Stew Ross (author) sitting on Sanson grave at Montmartre Cemetery. (Photo by Dan Owen)
Always Enough To Do
How many times have you visited a city you’ve always wanted to see, and allotted, a certain amount of days only to find out once you get there that you can see everything in half the time?
Yet there are other cities that it doesn’t matter how many times you return there is always enough things to do, to learn, and experience.
That is the uniqueness of Paris.
There aren’t that many cities in the world that you return to for the twelfth time and you’re still experiencing new things. There’s London, Rome, Tokyo, and New York City to mention a few.
I would never discourage first timers to Paris to disregard the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Tuileries Gardens, or a boat ride on the Seine. Any other city and they are called, “Tourist Traps” – not in Paris.
I think that the answer to this question is really applicable to travel anywhere, not just in Europe. It’s the biggest travel mistake I have made, and it’s a travel mistake my wife has made. WE PACK TOO MANY CLOTHES!
Stew and Sandy confer their next sight-seeing move with professional tour guide, Raphaelle. (Photo by Dan Owen)
As we have become more savvy in our travels, we’ve learned how to pack. I have found that I really don’t need eight pairs of pants. I’ve learned that there are very comfortable walking shoes other than Nike tennis shoes. I’ve learned that wearing the tee shirt or baseball cap with the New York Yankees emblem is not an appropriate thing to do (full disclosure: I don’t follow baseball). While I’ve never done this, I just shake my head when I see Mr. and Mrs. America in the crowd wearing matching sweat suits. I always say to myself, “Wow, what a pair of shmucks.”
Here’s another mistake…
One of the other mistakes is to find yourself in a city for three days and the ONE museum that you came to see is closed for three days a week. Guess what? It’s the three days you are there. So my advice is to research the primary sites before you commit to travel dates. In other words, look the places up on the Internet and get a sense for when they are open (and closed). We got to Paris once and we had never been to the Picasso Museum. So we trucked on over and found it was closed for renovations – very disappointing but our consolation prize was a visit to Père Lachaise cemetery.
Another mistake
…is to not take advantage of products or services you can purchase prior to your travels. While some of these are discounted, others will save you time when you get to your destination. If you’re going to travel by rail, then look into getting the Euro Rail Pass. It cannot be bought on the continent. You must buy before you leave. If you’re going to London or Paris, buy one of the Tube/Metro passes for a week or however long you need. Check out the city you’re going to visit to see if they offer a museum/attraction admission package. An example would be the Paris Museum Pass. You’ll have to do a little arithmetic to see if it’s worth it but one of the intangible benefits is that it lets you bypass those long lines at the Louvre or other popular attractions.
You will make travel mistakes. We all do. The smart people learn from their mistakes. They correct them the next time and just move on to new mistakes.
Do we have a lot of stories? Of course we do. I’m looking forward to sharing these with you. Please continue to visit our blog.
Thanks so much for following my blog and my little journey through this incredibly interesting process of writing a book and then getting the bloody thing published.
– Stew
Please note that I do not and will not take compensation from individuals or companies I mention or promote in my blog.
“Another outstanding, well-researched, and presented book by Stew Ross. It gives a detailed guided walking tour full of facts about the activities of the Gestapo during their occupation of Paris during World War II. I highly recommend this book to everyone who has an interest in what life was like during the Nazi occupation in France.”
Richard H.F. Neave, President Royal British Legion Paris branch, member Paris-based Libre Résistance SOE “F” Section and author of SOE: A Life in the Shadows
Mr. Ross brings the streets of Paris to life, making it possible for you to stand on the very spots where the grand and tragic events of the French Revolution took place. If you are looking for more than just the typical tourist experience in Paris, then this book is must reading!
