Forword
I am posting my trip report at the request of mjm. I sometimes feel strange posting trip reports that have little info about airline flights, but since mjm gave me positive reinforcement in Chicago, I decided to post this report that I sent to friends and family a few weeks ago.

Friday, May 3rd
Monday was a bank holiday in the UK so I decided to have a long weekend in Paris. I didn�t know about the holiday till the week before so the cheapest ticket was on EasyJet.

I had my colleague drop me off at the John Lennon Liverpool Airport after work on Friday. I had plenty of time to wander the airport before my flight. A new statue had just been erected in honor of the great John Lennon inside the ticket area, so several people stood around gawking at it.

Easy Jet is definitely a no nonsense and no frills airline. Each flight has its own check in line. You are allowed one checked bag with a maximum weight of 25 Kilos and one carry on not more than 5 Kilos. Since the carry on limit was so low I had to check my roll a board. I had plenty of time to kill so I slowly made my way to the gate. LPL airport has only seven gates. I had never heard of any of the other airlines that fly out of LPL so was interesting to check out the taxiing planes. My favorite was Monarch Airlines. The FA uniforms were some throw back to the 1950s. All the FAs left the plane wearing big wide brimmed black and yellow hats.

Boarding began right on time. It was supposed to work �Southwest Style� where you board in groups of 30, but that was pretty much ignored. It wasn�t a problem to get an aisle seat even though I was one of the last to board. There were no jetways. We marched out to the tarmac and the stairs were rolled up. Customers were allowed to board from the front and the back which made boarding really quick.

I did find it interesting how they decide how long to wait for late passengers. The pilot came on and said, �We have a race.� If the people are found first they get to make the flight but if they find their bags first the bags would be removed and then the customer and their luggage wouldn�t make it. I thought it was equitable. In this case the bags won. They found the bags first so the customer lost. We were off for our one hour flight to CDG.

On EasyJet you don�t even get free pretzels and Coke. You pay for all your snacks! I like this concept, even on short flights you can buy a sandwich on board. I wish US airline would implement a system similar to this.

We arrived at CDG at Terminal 9, which is not part of the main building that most people are familiar with. T9 is where most of the charter flights arrive. Once again there was no jet bridge, just stairs. We were loaded on a bus and brought to the terminal. Our luggage was already on the carousel when we arrived. I collected my luggage and went out in search of my hotel. You need to walk about 100 yards to catch the shuttle bus to the main terminals.

I got off at the appropriate stop for the Sheraton CDG. I was given a room on the Executive floor. It was so quiet in the hotel. You could have heard a pin drop. The website said that the hotel was sound proofed and I believe it! The room was a nice size by European standards. They had the biggest collection of amenities in the bathroom that I had ever seen. I had to take the itty bitty tube of toothpaste. The bathroom had a separate stand up shower and tub. Apparently the executive floor rooms include a half bottle of wine. My platinum amenity was a half bottle of champagne and some fruit.

I took a quick shower and headed to bed since I knew I needed to get up early in the AM to meet Vicki.

Saturday, May 4th

Vicki arrived early this morning (7AM Paris, Midnight New Orleans) Her plane was over an early so that was a good thing. We went back to my hotel room and Vicki took a shower and I went to the Executive Lounge for breakfast. The chocolate croissants were soooo good. Well, actually any chocolate for breakfast is good.

By 8:30AM we were ready to start out on our journey. We bought our train tickets and headed into downtown Paris to find our hotel. I guess I should have done a bit more planning since we walked around for probably 30 minutes looking for our hotel. After a few wrong turns and asking for directions a few times we found our hotel (Le Meridien Montparnasse). Check in time was noon, but our room was ready when we got there, so we were able to take our stuff up. Our room was small but very clean and did have a nice view of the city.

Now armed with a better map and better directions we were off on our first adventure of the day. Our first stop of the day was the Arc de Triomphe. It really is huge, until you see it in person, you just don�t know. They were selling tickets to go to the top, which is supposed to have spectacular views. The only problem was it was 285 stairs to the top. Since there was no elevator we decided to save our energy for the Eiffel Tower.

Back in the subway we went. Our next stop was the Palais de Chaillot. We walked around the gardens and fountains and took some really great pictures of the Eiffel Tower, which was right across the Seine. The only disappointment with Paris so far was the amount of graffiti on such beautiful monuments.

We strolled across the river Seine to the bottom of the Eiffel Tower. Once again, you just cannot imagine the height until you are actually right there underneath it. We waited in a really long line to get to the top. There are actually 3 levels to the tower with viewing decks. It is progressively more expensive the higher you go. Well how often do you get to go the Eiffel Tower? Why would you not pay to go all the way to the top? We patiently waited our turn to climb to the top.

We finally made our way to each of the 3 levels. This is one of the best vantage points to really see the whole city. You could see for miles. It was a cold and misty at the very top. It was like you were practically in the clouds. On the first level there was a post office where you could mail letters that would get a special Eiffel Tower postmark.

