Yes, Mr. Athena and I are finally taking our long-planned trip to France. We’ve been talking about taking a BIG VACATION for about 5 years now, and it’s happening! It can’t be better timing - we’re both majorly stressed over work issues, and desperate to get out of town.
We’ll be flying into Paris on Saturday morning. We have a few nights in Paris booked, then a few nights in Burgundy. Then we have 2 weeks of no reservations, free to wander and do whatever we want in Burgundy, Champagne, and Alsace (unless we get a wild hair and end up driving to Brussels or something.) We’ll have a rental car and a credit card with a large limit.
Any last minute ideas? Must-see attractions? Good advice?
I’ve already got one last minute crisis. I completely forgot that I’ll be needing a hair dryer. So is it best to a) scramble around, find an adaptor kit (we don’t have one) so that I can plug in my travel hair dryer? I’ll probably have to pay overnight shipping at this point to get one. Or is plan b) wait until I get to France and buy a cheap hair dryer there a better plan? Anyone know where to get a hair dryer on the Champs-Elysees?
Since you’re going to be “thereabouts”, are you going to drop by Strasbourg? You can do tours by bateau moche (sp?) in the canals there. While I think the expense of keeping a session of parliament there is stupid, I did like the Eurobuildings themselves. Some “singular buildings” look like shit now, but that isn’t the case with the Eurobuildings.
Alsace is one of those places where you can never have enough camera film. Great food too (and I’m generaly wary of “those strange people up north who think cheese is a starter”).
Second on the Sainte Chapelle. When I go there, I prefer to go to a subway stop that’s not the closest and wander up, then go down following the straightest route.
We’ve heard no end of great things about Alsace and Strasbourg, so that’s high on the list. As for film, we ain’t bringing no stinkin’ camera. We’ve already shocked and amazed our family by stating that the last thing either of us want to do on vacation is to spend time taking snapshots. Might as well shock and amaze the SDMB, too
Can anyone chime in on whether or not our Visa/ATM cards will work in France? I keep hearing horror stories about how everyone only takes “smart” cards, which are not available in the US.
You might have trouble. I presume by “smart” cards you are referring to Chip & PIN (as it is called in the UK). I live in Britain and despite having “smart” cards I found that they were intermittently rejected. Even at the same supermarket they would sometimes work and sometimes not. Make sure you have a bit of cash on you at all times if you’re concerned.
In Paris you will not have enough time to do the Louvre justice. Instead, go across the river to the Musee d’ Orsay where there is a spectacular display of late 19th century and early 20th century art, pre-impressionist, impressionist and post-impressionist, that even a serious student can do in a half-day. St Chapelle on the city island is a jewel on a sunny day.
If you get off the high speed roadway, the drive from Nancy to Strasbourg is lovely and has all sort of small towns, villages and hamlets with vineyards and small farms. In Strasbourg, go down to “Little France” and have one of the regions sauerkraut and pork based dinners– there are two or three restaurants along the canal that are known for it and are affordable.
Language is no problem. Almost everyone younger than 35 speaks some English.
This was going to be my suggestion as soon as I saw your mention of the credit card. I think the number of places which accept US-style signature credit cards is much much lower than the number of places which take chip&pin debit cards (which are not the same as the EMV cards used in the UK and elsewhere), and there are also places that don’t take plastic at all. So pick up a big slug of euros at a favourable rate - getting cash advances on your credit card could end up v expensive.
And you might also want to call your card company in advance and ask them if they can tell their system not to ring the alarm bell as soon as it picks up a spending frenzy on a different continent - it would suck to find your card blocked for out-of-pattern as soon as you arrive…
We’ve been all over France and never had trouble with our Visa card.
Not all French hotels have hairdryers, but then we don’t stay at very fancy places.
We were in Strasbourg in July and really enjoyed it. What a lovely walkable city.
We had a nice meal here in the Petit France section: L’Ami Schutz
I enjoyed seeing the European Parliament in action.
Don’t know if this is your cup of tea, but about an hour away from Strasbourg is the Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp.
If it were up to me, I’d be going to Greece. I lived in Athens for a summer during my college years. Unfortunately, Mr. Athena claims he has a voice in where we go on vacation, and he plied me into agreeing to France with promises of non-resinated wine and croissants.
I’m hoping for Greece next year. I figure by then I can remember how to speak the language!
You say hi first to the shopkeepers when you go into the store. In France, it’s like you were walking into their home. THey will be much nicer to you. Talking about family and relationships and homes and personal history is OK during first meetings. Asking what someone does for a living / what job they have is considered intrusive.
If you have time, pick up & read 60 Million Frenchmen Can’t be Wrong It will help you understand some subtle but important cultural differences between the French and the prevailing anglo-saxon culture, and if you are mindfull of what you read, the folks in France will be much nicer to you, especially outside Paris.
When you want to eat after visiting a tourist attraction, walk and turn at least 3 street corners away from the attraction. The food will be less touristy, cheaper, and better. Avoid eating on the Champs-Elysees, or right next to any touristy attraction.
In small little restaurant, the house wine will be served in pitchers, be available in many types (just remember Bordeau [bor-do] = cab.sauv; Bourgone = merlot; cote-du-rhone= shiraz) and be nicer than what you can get for $30 / bottle back home. Ask the waiter what he suggests, feel free to ask questions, and accept one of his suggestions; he will now feel he has to uphold the reputation of the place, and your food & service will be better.
Don’t bother going up to the top of the Eifel tower, but do go up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. It’s bigger than it seems. Look at the completely nuts traffic going around it.
You must try: authentic Camembert cheese, real foi-gras, fresh bagette, croissant au chocolat, and the pastries.
I love France and I don’t speak any French. I think I have found the keep to getting French people to be nice to people that don’t speak French. I just try to do what I need to do while acting humble (such as buying something) and sometimes I won’t need to say anything while other times I will. I have a 100% track record for shopkeepers/vendors/tourism people realizing that I can’t speak French and then switching to English on their own accord with no apparent hostility. Almost everyone below late middle age can speak English and often quite well. There are Americans and English people practically everywhere as well so any language deficit on your part probably won’t matter much. If you do get stuck with some complicated translation issues, duck into any hotel or tourism type place and someone there is guaranteed to speak English quite well and should be able to assist you.
Paris is a little different but it isn’t all that different. You can buy anything there you need and survival there isn’t an extreme sport.
I’ve never had a problem using my Visa or Mastercard in Europe.
I’ve never gotten a hair dryer to work right with an adapter. Buy one there. You’re probably better off not buying it on the Champs-Elysees, though- the prices will be lower in a less touristy area.
Mr. Athena and I are winos, if you didn’t notice from our choice of areas. The wine is why we’re going. And just so I can be a really annoying wine snob, Bourgogne is Pinot Noir more often than it is Merlot (and is often a blend), and a Rhone is primarily Grenache, although it’s often blended with Syrah (shiraz), and can also include several other varietals as well.
You can kick me now. I don’t care. I’m going to France!
If you can, try to visit it when the sun is shining. What makes it memorable (it’s my favorite monument in Paris) are its stainted glasses.
Do you have Beaune on your list of places to visit in Burgundy? Its a very nice old town, well-known for both its yearly wine sales (there’s a small wine museum there) and the colored tiles patterns on the old building roofs
