After all the thrill to catch the train experiencing Paris evening traffic and finally finding that it is cancelled, we reached Florence. Do ready my previous blog about the journey here.
View from train
This blog is about a day in Florence, don’t be shocked I know its way… way… to less and a day in Vatican which is a country.
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After reaching the Florence station which is called as
‘Firenze Santa Maria Novella’ we tried to figure out how to reach our guest
house ‘Affittacamere
Benedetta’. It was Just 1 Km walking and 10 min via Tram,
there is stop just outside the main station and the stop to get down is next
one named ‘Porta Al Prato’ and from there it is around 300 mts.
We got little confused due to Google Maps directions and took us some time and few calls to reach there but we finally managed to reach.
It’s a small guest house which I think has around 4 rooms and our room was the last one and was quite specious or say huge as per normal room standards we have seen in India. It has all the basic facilities and as the owner did not provide any b/f he has arranged some ready to eat stuff which was complimentary ? and such a nice gesture.
Even though room was big but there was only one source of natural light and that was also covered with heavy grill and room was very dimly lit. Over all only drawback in this room was the bathroom and light, light I have already mentioned and bathroom was way too small. Just to compare we use to have bigger bathroom in our flat in Mumbai.
As we travelled for more than 10 hrs. (Bus + Train), so we decided to take some rest and then go out to explore. As this place is in the city so it is near to all the tourist places and market. He suggested one place to eat and that was good and not too costly was not a tourist trap.
Our luck was not that great as first we missed to book the ticket for the Dome which is top of Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore. It has specific timing and slots as it’s a small space on the top and as per the pics the view is Amazing. Other thing that happened that day was rain.
As soon as we reach the main area of the Cathedral it started raining and we didn’t have any umbrella or rain coat, so after taking shelter in front of some shop for some time we finally return to our guest house and it continued to rain for rest of the day.
So, in all we stayed in our room and didn’t see much in Florence ☹ but what ever we saw was beautiful and we need to go again to explore more.
Next morning, we had a train to catch to reach Rome. Rome was 2-day trip and my brother in law and his family also joined us there. This was the first time we had planned something together and it was fun with all the kids.
They were supposed to come by evening, and we reached in the morning. Here we have booked an Airbnb. It was a 1 BHK flat with 2 beds, sofa, kitchen with utensils a washing machine etc. It was a good place with few drawbacks. This place was little far from the center, but tram/bus station was near by.
After taking the keys of the flat and fresh up we stepped
out to go to Vatican via Bus. In Paris and here as well there is one good thing
about the bus is there is space to park your stroller.
It was amazing seeing live what we have seen only in TV. Once again, we missed the opportunity to book the fast access tickets and on the spot were way to high to visit the museum and basilica ☹. For Basilica there was a huge line to enter and with my little one it was quite difficult to stand in one place for that long.
So, guys do book your tickets early and be there on time as everything work as per slots.
There were so many people that I was afraid to handle her alone otherwise we could have thought of standing one by one. So finally, we just clicked pics from outside and had some snacks at one of the local stalls then went back as my brother in law was about to reach the flat and we only had 1 key.
Rest of the day we spent with family chitchatting and relaxing as we were meeting after a long time.
Stay tuned for last 3 days of our trip, in which we covered Rome, Venice & Amsterdam.
I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa. You can read my other articles for this #MyFriendAlexa campaign here #forbabynmommyblogs.
This is 4th evening of our small 9 days 🙂 Europe holiday, do check my previous post. On our last day in Paris we need to board a train to Milan & from there to Florence Italy.
This was the first time my husband forgot’s the departure time and also didn’t thought about the evening traffic. Our train was scheduled to depart at 7.10 PM from Paris-Gare-De-Lyon station and we left the hotel at 6.20 PM.
Ticket cost was Euro 196 for 2 berth in 4 berth couchette and Euro 66 for Milan to Florence in Thello Premium.
We didn’t book flight as the airports were far from Paris city and Florence and also we want to experience the sleeper trains of Italy. There are different categories and early you book cheaper it will be.
