As I mentioned above, Italy has so many spots to see, but perhaps the most famous would be Rome. With culture, history and colorful buildings, Rome is a city that you really just must see and experience in your lifetime, enough said.
AirBnB Apartment in Paris : Review
APARTMENT on the ÎLE ST. LOUIS
Paris, France
A-
Decor – The thing that first caught my eye on this apartment was the lovely decor. The apartment is furnished perfectly with so much character. The rock wall, the wood beams on the ceiling, the furniture, the ladder, everything screamed “cool Paris apartment.” And in person, it did not disappoint. Come to find out, the owner’s dad is an interior designer and you can really tell.Location – The location of this apartment is another big reason of why we picked it. We love the Ile St. Louis and many of our favorite spots are on the island, our favorite boulangerie, our favorite restaurant the St. Regis Cafe and it’s also really central and a great spot to be based. Knowing the apartment is in that area, was really convenient and a great selling point.
The view from our windows. |
Comfortable Bed – I was actually most nervous about staying in an apartment not knowing if the bed would be great. I really like a good bed and a long night’s sleep, particularly when traveling, and the bed in this apartment was great.
Good Wifi – Another thing I was curious about, but the wifi here was great. The owner’s gave us the passcode when we arrived and it worked perfectly the entire stay.
What I Didn’t Love
Stairs – The apartment is up 3 flights of wooden windy old stairs and believe me, by the last day we were swearing every step up. It’s killer, particularly with suitcases or heavy bags. Of course this is something you can deal with, but to keep in mind.
3 flights of these wooden stairs were hard to climb. |
Towels – I wasn’t crazy about the towel situation in the apartment truthfully. There were no hand towels, only washcloths and only a few of those. I did miss having fresh towels every day like in a hotel, but it would be an easy fix to just bring a couple small towels of your own, which I would totally do next time.
Notes to Keep in Mind
Read the reviews of the Renter – I read through every single review from this renter before we booked because I wanted to make sure other people had good things to say. You can tell a lot by reviews, for hotels and apartments online, they are the best way to get real information about the place. But also keep in mind that you should take everything with a grain of salt, some people just complain to complain, so try to figure out what’s important that they’re saying and what’s not.
Be Comfortable but Polite – Particularly when renting an apartment, it’s important to make yourself comfortable but also be polite with the space and with your neighbors, even more so that in a hotel. Put things back they way you found them, don’t open cabinets you’re not supposed to or make an effort to clean up a bit before you leave.
Travel Tips : 5 Tips for a Better Trip to Paris
Paris is one of those cities that millions of people visit and yet, many times, asking those who have visited, they will tell you they either loved or hated it. Or that they aren’t sure how they felt about it because their itinerary was so jam packed while there, they didn’t really experience Paris itself, but instead just the tourist spots there. It’s a common problem with tourists to the gorgeous French capital, many people spend so much time trying to fit in seeing everything they are “supposed to” see, instead of just taking in the city and really “seeing” it. Paris is one of those places that is meant to be explored, not just seen, a place that is more about the feeling, the wandering, the insignificant sites around the city instead of the grand monuments. And while those grand monuments and tourist spots are still worth seeing, don’t base your whole trip around them. Instead, here are five tips for a better trip to Paris!
1. Don’t overdo your itinerary.
9 times out of 10, this is what I hear from people who visit Paris, they packed their days so full of seeing everything in the city from their guidebook, they didn’t actually see the real Paris. It’s important to mark down the things in your guidebook that you really want to see, I’d say pick your top 5. Then after that, don’t worry about seeing the other things. You’ll probably end up seeing them as you wander or walk around the city anyways, but it’s more important to spend your time really taking in Paris itself and enjoying the aura of the city instead of overwhelming yourself with too much on your itinerary.