Vicki and I were pretty tired at this point. Vicki had been up almost 24 hours, so we decided to head back to the hotel for a little nap before dinner. Well a little nap turned into a long winters nap. We ended sleeping till 10:30 at night. Since we hadn�t eaten all day we went down to ask the concierge what was still open for a late night dinner. He directed us to a major street that had plenty of choices. We settled on a restaurant that seemed similar to Friday�s back in the states. We both had steak and potatoes. Hopefully we won�t get mad cow disease.

It is now 1:30 in the morning and we just got back from dinner. We are going to catch a few more zzzzz before getting up in the morning to start day two of our adventure.

Sunday, May 5

We slept in till about 9AM when we finally decided we better get up and face the day. We headed out around 10:30AM for our first adventure of the second day. We headed to the train station to buy our tickets. There was a bit of confusion because the ticket teller didn�t speak English and we didn�t speak French. We got our tickets and were off for the day.

On the first Sunday of every month Le Louvre has free admission, so we decided to take advantage of this. The line was huge to enter, but once inside the crowds separated and went their separate ways. All the plaques by the works of art were in French, so we rented the audio tour in English. It is absolutely tremendous inside. There are thousands and thousands of works inside, there is just no way to make even small dent in the collection in one day. So you have to divide and conquer. We saw the typical things you would expect; the Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo. While the Mona Lisa is truly beautiful it is just amazing how many people were cramming into one room to see it they are passing up other spectacular works of art without giving them a glance. I think my favorite part of the museum were the Egyptian Antiquities. The time was approaching 2PM and our feet were starting hurt, so we left the museum in search of lunch. We settled on a little caf� near the museum. We had a good lunch then walked around the area a bit. Most of the shops were closed on Sunday, so we weren�t able to do much shopping. It started to rain so we thought we would get on the metro and find something to do indoors. We decided to tour the Paris Opera House. Once we got there the outside of the building was impressive, however we learned that the guidebook was incorrect - it is closed on Sunday.

By now the rain had stopped so we decided to head to the Grande Arche. After a long metro ride we reached our destination. It is located in a very modern area surrounded by office towers. There were also many sculptures throughout this area. Some of them were quite odd, such as the giant bronze thumb protruding from the ground. There were very few people here and there was an elevator to the top of the arch, so we decided to take the ride up. At the top there were several art exhibits one of which was an exhibit of photos from September 11. Once on the roof there was a good view of Paris. It looked straight down to the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.

It was getting pretty late and most things seemed to be closing so we decided to head back to the hotel and rest up for our next and last day in Paris.

Monday, May 6

Sleeping sounded like a good idea. We didn�t set the alarm, but we still got up around 9AM. We were ready about 10AM and were off. We didn�t have trouble purchasing tickets this morning. It�s too bad we are leaving today, after finally gotten the hang of buying tickets and finding our way around the subway system.

First on today�s agenda was Notre Dame Cathedral. There were no signs pointing you in the right direction when you got off the subway, so we walked around a bit before actually finding it. Once you see it, it seems hard to miss. Once again, the size and beauty is not appreciated till you see it in person. The detail of the stone work is truly awe inspiring. There was an innocent little sign that said �Tower Tour Left.� This sounded like a good idea, so we jumped in line. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. This tour actually involved climbing 425 steps to the top of the bell tower. Dangerously out of breath we made it to the top. The views were beautiful. It was a bit cloudy and if it had been a clear day you could have seen for miles. We were able to see the major points of interests from our birds eye view of the city.

After making our way down from the bell tower we toured the inside of the cathedral. The rose stained glass windows were very striking from the interior. The cathedral is fairly dark on the inside so the windows are in sharp contrast.

I was pretty tired after our workout in the bell tower, so we found a little caf� selling sandwiches and took our sandwiches into the courtyard of the cathedral and just talked and watched the pigeons and the people.

The opera house was closed the day before when we went the day before, so we decided to try again. We were in luck this time, the Opera House was open for tours. Once again the beauty of the architecture, you just can�t imagine, statues and busts of famous composers and musicians everywhere. We also got to see the inside of one the boxes.

After leaving the Opera House, we walked around the streets of Paris and bought a few things from street vendors and just took in the sights and the sounds of the city. A snack was in order so was stopped at a little caf� for cappuccinos and an almond croissants. We walked around a bit more before heading back to the hotel to gather our things.

Once at the hotel we decided on drinks at the hotel bar. It was nice time to just and relax before heading to the airport. The hotel bellman hailed us a cab and we headed to the airport. Traffic was really congested, I guess we got stuck in evening rush hour. Once we were in the vicinity of the airport we weren�t exactly sure where the cab driver was taking us. He didn�t speak English and he kept talking to us and we kept pointing to the name of the hotel Vicki was going to stay at that night. We did finally make it to the hotel, although I was a bit car sick from our adventure. We hadn�t eaten dinner before leaving downtown Paris so we ordered room service from the hotel, which was actually reasonably priced and tasted pretty good too. The hotel was the Raddison CDG. The room was pretty basic, but it was clean and seemed very safe.