Different categories with prices.
There are 6 berth couchette, 4 berth and then business class where it is 2 or 1 berth and in that you will get bedding and other perks. Then there are option to select if you want to book in mix, only women or only men couchette.
Premium cabin
6 Berth Couchette
4 Berth Couchette
We didn’t took the metro because Paris metro is not at all stroller friendly and with luggage and a small kids it will be too difficult if you are short of time.
First there was issue with Uber, the first diver was taking too much time and then cancelled the ride which again wasted some time. Finally we left and there was bumper to bumper traffic in most of the way till the station.
Due to the tension of missing the train and ruin further bookings and plan we were not able to enjoy our luxury ride, can you believe it was Mercedes as our Uber cab.
Finally we reached the station quite late, trying to figure out where to find the Thello authorities. While looking for help, help found us 🙂
As we were on holiday so didn’t check the news. Our luck was on full swing that day, there was strike of workers due to issues related to salary etc.
Because of the strike all the trains were cancelled. So we actually didn’t miss the train :). Thello has arranged buses for all the passengers and were looking for last passengers by carrying small hoardings on the platform.
When we came to know about all this then we got little relaxed. We were the last passengers so in a full 40-50 seat bus we were the only passenger, other than us there were 2 Thello officials.
They arranged for some food and drinks as complimentary due to the inconvenience caused. It was a 2×2 semi sleeper bus. We are not used to travel in bus and with small kid it was quite difficult.
Some how we managed to get few hours of sleep and reached Milan. As it was via road and bus left little late, we reached the Milan station late and due to this the connecting train to Florence was missed.
On the Way from Milan to Florence
As it was not our mistake the officials arranged the seats in the next available train ours was in Premium, they were not able to provide the same sitting but it was same category.
Price of different categories
From Milan to Florence it was Frecciarossa. There are mainly 3 categories – 1. Standard – very basic with no additional perks 2. Premium – additional perks like better seats, welcome drink and snacks 3. Business & Business Quite – here seats are more comfortable and wider as it is 2×1 arrangement.
Business sitting and features
Premium sitting and features
Finally we reached Florence the capital city of Tuscany region of Italy.
This is for all the people reading this and planing a vacation abroad please double check the scheduled departure time of the trains and buses. Also consider the time you will spend in traffic.
We really appreciate how Thello management took the responsibility of there passengers and managed everything.
After amazing day 1 & 2 in Paris, we were getting use to the things here like travel, food, walking etc. Day 3 starts with visit to Notre Dame roof. We missed our timeslot due to the huge line to enter the cathedral and confusion, assuming the entry to roof will be from inside. But … Continue reading “Last day in Paris”
After amazing day 1 & 2 in Paris, we were getting use to the things here like travel, food, walking etc.
Day 3 starts with visit to Notre Dame roof. We missed our timeslot due
to the huge line to enter the cathedral and confusion, assuming the entry to
roof will be from inside. But it was from outside.
View of Paris from top of Notre Dame
After we missed our first slot (check detail here) we booked it for
the next day and made sure this time we are on time else our €10 ticket will be
waste. We checked with the Paris tourism office from where we got the ticket
that if we can exchange it with some other place, but they refused.
One of the tower of Notre Dame view from the top
After seeing the city from Eiffel tower, you won’t be able to justify
the view from here, it’s beautiful but can’t be compared to Eiffel. So, our
conclusion is you can exclude this from your list, and you can invest the money
purchasing ticket of someplace else or eating something good or enjoying French
wine ?.
Mommy Baby enjoying there time
There are lot of stairs to climb and the space is very little. The stairs are in spiral shape and quite steep. After climbing all the stairs, we were feeling so hot that we had to remove our jackets. It windy on top.
One of the bells of Note Dame
There are multiple levels here like Eiffel but in this case it’s only 2, Eiffel has 3. One can spend limited time on the roof as there are fixed number of people per slot and there are continues slots. So, they even ask you to hurry up and start your decent.
