I’m not that good at writing, so I’ll keep it to bulleted points with ratings and short notes where applicable.
Background: Dan posted cheap flights to Paris in February 2018, so we grabbed some, even though the flights we booked were over 6 months in the future. I believe this is the only time I had flights booked more than a month in advance. We travelled in late August, and spent 4 days in
Prague, 2 days in
Nice and
Monaco, and 4 days in
Paris.
Flights:• NCE to CDG on EasyJet
- This was a paid ticket
- The flight was delayed for a few hours. We were stuck at the airport in Nice with no kosher food and nowhere to rest. The lounge was nothing more than a few hard chairs to sit on.
• ORY to EWR on British Airways
- This was a paid ticket- $410.76 per ticket (Thank you Dan!)
Hotel:• Hôtel Régence Etoile- 4/5
- This hotel is right next to the Arc de Triomphe. It was a great location for Shabbos, as we were a 5-minute walk from Chabad. During the week it was a bit of a drag as we schlepped into the Jewish area for food. The rooms were small, but the place was clean and modern.
Method of Transport:• Public Transportation
Food:• Shabbos meals- Chabad- 3/5
- This was a nice experience, as we got to meet some other travelling Jews. The place was a bit cramped and overheated though.
• Darjeeling- 3/5
- I know people go crazy for their food, but personally, I didn’t like it.
• Il Conte- 4/5
- They had some great bread
• L'As du Fallafel- 3/5
- This wasn’t my idea of good anything… the place was cramped and hot, and the falafel was, well falafel.
• Korcarz- 4/5
• Bakery
- I can’t remember the name of this place. It’s not located near the Jewish area. We walked in there to get some breakfast (since Europeans don’t do that meal, a bakery is usually your best chance to get something to eat), and the whole place was covered in bees. They were munching on the food like they had every right in the world. They have a decent google rating, and there was a line comprised of normal looking people, so we figured it must be us Americans who are weird. We asked around and apparently Parisians like bees. Who knew?
Activities:• We purchased a Paris Pass which was definitely worth it. It gave us Fast-Pass entry into the Louvre and Musee D’Orsay.
• Hop On Hop Off- 4/5
- Unlike most of my other experiences on the Hop on Hop Off, this one was awesome. It allowed us to see the city and hear about some of its history. Our tour guide was funny and entertaining.
• Louvre Museum- 4/5
- While I was most disappointed by the Mona Lisa, I found the rest to be beautiful and historically fascinating, especially the history of the Louvre itself. Definitely on my list to go back to, as it is exhausting to cover too much of it in one day.
• Arc de Triomphe- 3/5
- The steps here are exhausting, but once you make it to the top, the views are nice.
• D’Orsay Museum- 3/5
- It was a bit much to visit this together with Louvre, although it has some beautiful pieces.
• Versailles- 4/5
- The halls and gardens are beautiful, although we killed it a bit by visiting the Louvre first, which has some stately rooms as well. Here I also uncovered a little trick. To get an audio guide, you usually proceed across the Royal Courtyard after passing security. If the lines for the audio guides are long, turn left in the Courtyard, to the Apartments of the daughters of Louis XV’s. There you'll find another counter where you can get audio guides, with no lines at all. You can then exit the apartments and continue along the tour, bypassing the longer line.
• Opera Garnier- 4/5
- This building is absolutely magnificent. We missed the last English guided tour of the day, so we took the self-guided tour.