It was now late and I had to catch my flight back to LPL, so I said good bye to Vicki and caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport.

I arrived back in the UK on time and made my way back to the hotel for another week of work.

I need to start planning my next trips. I have booked tickets to Amsterdam for the weekend of May 24th and Chicago the weekend of May 31st.

Here are the pictures from Paris. The link was not working previously.

Pictures

------------------
Rachel
CO - Platinum
Hilton - Diamond
SPG - Platinum


[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 06-03-2002).]

See, we told you you should post your trip reports here! I love seeing all the charter airlines in Europe, something we don't see that much here. Just curious about two things:

1. Would you compare EasyJet favorably to Southwest?

2. Did LPL have a lot of Lennon stuff in it, or just the name?

Nice report.

The link to the photos doesn't seem to be working?

The link to the photos is now working.



[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 06-03-2002).]

I would say EasyJet and Southwest are very similar. They depend on quick turn arounds. They also cater to the leisure traveller, where WN depends on the leisure customer and the cost mindful business traveller. I can honestly say that I don't think there was anyone on my plane that was travelling for business.


Other than the statue there really is nothing else Lennon related. I think just recently it was renamed John Lennon Airport. The airport sign as you approach does have the sketch on John from Imagine on the sign.

Trivia QuestionWhat are people from Liverpool called?

I think that they are called

"Liver pud lians"

What are people from Liverpool called?

Scouse or Scouser is one valid answer (as well as being the name of the accent ) as well as Liverpudlian

Dave

Great Report Rachel!

Loved your pictures... How did you get your Mona shots to turn out? Mine came out all black

missydarlin
I think the key was to not use a flash

Missy: I think the key is be sure that your thumb is not covering that glass thing on the front of the camera. Grins, don't know how to do smiles.

Great report & pics Where are you off to next??? Belle3388 (Evita) will be meeting up with me in Berlinthe weekdend of June 21-22, we'd love for you to join us!

Princess,

Thanks for getting this up for us. Great report and combined with the pictures has just reinforced my thinking that I really do need to get back to Paris sometime soon.

Keep on reporting. Vicariously is almost as good as being there.

Mike

I come back to the states on the 21st. I have no idea where I am going to go the weekend of the 14-16th, too bad you all won't be in Berlin that weekend. I would have been their in a second otherwise.

Thanks for a great report on Paris! I agree that it's a shame so many people crowd around the Mona Lisa while ignoring other fantastic (and, IMHO, better) works in the same room, as well as the rest of the Louvre complex.

Rachel

Glad you enjoyed The City of Light. Everyone should go there once in their life. Sometimes I am driven to saying "Nice city, shame about the people", but it has to be one of the jewels of Europe - and for me only 3 hours away on the train.

Loved you comment about the Monarch Airlines FAs uniforms being something out of the 1950s. The uniforms are brand new this year!Check out their website www.monarch-airlines.com/brand.asp . Monarch are one of the best holiday charter airlines around, amazingly on their package holiday flights to the Mediterranean they give you a substantial meal that would not be out of place in some Business Classes. OK, so you have to pay for all liquor. If it weren't for the fact that all this is lost on their typical, very much non-FF travellers, they would be better known. You can find them in Orlando-Sanford, FL most afternoons, bringing the Brits over to see Mickey (that note is for ElmhurstNick). The new image, at vast expense has led to a black and yellow livery being replaced with dark blue (which looks black) and yellow. How do the image consultants get away with it?

Incidentally, speaking of John Lennon Airport, alongside Liverpool Airport is Speke Hall, and from there you catch the shuttle bus that takes you to Paul McCartney's old house at 20 Forthlin Road, Allerton, Liverpool, a couple of miles away. You can only get in to the house if you arrive on the bus. It's a real bit of Beatles trivia. http://www.spekehall.org.uk/tour_information.htm

It was a shame you weren't introduced to the "Passport to Paris" tickets on the Paris Metro. These give 2, 4, or more days all-in travel on the trains, Metro and the buses. I generally reckon I may end up paying a few Euros more than doing separate tickets, but save far more in the lack of hassle. If you go on the Eurostar from London they even sell the tickets in the London terminal (so you buy it from an English speaker).

One advice I would give to first-time visitors is AVOID the attractions that are free on Sundays on that day, in the summer. They are so much more enjoyable on other days, and worth the admission.

The only places I would add to what you did, for a first-timer, are to go up to Montmatre, and to go out to Versailles. The latter has to be a full day trip (it's about 20 miles west of Paris, go there by train). Hire a bike inside Versailles and roam the grounds for miles. Everyone has their own favourite restaurants in Paris (generally ones they have stumbled across in the past) but they are all so good that you can just find them as you go.

Why is a nation so good at food so dreadful about breakfast??!!

Now Rachel, did you get that Tiara in your pictures in Cartier??


** - edited because I had misspelt Paul McCartney's name.How embarrassing (I hope no one saw it).



[This message has been edited by WHBM (edited 06-09-2002).]