You will climb through the left tower (if you are facing the cathedral) and come down through right one.
Beautiful sky & Eiffel at the back
After this we went to see one of the most beautiful Opera house in the
world – Palais Garnier.
If you want to walk, then it’s around
3 Km from Notre Dame else you can take a metro station name is Opera.
Front Side of Opera, there are lot of sculptures made on this side
We were very exited to visit this place as we have heard a lot from our friends and family who have visited it. But our bad luck it was already closed for the day.
As it’s a working Opera so continues shows keep happening here. Before planning your visit here do check the schedule on their web site.
So, we just took some pics from the outside and left for lunch. We went to some falafel place which was suggested by one my husbands’ friend. And trust me it was simply amazing.
The falafel was so amazing and tasty and fulfilling. It’s a take away place and there is line in front to place order.
There staff will be on the street to
help you decide with your order. It’s located on a small street with very less
traffic.
Climbing Back…
Then we just relaxed a bit strolling
on the banks of Seine river. It was amazing, cold breeze, calm.
After some relaxation we wen to place
which is one of the most famous and important thing to do in Paris. This place
is even featured in some movies i.e. Louvre Museum.
One of the part of Louvre after closing
This museum is one of the biggest and
will take a lot of time and walking to explore. It’s located in Louvre Palace
and the famous glass pyramid is right in the centre of the palace ground. This
place contains antiques from all over the world and one of the most famous
possession of this place is – Mona Lisa.
Famous Glass Pyramid
Ticket price starts from €15 and then we have skip the line, guided tours, audio guide tour. So, decide carefully which one you want.
Enjoying my time
It has all sorts of things in the
display like art, paintings, sculptures, prints & drawings. If one has
interest in museums & history then this place is like temple for them. So
much of history and beauty to admire.
Louvre Palace
As this place took a lot of time, rest
of the evening we spent just strolling on the banks of Seine, it’s nice just to
walk on the banks, it’s in the middle of the city but still quiet.
This ends out 3rd day in Paris. Paris has a lot to see and one would at least need a weeks’ time to visit Paris alone. It should not be like this is on your bucket list, so you planned and spent just 1-2 nights and visit 2-3 places in a hurry.
We stayed here for 4 days and still it was not enough.On our final day we really want to see Opera, this was one of the top priorities. We have already checked the visiting hours on their web site.
As usual there are different kinds of tickets available starting from €12 which is an independent visit ticket. You can check the prices here, this is from where we bought ours.
Stroller can be taken inside, but you need to leave it just before you enter the main area as there are a lot of stairs. So, better take Baby carrier also with you if you have small kids.
Random Click
This place is mesmerizing. It’s beautiful, you will be lost in its beauty. It is beautiful inside out. There are many sculptures on the out side on the Principle Facade.
One of the ramp through which King use to come
There are 2 pavillon one is on west side which has 2 ramps and it was the entrance for the king, now a day this is used to enter visitors. Second one is on the east side that was designed for rest of the public.
The interior has many corridors, stairwells and huge place for people to socialize. 3 main things to see inside –
Grand Staircase
Grand Foyer
Auditorium
Stairs towards Grand StairsGrand Staircase
Grand Staircase – as the name say these are grand, white marble staircase which divides into 2 & leads to the Grand Foyer. These staircase is decorated with female sculpture holding torches. Hence sudden royal feeling will come when you climb these staircase ?.
OperaInside Grand Foyer
Grand Foyer – this is a long hall with very high ceiling. This is 154 mtr long, 18 mtr high and 13 mtr wide.
Beautiful ceiling of Grand Foyer
The ceiling is painted and represent various historic moments in the field of music.
Amazing Art work
This place was used to socialize and enjoy some drinks.
Hall ceiling
Both the ends of the Foyer have halls with beautiful painted ceilings.
Main Auditorium
Auditorium – this is traditional horseshoe shape sitting with a capacity of nearly 2000 people.
Beautiful Ceiling of Auditorium
The stage is largest in Europe. The main ceiling area which surrounds the chandelier is beautifully painted & it depicts scenes from opera of 14 different composers.
