Anyone been to Madrid and/or Paris?
robbyras
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 5,487
I book my honeymoon over the weekend... we are doing 5 days in Madrid then taking an overnight train to Paris and staying there for 5 days...
just curious if any of you guys have been to either place... I haven't, in fact it will be my first trip out of the country, so I'm pretty excited about it...
I speak a little Spanish, but not a lick of french... thinking about getting Rosetta Stone
just curious if any of you guys have been to either place... I haven't, in fact it will be my first trip out of the country, so I'm pretty excited about it...
I speak a little Spanish, but not a lick of french... thinking about getting Rosetta Stone
Comments
Take one of the day long bus tours of the city. That way you will get to see all of the outdoor sites in one go, and you won't have to spend all day trying to find spots you want to see. Make sure to make it to Montemartre, especially to see the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, and the street artists who are all over Montmartre. That's probably my favorite area of Paris.
Go to some nice restaurants, eat breakfast at an outdoor cafe. Try some really f***in good coffee, etc. Order a Hotdog at a cafe. It will come in a baguette toasted with melted white cheese. Heck, Brie on a baguette may be the best lunch you will ever have.
Also, find the side door to the Louvre. There is almost never a line there, compared to the 5 hour line at the main door.
As far as stuff to do in Paris....5 days isn't enough. Hell, a month isn't enough. Plan on going back. I don't know what all you like to do, but if it's Museums and art galleries get yourself a Museum pass. It lets you bypass the long lines in front of the places and get in for free, or at least for a massive discount. That saves you so much time it's unbelievable. Rick Steves puts out some excellent books on Europe, I would go to his site and order the one on Paris and Madrid. Great, great guides. They will make your trip ten times better if you read them. I could talk about stuff to do in Paris for days. It really depends on what you like to do. I could probably spend a week in the Louvre alone. It's an amazing city.
Check out Harry's New York bar for a cozy little place with some great bar tenders. Get lunch or at least snacks from some of the street vendors (crepes were amazing and I got a bag of roasted chestnuts - awesome). See the Louvre for sure and Versailles is worth the trip. We spent almost a week and it wasn't long enough. Check out some of the churches (I'm not religious, but it was worth it for the history and architecture) - actually, just walking around the city, I was amazed by the architecture - everything is a work of art.