2. Use the metro.
The metro in Paris (their Subway) is one of the best in Europe and is so easy to use and get around the city. We’ve only used a cab 1 time in Paris and that was the first time we went, since then we only walk or use the metro. It’s cheap, efficient, and will get you anywhere, often without a lot of changes. To get your true value out of the metro though, it’s important to know how many trips you’re going to be making per day to get the best value ticket. If you’re going to be using 6 or more one way trips per day, the day passes for around 10 euros are the best deal. If you’re making less trips than that, then the t+ tickets are the way to go for cheaper. Just keep your tickets handy as you’ll need them to enter and leave the station. Also, carry around a metro map with you at all times. Mine is 4 years old and is ripped and torn all over, but it’s my lifeline to getting around the city.
3. Don’t just see the tourist spots.
Paris is filled with tourist spots, but in truth, many of my favorite spots are not found in a guidebook. They are found by wandering the city, taking in places that you might never hit had you followed your guidebook and finding those spots that speak to you. While the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe are wonderful, there are so many spots in Paris that are just as beautiful and just as “Paris” as those, if you take the time to look for them.
4. Wander.
One of the most important things to remember when traveling to Paris. Take the time to just wander. I like to have a direction in mind, but on the way, you might venture off your path a bit or walk a zig zag path to your destination, but the journey is often more important than the destination in Paris. Pick a spot you’re headed to and then make up your path along the way. You’ll be amazed at what you come across.
5. Learn some French.
I would suggest this tip for any country you visit, learn a bit of the language. However, it’s particularly important in Paris. While a large majority of people do in fact speak English there, it’s polite and helpful to know a bit of the language. Just to be able to read signs, menus, ask for the bill, it’s easier if you can say certain things in French. After all, we are in a French country, why shouldn’t we make an effort to speak their language?
Headed to Paris?
Day 7 : Paris
On our last full day of the trip (we left the following morning mid-day), we got up for the sun rise and wandered around the Ile St. Louis, taking in the early morning quiet before any one was up and about. We wandered along the quays of the Seine, took in the views of the morning clouds over the city and watched as the restaurants and cafes began setting up for their morning routines. We watched as the garbage collectors stopped for espressos (only in Europe) and watched locals taking their dogs out for morning walks. It’s moments like this while traveling that are my favorite, seeing the city how it should be seen, with no tourist crowds, no worrying about getting from one place to the next, just taking in Paris, breathing it in.
After an hour or so of wandering our neighborhood, we ran by our boulangerie St. Martin, picked up some croissants and pain au chocolat to take home with us for breakfast. We returned to our apartment, ate breakfast, got ready for the day and headed back out a couple hours later. We strolled across the River to the Right Bank, wandered through the Louvre square, then over to the Le Nemours Cafe (the spot where Angelina Jolie has breakfast in The Tourist) to have lunch. We sipped on cafe au lait and ate sandwich mixte and watched Paris flood past us. After lunch, we wandered over to the Tuileries, which are always gorgeous this time of year. Paris does parks so well and the Tuileries are always a favorite of ours. We wandered through the falling leaves, taking in the Autumn colors and enjoying the mild weather.
After a while of wandering, we jumped on the metro and headed up to the Opera district for some shopping. After a bit of exploring and shopping, we jumped back on the metro to the Eiffel Tower. Seeing this landmark really never gets old and every time I’m blown away by its sheer size and what it represents. For me, it’s always represented the world out there to explore, a landmark that showcases how much is out there to see and travel to and it blows me away every time.
In the late afternoon, we headed back to our apartment on the RER to rest a bit and then headed back out after a long late lunch at our favorite spots, Cafe St. Regis, and jumped back on the metro to the Tour Montparnasse, a spot Nick really wanted to check out on this trip. We watched the sun set over Paris, high above the city with 360 degree views of the whole area. It was truly a gorgeous spot and I can’t believe we’ve never checked it out before. As the sun set over Paris on our last night in Europe, I couldn’t help but feel like this city has come to mean so much to me. I fell in love with Paris years ago, but with each subsequent trip back, it feels more and more like a home away from home, a refuge in the crazy world, a place that makes me feel safe and inspired and always in awe. It’s a place that will always be a spot I can escape to, a place that will hold my heart and a place that feels like my spot in the world and I’m so thankful for that.
Headed to Paris?