Mirror..Mirror on the wall…
The min chandelier was designed by Garnier him self and is very heavy and made from bronze and crystal.
Such a big seat to watch the show
Grand Vestibule, this is from where you will exit, it contains the statues of four composers: Rameau, Lulli, Gluck and Haendel.
Grand Vestibule
There is a small museum inside which displays stage sets, photographs, drawings & paintings. Besides that there is a library with huge number of books.
One of the beautiful hall
After spending some quality time, we went out had our lunch and then headed to Luxembourg Garden.
This was our final stop in Paris as after this we had to catch train to Italy?
Our doll enjoying some time before the rain
Luxembourg Garden is huge spread in more than 20 hectares. It was constructed in 1612. The beautiful gardens are the part of Palace – Luxembourg Palace which is now owned by French Senate. Gardens are known for its lawns, flowerbeds & fountains.
She really enjoyed..
Again, it was our bad luck as soon as we reach and decided to relax for a bit it started to rain. We thought it will stop in some time and waited for it to stop under a shed, but it didn’t and finally we decided to leave as we have a train to catch.
This place has covered sitting area, metal chairs in front of the palace near to the pond. What ever time we spent here it was good and relaxing. You can spend some quality time with friends and family here.
Information about Paris Pass
Paris Pass, it’s a card where you pay one time and it gives you access to certain number of attractions as per the pass. You can buy pass starting from 2 days to 6 days.
This Pass includes travel card with which you can travel unlimited times in central Paris in metro, RER, bus and is valid as per your pass validity.
As per me it is useful and cost effective for those who want to cover maximum in the given period. We didn’t want to rush things get most out of the Pass.
There is a lot more to see like –
Palace of Versailles which will take one full day, Disney Land again will take
one full day, Montmartre to name which are not to be missed and many more
museums if you are a museum fan.
Good Bye Paris, beautiful final evening Of Paris
Our Paris trip ends with a twist which
is related to our journey to Florence, Italy which I’ll tell in my next blog so
stay tuned for it.
This is our day 2 in Europe and Day 1 in beautiful city Paris.
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Day 2
After going through all the trouble at Paris Nord and Paris Metro station near to Pairs Nord we finally reached our hotel all thanks to Uber. (If you have not read my previous blog do read it here)
For our 3 night 4 days stay in Paris we have booked MERCURE PARIS BOULOGNE APARTHOTEL. It’s an apartment hotel where you get a small kitchenette with refrigerator, microwave, ceramic hotplate, dishwasher. Safe, television, telephone, Wi-Fi. Bathroom with bathtub and hair dryer.
kitchenette with hotplate, sink, dishwasher & small fridge
We
choose apartment hotel due to 2 reasons one and major one was our daughter, as
she was only 1.6-year-old, so we need to make food for her second in a medium
long trip of 10 days we don’t want to eat outside junk food both the time.
Eventually save some money ?
Small area with wardrobe and a small ottoman
We really didn’t cook full meals but cooking B/F as it was not included in the booking and dinner which was mostly a ready to eat Indian meal like pre-cooked rice, dal, pulao, chole etc.
Bathroom w/o bath tub
Mercure is a mid scale brand of hotels b/w 3 & 4-star properties run by its parent company AccorHotels, a French multinational corporation.
Our room for next 3 nights
Our’s was an around 32m sq. room with a double bed and 1 sofa bed. Bed was comfortable with lights on both the side of the bed, a small shelve on the full wall behind the bed to keep the things like phone, wallet etc.
Small Dinning table
There’s
a small dinning table places beside the wall in the kitchenette, space after
you enter the room where we can keep the stroller and other stuff, one wardrobe
to store all the luggage and one small stool.
Sofa cum bed with storage and TV above it.
There
is a storage cabinet above the sofa cum bed and beside it was a small TV. This
storage was very useful during our stay as we kept all our raw/ready to eat
food item there.
