Paris trip

Oh, that sounds like a wonderful trip! Thank you for giving specifics about the hotel and transport pass.

We are already talking about going back to Paris in a few years ,it will be our 3rd time !!!! We also were able to use the navigo pass to go to fountainbleau by train and for the bus to get to the chateau and also the furnicular up to sacre couer . Well worth it , and no hassle . The staff at the Hilton were very helpful with recommending good restaurants and cafes

Dave thanks for the info. Because of your posting I have decided to head out to Fontainebleau on my own instead of through a tour. My girlfriend and I will have the Navigo w/5 zones card during our stay. We will hit Fontainebleau in the a.m. then head to Moret-sur-Loing in the afternoon.

And there is a nice cafe across the road if you exit out by the garden exit at fountainbleau , we had a small lunch ,wine and dessert before we took the bus back to the train station to head back into Paris

When you use the navigo passé , there is a chip on it , when you enter and exit the subways , trains , buses there is a purple symbol on the machines, you swipe the card over to get on the buses or to open the turnstiles on the subways .

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the report. Good info re the Navigo passe. Sounds like you loved Paris. We are heading to Italy this year but are dreaming of a return there someday!

Yes we love Paris, just got back and my wife and I were having a glass of wine in a restaurant and she was talking about going back again . We have been to Rome , Florence ,Venice , Austria and Paris , but we always seem to return to Paris

This is our first trip to Italy (end of October), then we will revisit Paris and perhaps, England. Wondering about Amsterdam, any thoughts, recommendations for that city?

We only spent 3 days in Amsterdam , the transit system, (tram) are easy to navigate and will get you around the city to see the attractions . People were very friendly and they swung over to English very easily . Lots of cafes and restaurants . We took a canal cruise . I think if you spent 4-5 days there you could take some day trips to see the countryside. It's a 3-1/2 hour train ride from Paris .

Thanks Dave. Something to think about for a future trip!

We spent 4 nights in Paris starting a 17-day trip to Lucerne, Florence & Salerno. This was the end of February, and although I expected it, the weather was biting cold & windy for the most part, even coming from frigid Chicago. But...we were dressed for it--I had an ultra light down jacket (the kind that packs up into its own pocket, which was great when packing to move on), cap & gloves.

The upside to this, though, was hardly any tourists, especially during the week. We could get in any restaurant (Philou in the 10th and Bistrot Paul Bert in the 11th were noteworthy), and on a Friday we basically had the run of the Louvre, which was fabulous. On Sunday, however, Musee d'Orsay was packed and not fun at all.

A couple of interesting places we visited: Sunday Mass at St. Sulpice in the 6th. It's where they shot the Tom Hanks movie The DaVinci Code, and the service was moving & emotional, especially with a post-service recital on possibly the most famous pipe organ in Europe by Daniel Roth, only the 15th organist at this ancient church since 1601. Also, Pere Lachaise Cemetery was wonderful, a veritable history of France, also housing the graves of notables Frederic Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison. Both are free and worth a stop.

Although we did not purchase the passe navigo, we did buy 10-ticket carnets for our rides on the Paris Metro, which took us from one end of the city to the other. Very easy & intuitive to figure out, we loved the freedom although one has to be in shape to traverse the stairs up to the street each time.

Sounds like you had a great trip too. Makes you want to go back again