Day 6 : Paris
For our final stop on our trip through Europe in October, we ended with a few days in an old favorite, the lovely city of Paris. We really try to make it through the French capital at least once a year if we’re going to be near by, as both Nick and I feel so at home there and thoroughly enjoy France, and Paris specifically. We arrived the previous evening on the Thalys train from Brussels, arrived at Gare du Nord and jumped on the metro to the Ile St. Louis where our apartment was located. Though it was our first time staying in an apartment through AirBnB (more reviews on that to come soon), we know that area well since it’s where typically stay.
We arrived in a down pour that previous night, so the next morning we were happy to wake up to a beautiful Fall day. It was warm enough for just a sweater and light scarf, so we had a slow morning, complete with croissants and Orangina from our favorite boulangerie St. Martin, then headed out for a day of exploring. We set out on the Left Bank, headed toward the Pantheon (which I’ve meant to see on a few previous trips and never got there), then wandered over to the Jardin du Luxembourg. I first found the incredible park last year when I visited Paris on my own for work and I was really anxious to show Nick on this trip. The Luxembourg Gardens are gorgeous, but the Fall colors and cool temperatures made them even more enjoyable.
After a few hours just wandering and taking in the park, we headed toward St. Germain, one of my favorite areas of the city, and stopped at Laduree to pick up some salted caramel and chocolate macarons. We at them as we wandered through the Left Bank and back to our apartment for a couple hours of rest. Later in the afternoon, we meandered back up to the Seine and spent the evening while the sun set and Nick took photos of the Pont Neuf bridge as it lit up against the twilight light. We had no real plans for our days in Paris other than to hit a few spots we love, and in my opinion, that’s the best way to see Paris, to just take it in, to wander, to revel in the beauty of it.
Headed to Paris?
Here are all my posts on the city.
Holding on Together
And so my love, thank you for marrying me, for showing me what true and unconditional love is. It’s not without its heartaches or its challenges, but what we have is real and I can’t wait to see all the amazing moments to come that await us.
Exploring Brussels
After returning in the early afternoon from Bruges, we had a few hours to kill before our Thalys train to Paris. So upon returning to the Brussesls Midi train station from our morning excursion, we grabbed a cab and had them drop us at the Grand Place, the only real landmark I knew of in Brussels. Honestly, I hadn’t done hardly any research on Brussels before we left since I knew we were only going to be there for a few hours and in retrospect, it probably would have been good to know a little more. We spent a few hours grabbing lunch of Flemish stew, wandering the tiny streets around the Grand Place (which is gorgeous in itself) and indulging in Belgian chocolate from local chocolate shops. We finished out our quick tour seeing the Mannekin Pis statue, with in truth is pretty underwhelming but one of those things that if you’re in the area, you probably should see.
Brussels was a city totally different than I was expecting and I think in that, I felt strangely about it. Granted we only had a few hours there, but when we travel I get really strong intuition about places and for me, Brussels just didn’t give me a great vibe. Honestly, it was our least favorite spot on the trip, but in retrospect, we also knew nothing about it and only saw the main tourist spots, so I’m sure there is so much more to the city to explore and get to know. Perhaps in the future it deserves another shot but I’m glad we saw what we did and enjoyed Belgium overall.
Traveling to Brussels?
Check out our archives for more on Brussels.
Exploring Bruges
For years I’ve seen blogger after blogger visit the tiny town of Bruges when passing through Northern Europe. For some reason, it’s always stuck with me and remained high on my travel list for a long time, so when we were planning this trip and we happened to be taking the train straight through Belgium anyways, we decided it was time to see Bruges for ourselves.
We had arrived in Brussels the previous evening on the Thalys train from Amsterdam, stayed the night at the fabulous Pullman Brussels Midi and woke early the next morning to hop on one of the first trains of the day to Bruges. Since we literally stayed at a hotel at the train station, it was so easy to just walk downstairs, buy our train tickets and head out.