These
was a big window on one of the walls, our room was a front room, so we could
see the front road. This hotel is in the quitter residential area, sometimes it
was nice to open the window and let the fresh air in.
So, after reaching and settling down, relaxing a bit after a tiring Metro run we went out as today evening we had our Seine river cruise.
Beautiful art on one of the most beautiful bridges in Paris – Pont Alexandre III
Deliberately we have opted for evening time as that time we can see the beautiful monuments in the day light and witness the beauty of Paris in the artificial lights.
To travel locally in Paris, you have metro & bus. Regular ticket cost 1.90 or say 2 Euro if you purchase per ride but there is a little cheaper option i.e. ‘Carnet’ which is a book of 10 tickets cost 16 Euro.
Beautiful Seine
At Nord Station the machines through which we can buy Carnet was not accepting international credit card, but at other station it worked.
You
can take help from local people there, they are helpful.
Green Metal Bridge, there is a metro line 6 above the roads
With
the help of Google Maps,
we found that we can take direct bus from a stop near to our hotel directly to
the center where all the attractions are. So, there is no changing metro, no
climbing stairs, we were very happy ??
For
the next 4 days we only used Bus, well most of the time say 95% as once you
reach the centre then you must walk…walk…walk & walk… Saying it again
stroller and baby carrier is a must if you have small kid(s).
Cour De Cassation, Paris
If
one doesn’t want to walk then there is an option of Hop on Hop off bus, in these
buses you can ride full day on a single ticket. You can Hop off at any
attraction on their specific route visit the place and then Hop on again in the
next bus to go to another attraction.
Sunset time at Seine
We have done our booking from Vedettes du Pont Neuf after going through review of different service providers at different platforms. Normal ticket w/o any add on would cost maximum 14 Euros pp.
Washroom at the boarding point for the cruise, it was cleanOutside front sitting area on the boat
The boats are quite big and have 2 type of sitting options one is in open on the top and second is close below it.
Open sitting area on the roofEntry for the roof
The
tour is of 1 hour with live commentary informing about the monuments and places
that are covered during the tour. If you choose the evening tour which might
end up in late evening or night, then you can witness the beautiful monuments
and bridges in night light.
Art on one of the bridges out of many bridges in ParisSailing on the Seine, Paris
Beautiful Cour De Cassation – Civil and Criminal Court Paris
Beautiful Pont Alexandre III at night
It’s
all Altogether a different experience in
artificial lights. It’s amazing experience sailing in the Seine river.
This
concludes our first day in Paris.
Stay
tuned for more updates and details of the coming days in Pairs.
Note - All the pictures are from our trip taken by us.
Day -1 & 2 (This is going to be a series of Blogs of my 10 days Europe trip, please be patient as these blogs might be lengthy as I want to provide as much information to help someone in their trip ?) The whole trip was planned by us which includes lots n lots … Continue reading “Europe Trip – Emirates, Schiphol Amsterdam & Thalys”
Day -1 & 2
(This is going to be a series of Blogs of my 10 days Europe trip, please be patient as these blogs might be lengthy as I want to provide as much information to help someone in their trip ?)
The whole trip was planned by us which includes lots n lots of research, on call discussing with each other where to go what to see, how to go etc. many hours spent burning our eyes in laptop screen.
After all the hard work we really enjoyed and created some amazing memories. There is this amazing site and app inspirock which will help you to plan your itinerary.
Itinerary planning Application
This will tell you each and everything like how far the place is from each other how to go how much time to spend, how much spare time you have etc. This was great help in planning our trip.
It was March end of 2018 when I landed in Amsterdam, Netherlands, travelled through Emirates airline. It’s a 1 stop flight with around 1.30 hours of layover in Dubai.
After landing in Dubai to go to your connecting flight’s departure gate you must go through security check. This could take time as many people will be coming to same place to go to their respective gates.
If time permits, then you can relax and enjoy some food and drinks in Marhaba Lounges in Dubai Airport with your Priority Pass membership. Priority Pass is a program which provided Lounge access to its members across the world.
