big Gare Montparnasse. Versailles – I have no interest in ever going there again except maybe to the gardens. I don’t enjoy overly crowded places too much and this was mid - October, not the height of tourist season. I can’t even imagine how awful it must be in summer.

We visited the Louvre, D’Orsay, Petit Palais, Pantheon and crypt, Basilique St. Denis and crypt, some markets, Place Des Vosges and Victor Hugo House, sunned ourselves in the Tuileries, visited the Eiffel Tower (but did not go up), had the scrumptious hot chocolate at Amorino’s, explored covered passages, visited the Place de la Concorde and waited for the fountains to flow, and spent most of a day at the Parc des Buttes Chaumont – one of the most beautiful parks I have been in.

The Basilique St. Denis was the most amazing building we went into. There were no crowds. In fact there might have been a dozen people in the building. The tombs, the sculptures were magnificent. Sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows created beautiful arcs across many of the sculptures.

We took a couple of Paris Walks: Left Bank Writers (good) and Paris during the Occupation (excellent!!!)

I got very sick with upset stomach on the day we went to the Pantheon. Oooh, what had I eaten, and had hubby and sister eaten it too? As we were about half way between the metro and the Pantheon (you know, close to no bathrooms?) I knew I was going to be sick. Thank God for the Musee Curie Institute. It was the only place possible in a residential neighborhood with seemingly no stores or restaurants to duck into. How did we even get down that street on our way to the Pantheon? I don’t know, but I sure am glad we did. I was trapped there for almost an hour before I dared to leave. As soon as I felt better, we continued on to the Pantheon and then skedaddled back to the apt.

Posted by
985 posts

More illness was to follow but we were able to enjoy our next and last day in Paris strolling and having a picnic in the lovely Parc des Buttes Chaumont. It was sort of a hassle to get there but very much worth the effort. In fact, I can’t imagine ever returning to Paris without a visit there.

My favorite experiences from Paris? Basilique St. Denis, Occupation walk, and the Parc des Buttes Chaumont.

We left Paris at Gare du Nord on the Thalys. The Citadines advised us not to use their own service for booking a taxi as it was expensive and told us just to come down ready to go about fifteen minutes before we wanted to leave and they would call a taxi. We did that and there was a taxi driver standing at the checkout counter. We got to the train station early and stood outside in the coolness for a bit. There was a clear area marked inside the station for Thalys departures so we had no trouble finding our way and nobody bothered us. A light security check and we were on our way to Amsterdam. Once again, a nice train ride without all of the hassle of the airport.

Amsterdam (12 days): chilly to cold
Upon arrival at Centraal we loaded our ov-chipkaarts from last year and purchased one for sister as we knew we would be riding some trains and riding trams every day.

We could have stayed at a two bedroom apt. near the Museumplein but opted to stay at the one bedroom apt. on the Herengracht canal because it had a separate toilet from the bathing area. More people getting ready at the same time kinda thing. Since sister had slept on the couch in Paris, hubby and I chose to sleep on the big sectional sofa. There is a large double closet with shelves in the living room so we had a place to hang and lay our clothes/coats.

The outdoor Zuiderzee museum at Enkhuizen was closing on Sunday the week of our arrival so we chose to go there on Friday, figuring it might be crowded on Saturday and Sunday. Sister and I had developed the sniffles but it was still a nice visit and the weather was cool and windy, but sunny. I didn’t find this museum quite as interesting as the Openluchtmuseum in Arnhem (when it is going full bore with craftsmen/exhibitions) BUT, it was still excellent and very much worth visiting, especially since it is so close and easy to get to once off the train. We got a kick out of the little kids milking a wooden goat. Pour water in the top, squirt it out of teats into a bucket below. Repeat. Very cute. They also had clothing rentals for children to dress traditionally and old timey games like rolling the hoop. It was fun to watch the children and parents having such a wonderful time. We rode the ferry there at no charge with our museumkaarts -you must get a ticket at the ferry office first. They have a nice restaurant on site at the outdoor museum– cafeteria style, and we enjoyed lunch there before finishing up and walking back to town so we could visit the indoor museum. The indoor museum was very interesting, but imo not worth traveling all that way for if the outdoor museum is closed. Overall the whole day was very, very good.

We marveled at how nice the train seats were on the way back… we had gotten on the train a car or two before but kept moving trying to avoid sitting near a wild child who was running the aisle from car to car. When the train employee came along to check tickets we discovered that we had accidentally moved into a first class car and were sitting there with second class pass. No wonder those seats seemed so nice! We were obviously embarrassed and she recognized that. No scolding, just a nice request to please move to the next car.

