After having our last breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and hopped on the metro and then RER over to Gare du Nord. There was the normal difficulty of navigating the steps in the stations with luggage. In addition, there was a delay on one of the lines so we had to hurry over […]
Kimpton DeWitt Amsterdam
After our train to Amsterdam, we walked the short two blocks to the hotel. The hotel was recently converted from a Crowne Plaza to a Kimpton and completely renovated. The location of the hotel cannot be beat with hundreds of restaurants, snack shops, and other shopping just outside the door. There were two tram stops […]
Paris – Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomph
Our big plan for today was to visit the Eiffel Tower. The snow earlier in the week forced the tower to close for 3 days. This is had never happened before and today was the second day since it had reopened and the nicest day weather-wise in a long time. As a result, we figured […]
Paris – Musee D’Orsay, Notre Dame, and More
After breakfast, we walked over to Musee D’Orsay which was not too far from our hotel. We arrived shortly after opening and were in quickly with our Paris Museum passes. This museum was much more manageable than the Louvre both in size and flow. It houses a lot of great paintings by the impressionists including […]
Paris – Day Trip to Versailles
We had breakfast at the hotel and then hopped on the metro and RER to Versailles. Buying tickets was simple, but they were running a reduced schedule due to flooding along the tracks. It was a short 10 minute walk from the station to the entrance to the palace. We had purchased the Paris Museum […]
Paris – Arrival and Louvre Museum
To get to Paris, we took advantage of a program called Eurostar Snap. You sign up for either morning or evening on a specific date and they assign a train to you. We were hoping for a mid-morning train but of course we got stuck with the first train of the day at 5:40. That […]
Hotel Therese – Paris Boutique Hotel
Our hotel for our four days in Paris was the Hotel Therese. We do not stay at independent hotels often, so this was a welcome change of pace. It is a small boutique hotel with only 40 rooms which makes for an especially intimate experience with a lot of Parisian charm. We booked using Citi […]
London – Globe Theatre, St Paul’s, and Kensington Gardens
We had our last breakfast at the hotel today where I had over easy eggs and bacon on toast. Even though the options did not change day to day, there were enough different options so as to always find something different to try. We walked over to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to begin the day. The […]
Day Trip to Cambridge – King’s College, Punting, and Fitzwilliam Museum
The day started with breakfast at the hotel and I found out they can also make pancakes and waffles. Our train left from London Liverpool station at about 9:30. We managed to get tickets for 10GBP per person for a return trip. Where was that when I was here studying abroad as a poor college student? […]
London – Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, and the National Gallery
We started out our day with breakfast at the hotel and then took the Underground over to Westminster Abbey. This was another 2-for-1 offer and there was no line to get in. There was a very good audio tour on cellphone like device with additional video showing services and historical footage. We were there close […]