In 2008 my wife and I took a holiday to France. I have never been to Europe before, apart from on business, so I were really excited. Paris is beautiful, breathtaking and overwhelming. The French are really nice and we had very little trouble getting around and communicating with people, even though I only know a few words in French.
We spent 2 days in Hong Kong on the way there to try and minimize the Jet-lag as flying from Sydney to Paris is about 24 hours on planes with an 8 hour time difference. Hong Kong is great. I have only been there once before and it really is amazing to see it again.
We then flew on to Paris for a 6 day stay. We stayed at the Waldorf Trocadero about 10 minute walk from The Eiffel tower and the Arc De Triomphe. The hotel is great and it feels like a little French hotel and really gave us a feeling of being “in” Paris. The Australian dollar (as it is) made it a bit expensive for us, but it was worth it.
We walked heaps while in Paris, the first day we must have walked about 30 K’s and it’s a great way to see Paris (get a Lonely Panet Guide!!). It is such a beautiful and interesting place and when you are walking around you get to mix with “real” people and see all the little stuff you might miss if you just take the train or a cab. The trains, by the way, are fantastic… I don’t think we ever waited more than 5 minutes when we had reason to take one. We saw a lot of Paris, but it really is one of the most amazing places I have ever been. Just overwhelming! I think you could spend a lifetime there and only just scratch the surface. For me, I really enjoyed the Military Museum attached to Napoleons Tomb, along with everything else of-course.
We then visited Nice, on the Mediterranean, for a couple of days and took a day trip to Cannes during the film festival. We did not see anyone famous, but it was still really cool just to be there and get the “vibe” of the place. We then took the Eurostar train to London for a couple of days. London was interesting and we “took in a show”, Chicago, at the west end… that was neat! Growing up in Australia with English parents I knew all the places and it was just fantastic to actually see them for real!
Here are some photo’s if you interested. I hope you enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/pcfinch/France2008