Posted by
985 posts

At last – Saturday market day at the Noordermarkt. I love the Noordermarkt and had been eagerly awaiting this day the whole trip! I awoke congested and with pink eye in both eyes. Noooooo. My eyes were glued shut and it was not a nice time. Sister had brought both clear eyes and a prescription allergy eye drop which we hoped would work. She and hubby left with verbal directions on how to reach the market. After they left I noticed both had left their phones and the paper map. I figured they were gone, never to be seen again, but several hours later they returned with goodies from the market – fresh dates! They had gotten lost but kind Amsterdammers had gotten them back on track. They got to enjoy some Winkel’s apple pie and hot chocolate, then moved to the Lindengracht market, and I was so happy they got to experience all of that. I hate being sick on vacation!

I had made AFH reservations and we went early, leaving hubby in bed. I was amazed at the number of people who tried to just walk up to go in. Some were simply disappointed but several were angry, wanting to try to argue their way in. They didn’t get in.

We rode the free ferry over to the Foam museum and marveled at the people high atop, swinging out over the edge of the Amsterdam Lookout. We had lunch at the museum and it was fairly good. Odd but interesting museum, a one timer for me.

Micropia, Verzetsmuseum, Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum, Museum of Bags and Purses, Canal Houses, Rembrandtplein, a visit to the marvelous Biblioteek and rooftop for a drink, and a free lunchtime concert at the Concertgebouw were other things we enjoyed.

We rode the tram almost everywhere as sister just couldn’t do the walking we normally do in Amsterdam. That turned out to be a nice time saver though.

On our last Saturday we went to Haarlem. It was blustery with spikes of rain through the day. We enjoyed the Grote Markt, had a warm up lunch at Bij Babette’s, and then it was on to the Corrie Ten Boom Huis. Our visit there in 2015 had been a highlight in our trip and I was so excited for my sister to get to go on this tour. It was not nearly as good as previously experienced. Different guide = different tour, and it was absolutely packed due to an earlier reserved tour group being turned away and then joined with our group. Whereas our previous guide had focused on the family history with informative/exciting stories of life during the occupation, adding in the religious nature of the family and Corrie’s later life, this guide focused primarily on the religious aspect and added in only tidbits of history outside of the family, very little about what life was like during the occupation, and related very few stories about the family that were not of a religious nature. The hiding place and ration cards were almost presented as an aside instead of the important part of the Corrie Ten Boom story that they are. The Alpina triangle in the window and the wonderful story of its significance was not even shown or mentioned. I guess it was an okay tour for someone who didn’t know better, but I did know better, and it felt like a huge bite of the best had been omitted. I felt bad for those who left uninspired and wondering out loud what the big fuss was about. Hubby enjoyed his visit to High Times coffee shop while we did the tour. Sadly, he had the better time that afternoon. As good as our first tour was I would try it again, hoping that our second tour was a fluke.

We spent time lollygagging around Amsterdam, lunching at the Hard Rock Café with wonderful canal view, strolling the Nine Streets and window shopping, etc. We missed our last night dinner at Cote Ouest due to their unexpected/unannounced closure, scrambled for a good meal in a pinch, and ended up walking down to Haesje Claes for a great meal. I was very sorry to read today on the forum that Cote Ouest is permanently closed now. That is a loss for Amsterdam.

Posted by
985 posts

Dh visited the Rockland coffee shop frequently and chose to smoke there usually. It’s a nice coffee shop with plenty of seats both indoor and out, edibles, and soft drinks, hot tea, and a few snacks. Hubby made sure to warn us not to eat the brownie he left on the living room mantle - tehehe! I guess he has some status from being a regular there last winter (yes, they remembered him), and he always had a seat in the warm inside. Always.

We don’t usually take taxis but it made things so easy that I imagine we will take more in the future. Last winter we had the same time slot for our return flight and had walked to Centraal in the cold and dark. My sister didn’t want to have to do that so I arranged a private car to the airport, and everything went smoothly. It was an interesting trip as we listened to the tale of our driver, an Egyptian who fled an abusive home as a teen and traveled Europe until he settled in Amsterdam. He is now an old school Netherlander and did not have kind things to say about the refugees and immigrants who do not like the old school ways and want to make changes.

Security was not nearly as bad as last year – not sure why but I was glad. But then I noticed the dreaded SSSS on my ticket so I got to do it all over again, plus a little more. Ridiculous when one has just been through security. It all ended well though and I was amazed to land in Atlanta to cordial greetings and helpful employees. What??? Was I in the Twilight Zone? Nice change!

My favorite experiences from Amsterdam 2017? The lunchtime concert, Enkhuizen Zuiderzee Museum, and Café Bern, of course. I’m a Swiss fondue/entrecote pig and would eat there every night if I could afford it.

Souvenirs: dh had his t-shirts, sister bought magnets, cap, t-shirts, tea towels, keychains, and mirrors for gifts. I bought a Borough Market tea towel and in Paris I found a lovely tiny sterling cat with blue lace agate belly. Perfect for carry on and a nice addition to my travel cat collection.

The most valuable/useful thing we carried on the trip was a small bottle of poo-pourri. Lol Oh, and the eye drops!

