Round Trip Cost of Air/Train Travel To Destinations

Today has been a bad day. My wife and I got into a big argument about something stupid. I don't want to talk about it.

Okay, I'll tell you what the problem is: my wife thinks that I am spending too much money on transportation. I don't see what the problem, seeing as we're not paying for it and that she told me I could plan the trip.

Besides, these rates aren't EXTREMELY absurd (seeing as we're first class):

Air Travel
To Paris, France (Charles-de-Gaulle airport): 2 first class passengers $10,909 total (Air France)

Back to Austin, Texas (Austin Airport): 2 first class passengers $11,427 total (Air France)

Train Travel
Eurail: 10 days for 2 month pass - $1,078 total for 2 first class passengers

Bonjour La France: 1 month pass - $567 total for 2 first class passengers

Rail Europe: 3 day unlimited travel pass - $576 total for 2 first class passengers

Historic Places/Sights

Whew! This vacation is getting quite tiring. But it is some of the most fun I have ever had, especially because I get to be with my lovely wife the whole time. Now that we have gone to some nice romantic sites in France, we thought that we would visit some historical sites:

La Sainte-Chapelle – a gothic chapel in the heart of Paris; is the high point of the full tide of the rayonette period of gothic architecture

Gallo-Roman Amphitheatre – a well preserved Gallo-Roman theatre/amphitheatre at Drevant; this site also has two bath houses and a forum

Carcassone - a huge walled city in the Region of Languedoc Roussillon; this site has over two thousand years of history and is still home to one hundred twenty people today

I have always been especially fond of amphitheaters (probably due to the fact that I have studied Roman history so much).

Hotels We Will Stay At

Seeing as this is our honeymoon and neither my wife or I have to pay for it, we will and have stayed in the most nice and expensive hotels we could find in each city we have visited. Below is a list of the hotels we will/have stayed at as well as their location (in case you also want to visit them):

Paris - Hotel Madison
Le Madison 143, St. Germain
Left Bank, Paris

Bordeaux – Château de Vault-de-Lugny
11 Rue de Chateau
Avallon
Burgundy, France

Lyon – Hotel La Residence
18 rue Victor-Hugo
Lyon 69002
France

Corsica – Le Maquis
Corsica, France

Nice – Hotel West End
Nice, 31 Promenade des Anglais

Burgundy - Château de Vault-de-Lugny
11 Rue de Chateau
Avallon
Burgundy, France

Here is a picture of the hotel that my wife and I stayed at in Burgundy:

Romantic Destinations

Tomorrow, my wife and I will depart Lyon and travel to the following "romantic" tourist destinations over the course of the next few days:

Corsica – is a beautiful French island with sandy beaches, hidden bays, cascading waterfalls and snowcapped mountain peaks

Nice – has the Promenade des Anglais, a beautiful walk on the beach

Burgundy – has rustic, quiet, charming medieval villages

Below is a picture of the quiet town of Burgundy:

Major Tourist Destinations

The honeymoon is excellent so far! My wife and I have gone to so many wonderful places! In Paris, we had the pleasure of going to:

- Musée du Louvre – is the most visited and one of the most famous art museums in the world

- The Eiffel Tower – a global icon of France and one of the most visited structures in the world


- Place de la Concorde – one of the major squares of France with fancy architecture and structures

- Jardin du Luxembourg – is the largest garden in Paris with a beautiful scenery

In Bordeaux, we went to:

- Rue Sainte-Catherine – the largest shopping street in Europe

- Musée des Beaux Arts – a museum with a lot of beautiful artwork

And just today today in Lyon, we went to: - Place Bellecour – the largest clear square in Europe

Here is a picture of Place Bellecour:

French Holidays/Festivals

As anyone keeping up with my blog already knows, French people celebrate Christmas. They also celebrate New Years Eve (Jour De L’Lan) on January 21st and Labor Day (Fête du Travail) on May 21st. They also celebrate these holidays, which are unheard of in America:

- July 14^th – Bastille Day (La Fête Nationale)
This is the day that celebrates the storming of the Bastille, which was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern French nation

- November 1^st – All Saints Day (Toussaint)
A feast celebrated in honor of all saints.
Below is a picture of graves with shining candles on them (this is done every year) on All Saints Day.

Culture

Merry Christmas! My wife and i definitely enjoyed our Christmas. I definitely liked my "Christmas Present."

Anyway, it was nice celebrating Christmas with the other French people. There was just as much Christmas spirit here in France than in America. In fact, it seems that French people have very similar customs and culture to those of Americans. They dress the same, act the same, interact the same ways, and entertain themselves in the ways that Americans do. Below is a picture of some French people we met today. I personally wouldn't have realized they were French if someone didn't tell me.

The only major differences I found between French and American people were that French people tended to eat smaller meals that Americans, rode bicycles and trains as their primary method of transportation as opposed to cars, and enjoyed soccer as opposed to football.

Transportation

It is about time to leave Paris and go visit some of the many other fabulous sites in France. My wife and I have decided to rely solely on train travel to get around (except for going back to Texas, where we will ride on an airport that leaves from the Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris).

Below is a list of train services that we will use for transportation, as well as the corresponding that they travel to and around.

- Eurail: Travels to Paris, Brittany, Chamonix, Le Rhone, Alsace, Limousin, Cote d’Azur, and Val de Loire

- Bonjour La France: Travels all around Paris including the Charles-de-Gaulle airport, Bordeaux, Lyon, Strasbourg, Rennes, Charles de Gaulle, Nancy, Metz, Avignon

- Rail Europe: Travels all around Paris

My wife and I have both agreed that Rail Europe has provided us excellent service in traveling throughout Paris. We expect the same from the other two train companies.

Although my wife and I have decided not to use air travel throughout France, I went ahead and found the locations of many airports in France:

- Paris: Charles-de-Gaulle, Le Bourget, Orly

- Rennes: Saint Jacques

- Bordeaux: Leognan Saucats, Merignac, Yvrac

- Lyon: Brindas, Bron, Corbas, Satolas

- Nice: Nice/Coted’Azur

Merry Christmas Eve!

Climate

Wow! It is freezing here in Paris. Some local French people have told me that summers in France are really nice. However, from what I have experienced, the winters here are colder than anything I have experienced back in Texas.


I am glad that my wife and I packed many pairs of jeans, sweaters, and hats for this trip. Although it is freezing, the snow is fun to play in. We don't get snow in Texas.

Currency and Exchange Rate

We arrived at France a few hours ago. First things first: exchanging our American money for euros, which are what the French use for money. One US dollar is worth 0.7 euros, and conversely, one euro is worth 1.42 US dollars.

Before The Trip

My wife has allowed me to choose the destination of our honeymoon as well as plan it out. I have chosen to go to France.

Fortunately, my wife and I have both taken French in middle and high school, so we will not have a hard time relearning it.


We are leaving tomorrow. I will bring my laptop on our honeymoon so I can document how my trip goes at the end of the day.