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The Low Country and Paris

This was my first visit to the continent, and I had done a lot of research on tours and cruises. I have been a big fan of Rick Steves for years and after buying his guidebooks for Paris and Amsterdam, Brussels and Bruges I decided that I was going to plan this trip on my own (using Rick's advice). We had a great trip. We flew into Brussels then spent some time finding our hotel downtown. The most difficult part of our trip was train and bus, tram, metro stations. We got better the longer we stayed and our next trip, I think we will be better prepared. I bought everything I could over the internet including tickets to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, and the Eiffel Tower. We took a Gray line tour to see the windmills, wooden shoes and a fishing village. I purchased the tour online. I bought our train tickets using Rick's site and when we got to Paris, I immediately went to the site suggested by Rick near Notre Dame and purchased the Paris Museum Pass. Almost all of these purchases enabled us to move to the front of the line. It was so nice just walking up to the door at the Anne Frank House and ringing the doorbell and then entering with this huge line of people waiting to buy their tickets. All of our accommodations, I purchased online. In Amsterdam, we stayed at Maes' B & B and in Bruges, we stayed at Hotel Adornes(recommended by Rick) both great choices. In Paris, we rented an apartment from VRBO. It was also a great choice. We were there for 12 days and got to see the things that we had decided on before our trip. I think the things that I got from Rick's books and videos was to plan but not be upset if things don't go as expected, enjoy the experience and the people and look at things from a different perspective. One of the highlights of my trip was actually meeting Rick at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. My husband quietly called out Rick and he turned and smile. Now I have a photo with Rick Steves!!!

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I'm glad to hear your first trip went so well. Yes, things like trains and buses get easier the more you take them; there's a steep learning curve at first, but on your next trip, it will already seem MUCH easier.