We ended up getting home about 10:00 p.m. that night, ran to the grocery, got up early the next morning, did laundry, and then got in the car and drove from TN to KY. No, no, no, I will never do that again! The only thing that made that trip worthwhile was seeing family and the fresh hot spoonbread at the Berea Tavern where we stopped for lunch. In retrospect we should have slept in and rested the first return day. The next four days visiting family were good but tiring and it was a treat to drive home and fall into bed for as long as we liked.

Overall it was a fantastic trip enjoyed by all. We will continue to do short term travel if it comes up but I don’t think any of us would desire long term travel together again. And that’s okay.

Now I’m home(sick… for Europe.)

Posted by
2461 posts

Nance,
Loved your trip report! I'm in the process of planning a trip to Paris and Amsterdam for this April! 10 days, 4 in Paris and 6 in Amsterdam. We are taking the Thalys train from Gare Nord to Amsterdam. Also, staying in a hotel in Haarlem. Trying to buy tickets to Keukenhof Gardens, not sure if you have to designate a specific date. Eiffel Tower I will be able to book in 3 more days.

Want to see Ann Frank House, Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum, Hermitage, Resistance, canal boat ride if not too cold.
Any advice?

Posted by
985 posts

HI Judy. You will have a beautiful trip! I still recommend visiting at least one of the canal houses. I like the Van Loon House best. I would definitely buy museumkaarts. You can use them at both Teyler's and Frans Hals museums in Haarlem and all of your choices of museums in Amsterdam. I love Haarlem. Very walkable. I had planned on visiting the Jopenkerk for beer and snacks while in Haarlem but it was such a dreary day and we were ready to leave by that time. Do research and visit some of the Paris Passages if you get a chance. Marvelous floors and ceilings, shops and restaurants. Oh, and make sure to stop by Bij Babette's in Haarlem for a fresh dessert. Their sandwiches are marvelous too, and the hot chocolate? You just have to experience that for yourself!

Posted by
13809 posts

Nancy, of COURSE I’m reading your trip report! What a wonderful time you had plus meeting up with really interesting RSForum members...and I am totally not saying that because I’m sitting on the floor in the ATL airport at 02:30AM since my last flight leg was cancelled due to awful weather and every hotel within 15 miles is full!!!

Plus you are one sneaky Pete!! Did I see you take that wine bottle? I don’t remember it!

Seriously, I am so glad you all had a wonderful adventure and it was really fun meeting you!

Posted by
1113 posts

Great report, Nance! Thanks for the tip on Westminster Abbey. I was planning my May visit around the London Walk but I may just do it on my own if I see a huge group like you said.

Posted by
1200 posts

Nance: Great trip report. Paris is always wonderful. Glad you had a wonderful time. Enjoyed reading your report. Very much interested in your thoughts and take on London and Amsterdam. I am going back to London this year and am always looking for advice and help to make the trip go more smoothly. I went to the Princess Diana exhibit last year and it was wonderful. I agree many of her clothes were sold off for charity but they did have enough to make a brilliant exhibit and it was worth seeing. I loved Kensington Palace. I was able to walk from my hotel to the palace. I also enjoyed the Royal Day Out at Buckingham Palace. Can't wait to return to London. I love London Walks. Thank you for breaking down the walks.

Best,
Ann

Posted by
985 posts

Pam - I didn't carry back from the restaurant. I brought back the first bottle we cracked at the apt.

Claudette - I don't know if the Verger tours are any smaller but that may be worth checking into. We had considered that but stuck with the LW after we were having such good tours.

Ann - Glad my LW descriptions are of help. They have so many more. We'd like to return to London. In fact we just kept the pounds we had left over, figuring that we would be back. I also want to visit some smaller towns. We didn't make it to Bath. It seemed like such a long ride to not overnight there and spend a couple of days doing area trips. Next time! I am also yearning for a trip to Italy and may combine, but first I have to get my foot fixed so I can get back to walking long distances.

Posted by
14482 posts

Hi,

Thanks for the interesting report...very interesting and revealing reading the Paris and Versailles visits It has been years since I was last in Versailles and it was in July. Dealing with the crowds can get pretty tedious. I always stay at Gare du Nord as it is so convenient to Est (trains to Frankfurt) and the EuroStar at Nord.

Posted by
3183 posts

Hi!
I am new to these forums and very much enjoyed your report! Learned lots for my future trip to Paris and London!
How did u find the rentals u stayed in?

Posted by
985 posts

Versailles Palace was pretty much what I expected regarding crowds but I still didn't like it. Once one got to the gardens the crowds melted. It was chilly and windy. Plus it was a pay day for the gardens so maybe fewer people went in. The gardens were so huge and magnificent I can see myself visiting that again, but some time in the future. There are more places to explore first.

diveloonie - our rental in London was poor due to the furniture issue. Paris was decent. Nothing special but no complaints. The Amsterdam apt. - we have rented that three years in a row and love it. I'd live there if I could. I just realized I may have misinterpreted your question. I googled, read forums, etc. to find where we stayed.

Posted by
3067 posts

I have really enjoyed your trip report. Your positive attitude shines through!