There are some premium credit cards that too provide International lounge access like HDFC Bank Diners Club card.
This was my first solo flight with my daughter, who was around one and half year old. Few points I want to mention which will be helpful if you are traveling alone with baby.
1) Always carry some healthy food for your baby as they don’t provide baby food below 2 years
Food served in flight
2) Baby carrier is must as you must check in stroller while boarding and will get back once you reached your destination. Check my post on baby carriers for more details.
Baby carrier
3) Limit your hand luggage as with baby it’s hard to manage with heavy luggage
4) Flight staff was helpful.
So, feel free to ask for any help needed
After landing in Amsterdam and clearing the immigration’s, me and my little daughter came out and looked for hotel shuttle service. Hotels near to Schiphol, Amsterdam provide shuttle service which is free of charge to pick and drop their guest.
The frequency of this service depends from hotel to hotel and what time of day but mostly it is in every 30 min.
I stayed in NH Hotel Schiphol, it’s nice big hotel with lot of facilities present in it. I just stayed there for a night so didn’t use any of the facilities like gym, indoor heated swimming pool etc.
Room at NH Hotel
Bathroom with all the toiletries and hair dryer
Gym at NH Hotel
Gym at NH Hotel
The room was quite cozy and of good size, you can even request for a kid’s cot w/o any extra charge. Check in and check out was smooth as we have already paid the charges.
NH Amsterdam Lobby
Earlier you book cheaper it is and if you go online payment with Zero refund option then it is cheaper than the full refund option. So, it’s better early you decide, might get good deal in full refund option.
We were little late in planning as we were planning with my brother & sister in law who were supposed to join us from London. Ours was 128 Euros + 7.30 Euros in city tax.
Where ever you go in Europe city tax is charged additionally and needs to be paid either at the time of check in or check out in cash or card.
Next day took train from Schiphol to Paris Nord. Our tickets were in Thalys First Class. Full train journey was covered in just 3 hours.
First Class Seats
Train ticket prices also increased as the journey date comes closer. Our ticket price for 2 adults was 190 Euros. So, if you are planning a trip by your selves then finalize soon and book everything to save some money.
First class of Thalys is quite amazing and can be more amazing if you can get the single seats. So basically, in first class coach the seat layout is 2×1. Seats are comfier and broader and recline a little then the one in economy class.
Comfortable seats
Other benefits of first class are like – free faster WiFi with more data, paper & magazines, there lounge access, priority boarding etc.
There are attendant in each first-class coach, they will great you at the station and might help with luggage (depends on person to person). A separate space to keep your luggage and it is there at the start of each coach.
Enjoying sun after long cold winter
In 3 hour of journey we were served 2 times, yes you read it right there is free food or say included in ticket price of first class. As ours was morning 9.34 AM train so we were served, B/F and small snack.
Morning breakfast
In B/F we got a multi grain bun, sugar coated puff,delicious cake, fruit, juice, yogurt. It was nice tasty and makes you full. 1hour before the scheduled time to reach Paris Nord, we were served some snack.
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Snack
It was delicious chocolate cake, with drink of your choice like, juice, tea, coffee or wine. The trains in this part of the world are very punctual. They come on time, depart on time, the highest speed that I saw on the display was more than 250Km/hr.
After this amazing journey we finally reached my dream destination
– PARIS.
Reaching our hotel from Paris Nord was a big task and took us more than 1 hour to figure out how to reach there, which metro to take, which direction to go etc.
Paris Nord (Not clicked by us, was so exited after reaching Paris that totally forgot to click)
Believe me Paris metro stations are not at all stroller friendly. These stations are very old, and they have lots and lots of stairs. It was very difficult for us to climb up and down with stroller, heavy suitcase and bag with small kid.
So finally, after lot of struggle we finally book Uber ?
and it was costly ☹. We paid 22.5 Euros and finally reached our hotel.
Stay tuned for more details in my second blog like hotel we stayed, places we visited with some amazing pics ?
Note - All the pictures (except one) are from our trip taken by us.