We jumped on the the 8am train and arrived in Bruges around 9am, then walked into the city center to the Markt area of Bruges. We happened to be there on a Wednesday, which is the day they open up a huge open air food market for the locals. It was divine, fresh Belgian waffles, fruits and meats, we wandered through and just took in the whole scene, so old world and so European. Shortly after we finished our walk through the market and had grabbed a table at a cafe for breakfast, the rain started and didn’t let up the rest of the day. And by rain, I mean down pour and freezing cold. Luckily, we’re used to that and have had our fair share of rainy travel days in the past and at home, so after a wonderful omelet and tea at a local cafe, we headed out into the rain to explore more of Bruges. We spent a few hours just wandering through the town, taking in the tiny canals and the cobblestone streets.
Bruges is one of those places that you feel transported to another time, a mixture between the architecture of medieval times to the sound of modern day French being spoken around you, the whole place feels like a juxtaposition of eras. It’s a town that just begs for you to wander, to get lost (which we totally did), to imagine people hundreds of years before you wandering those maze-like streets just the same. I loved our day in Bruges and would love to go back and explore another time in better weather, however the rain did add a sort of eerie quality to our visit as well, that made it that much more surreal. Soaking wet, we eventually headed back to the train station and back to Brussels, but Bruges is a place I’m sure not to forget anytime soon.
Tips for Bruges
-If you’re day tripping to Bruges from Brussels like we did, just buy your tickets at the station, don’t pre-buy them online as that way you can gauge how much time you really need and aren’t rushed or waiting around for your train if you’re ready to go.
-The trip itself takes about an hour from station to station, but then it’s about a 20 minute walk from the Bruges train station into the city center.
-If you’re going in the Fall/Winter, dress warm. Our day there was really wet and freezing cold, gloves and scarves are a must!
The Best of Amsterdam
I fell in love with Amsterdam immediately. In truth, it’s hard not to: from the endless canals, to the mounds of flowers covering each bridge and architecture that is literally straight from centuries ago. The city is uniquely what I had hoped for, in the best possible way. I’ve seen a million photos of the city, wandered the canals with my parents years ago as a kid and yet I saw it with fresh eyes this time around, taking it all in and admiring the city for the beauty it is.
The 9 Streets + Jordaan
Oud Zuid
De Pijp
River Boat Cruise
Vondel Park
Cruising the Canals in Amsterdam
Our second full day in Amsterdam and day 4 of our trip was a cold rainy Fall day. When we woke up and saw the weather, we immediately knew it would be perfect to do a canal cruise to see more of the city but be out of the weather. So we headed out that morning, grabbed breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien and bought our boat tickets. We chose the See Amsterdam canal cruise, out of pure luck walking by the ticket shop, but there are lots of companies to choose from that do the cruises. The Amsterdam canal cruises aren’t just a great way to see more of the city, they are also a great way to escape inclement weather. Our boat happened to be the first of the day and was almost totally empty which made it even nicer. We spent an hour and a half riding around the canals of Amsterdam and taking it all in. When we were done mid-day, we headed back to our hotel, packed up our stuff and checked out. We left our bags with the hotels and grabbed a fantastic lunch at the restaurant in our hotel, Izakaya, just as a major rain storm started down pouring. Enjoying a long leisurely lunch with amazing Japanese food (their Udon was incredible), we headed back out to explore the “I Amsterdam” sign and wander around the Museumplein area.
For our final day in the city, we then enjoyed another leisurely walk through the Jordaan, then towards the central flower market and circled back to our hotel to pick up our bags, jump on the tram and head to the train station for our Thalys train to Brussels. Overall, Amsterdam was a place I know we’ll be back to many times. It’s such a lovely, thriving city that you can wander for hours and never get tired of it!
Tips for Amsterdam
-Use the trams as transportation if you don’t want to walk, they are cheap and easy. Just pay the driver when you get on.
-Lots of hotel have bikes to rent if you want, had the weather been better we probably would have done it, so take advantage!
-Stay out of the way of bikers when you’re walking in Amsterdam, there are bikes and bikers everywhere so be aware of your surroundings and don’t block the bike lanes.
Traveling to The Netherlands?
See all of my posts on the country!
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