I just finished my first Rick Steves tour, Loire to the South of France, on July 1, and I am happy to say it was above and beyond what I hoped for. Last spring when the tours were released, I floated the idea to my mom–what if we did a tour together, just the two of us? She was in! (I should add here that my husband deserves major credit, as he held down the fort at home and cared for our kids–which I am endlessly thankful for, and grateful for the opportunity to travel with my mom). My mom has taken several tours before, in fact she and my dad did the Turkey tour earlier this spring. As for this tour recap, I plan to share some highlights of each destination, as well as my thoughts as a first time tour traveler. I have traveled to Europe several times: as a high school student with a school group, a post-college backpacking trip, a few trips with my husband, and more recently, two family trips with kids, one to Ireland and one to Italy and Switzerland. I love family travel, but this was an opportunity to travel with just my mom. We both have milestone birthdays coming up next year, I will be 40, and she will be (redacted). :)
Packing/Logistics
I brought a carry-on rolling suitcase (Eddie Bauer brand), a small REI daypack, and a leather crossbody purse. My suitcase weighed 19.5 pounds and I carried it on (though the strict Icelandair agent in Seattle made me put it in the bag sizer and weighed it carefully). He was very by the book. I can post what I packed if people are interested. My mom checked her bag (same bag, but her bag was heavier). Icelandair has a small personal item requirement, and I got my backpack through by putting a few things in my suitcase and keeping my purse inside my daypack. The daypack fit comfortably under the airplane seat, however. We arrived at Seatac airport around 3 hours early, and the security line was a breeze thanks to TSA pre-check. The 7 hour flight to Iceland went by pretty quickly, and I tried my best to get some sleep. We arrived at Keflavik airport to blue sky and sun, where we had an hour and 20 minute layover. That was more than sufficient and after a minute of searching around, we found our way to passport control. Our 3.5 hour flight to Paris CDG also went smoothly, and I slept for most of that flight. In Paris, we had to wait for my mom’s bag for about an hour. Our original plan was to take the train to Chartres, but there was rail work on the train line, meaning our train options were severely limited. I had found a few routes that worked, but they would have involved several changes, and also–it was to be 100 degrees in Paris when we landed! Trying to navigate through the Paris Metro when we were hot, tired, and jetlagged did not sound pleasant, so we booked a private transfer. That worked wonderfully aside from our minor snafu of getting in the wrong car at first (he had the same name as our driver!). Finally we found our driver and we were on our way to Chartres, trying to enjoy the scenery but also dozing along the way.