Sunday, July 24, 2011

Rue Mouffetard Market, Paris

This market looks amazing. I will definitely be visiting next time I am in Paris.

Monday, July 11, 2011

I have permission to write about my parents trip to Paris and beyond...

Mum, Dad and Pauline have all said that they don’t mind me writing about their travels.  Pauline has expressed her interested in adding some of her travel journal as well. I am looking forward to that.

I am also going to do up an itinerary for the 4 days they have before the tour starts.  They may or may not follow it but if they do they will let us all know if I am good at setting itineraries or not…. eek!

They land in Paris at Charles de Gaulle at 730 and I have told them they are not to go to sleep until it is dark.  They are lucky to have a shuttle bus take them straight to their accommodation Timhotel Saint Georges in Pigalle on the border of the 9th and 18th arrondissements (districts of Paris).

Pigalle is the old red light district just metres from the Moulin Rouge.  There is a metro stop there and if you head up the hill behind the hotel you are in Montmartre the art district.

I believe Mum and Pauline will be attending a Moulin Rouge show.  Dad is a bit hard of hearing and is not sure if he will cope with the “noise”.

The tour they are doing starts in Paris with a “drive by” tour on the bus… a drive by the Arc de Triomphe Paris, a drive by the Eiffel Tour and a drive by this and that with little time to take photographs or explore the area.   And definitely no time to go to the top of the Tower.  So I will be incorporating some of these into the itinerary.

Now to go and do some research for the big trip…. wish I was going too.

maleena

xxx

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Airline and other transport website deals…

When I first started to organise our 3 month trip to Italy, I found it quite hard to find all the travel discounts until I worked out that if I signed up for different websites they would email me any deals that may be available at the time we were there.

Here is a list of airlines to get you started:

budget airlines

here is a website that tells you where all of the European budget airlines fly.  www.euroflights.info

www.airasia.com- from Australia/Asia to London and Paris

www.easyjet.com

www.ryanair.com

you will find that easyjet and ryanair will go to most places from London.

www.meridiana.it this airline is the one we used from London to Florence as it was the only low cost airline I could find that flew directly to Florence.

Most budget airlines will take you to airports outside of the city which can sometimes take up to 2 hours in a bus to your accommodation depending on the time of day.  So take this into account, especially when you book a flight that lands at 9 or 10pm as you won’t get to your hotel until midnight.

If you are wanting to go to Italy for instance from London, it is better to choose either Rome or Milan as your first stop as this is where you will most likely be able to use budget airlines.  When using easyjet or ryanair you need to keep in mind that they normally leave from Luton, Gatwick or Stansted airports.  This is where you can take advantage of the buses from Victoria Station to get to the airport cheaply.  Easyjet has it’s own buses from certain train stations to the airports www.easybus.co.uk

My advise if you are travelling with children is to organise a private transfer to your accommodation (it may cost more than using the bus/train but it will keep you sane especially when you have just been on a really long flight).

For example it could cost

* £81 for a private chauffeur driven car for 4 people with 3 large suitcases and 3 carry ons from Stansted to your accommodation in London (door to door)

* £84 for 4 people on the Stansted Express to Victoria Station (you have to find your own way to your accommodation with your baggage)

For those of you with older children or none at all I suggest you use the buses if you want to save £’s.

* £10 each on the National Express Victoria Bus  100min journey (book accommodation near Victoria station)

* £9 each on Terravision Victoria Bus 75 min journey.

*  £2+ each easyBus takes you to Baker Street Station (book accommodation near Baker Street)

The reason for booking accommodation near to the bus stations mentioned is that it is much easier to be able to  just walk to your hotel /hostel / apartment from the bus station and probably faster than waiting for a taxi.  (note: travel with 1 large suitcase and 1 small carry on that you can attach to your wheeled baggage).

My next post will be on the accommodation near Victoria and Baker Street Stations.

We stayed in a 2 1/2 star b & b near Victoria station, if you have stayed in a budget hotel in London I would love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment mentioning the hotel, the area and your budget.

xxx