can i go to lourdes end jan

It will be our 1st time to lourdes and we can only go end jan or early feb %26#39;09. What can we expect during this time of the year?

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Expect it to be very cold and quiet. However, some people prefer this to the crowds during the official pilgrimage season which follows Easter, when there are daily processions and pilgrimage masses at the grotto. The baths however are open all year round and during the winter months are available for 2 hours each afternoon.

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Most of the hotels, shops and cafes near the sanctuaries close through the winter. Many places open for the few days around 11th February (Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes). There are normally processions too during this time.

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Thank you for all your informations. I certainly have

to change my plans.

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Removed on: 2:19 am, September 27, 2009

Am I doomed?

I%26#39;m planning a London/Paris trip this summer. Staying in Paris for 6 night, June 12-18. I realize I%26#39;m leaving things late (I just got the airplane tickets booked yesterday), and am now having serious trouble finding paris hotels. It%26#39;s my best friend and I going to celebrate our college graduation, so we%26#39;re really trying to stick to a budget. I had hoped to find a room under 100euros/night if possible.

We don%26#39;t want to stay in hostels. I had really liked Hotel des Mines, but they just booked up too fast. We%26#39;d like a fairly central location, easy to get to from the airport and to gare du nord for eurostar to London. We%26#39;re not party people, so it%26#39;s not important to be near all the nightlife.

Any ideas? I feel like I%26#39;ve looked at 100 hotels, and they%26#39;re all booked or too expensive. Luckily I got a really good deal in London, so if we have to spend a little more in Paris I guess we can.

Thanks!

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check out Madeleine-Opera

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Check this out, they even have one for $99 a night! Heard good things about them, have booked for myself in late May and early June. But the great thing is you pay in US$ and that%26#39;s a huge savings!

This link is to their studio page, I have no idea if they still have anything available but you could call and ask.

http://vacationinparis.com/infop/studios.htm

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Try http://www.hotel-lelaumiere.com/index-gb.htm

It is not at all central, but only three stops on line 5 to Gare du Nord on the metro.

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Navrad makes a good point - if you find something in your price range that%26#39;s on a direct Metro line, it may not be quite as ideal but still will allow you to get to the center easily (as you note, it%26#39;s a problem that summer vacation is upon us!)

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A budget hotel we stayed at and liked is the Hotel St. Andre des Arts, which is located on rue St. Andre des Arts between Place St. Michel and St. Germain des Pres. It%26#39;s not fancy, but the staff are very friendly and the neighborhood is absolutely the best -- lots going on nearby, and it%26#39;s walking distance to everything. It%26#39;s at most 10 minutes walk from the St. Michel Metro stop, which is on the RER B line from CDG airport. The street-side rooms are nicer, with large windows and plenty of light and the one we had was quite large by Paris budget hotel standards.

We%26#39;ve also like the Hotel de la Sorbonne, which is walking distance from the Luxembourg Metro stop, also on the RER B line. The rooms are small but very clean, and the location is great. It%26#39;s not quite as central as St. Andre des Arts, but it%26#39;s near nice things like the Luxembourg Gardens, the Place de la Sorbonne, the Pantheon, etc. It%26#39;s in heart of the Quartier Latin, and it%26#39;s really not a very long walk up to the Seine and all the sites nearby.

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Hi --

Congratulations on your graduation!

Central really isn%26#39;t an issue, and safety isn%26#39;t an issue, but budget is, so find the hotel and plan your sight seeing from there. The Metro makes everything easy and there are restaurants, brasseries, cafes, bakeries, etc., in just about every little neighbourhood, so you won%26#39;t starve even if you%26#39;re a little off the beaten path.

There is nothing to prevent you from staying out on your wanderings and having dinner near Notre Dame or where ever before you Metro back to your hotel.

I%26#39;m seldom able to plan very far ahead, so I often end up in a little one or two star hotel that I%26#39;ve never heard of. It really doesn%26#39;t matter. Even by myself, I wander the city, dine out at a Gallic hour, and walk or take the Metro home afterwards. No matter where I%26#39;ve stayed - perhaps 8 different arrondissements over the last 15 years, I%26#39;ve never felt unsafe, and I%26#39;ve always found interesting little shops and cafes in the neighbourhood.

Find your hotel, and then have a great time.

Bon voyage.

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Hi -

Try this site - I used your dates and found loads of hotels - but more importantly - some in the vicinity of $100USD

http://kayak.about.com/s/hotels

Good luck.

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Take a look at www.venere.com

There seems to be plenty of availability for your dates.

You can sort the results by price.

You can narrow your search by neighborhood(s).

I wouldn%26#39;t necessarily book through Venere. Sometimes their rates are a bit lower, but I%26#39;ve also known them to be a bit higher, that directly with the hotel%26#39;s website.

The ratings are useful, too.

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With a stay that long, you might want to look into an apartment rather than a hotel. It is often way less expensive than a hotel with way more space. You always get a least a kitchenette and can often get extra amenities like washer/dryer. There are a lot of different apartment rental sites. One that I%26#39;ve used twice in the past is servissimo.com. A quick check just now showed a studio on the Ile Saint Louis for 800 euros for your time frame. (A little more than you wanted to spend, perhaps, but you cannot get more central than in the middle of the river, a bridge away from Notre Dame...)

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Love vacationinparis.com

for an apt. See if they have a studio left. ID #108 good size and location for college students. Friends daughter stayed there- loved the street.

Dining with teens in Paris

We will be in Paris in June and I have 2 teens who enjoy good food, but not exotic food. We would like some great steak, great deserts and good wine for Mom and Dad. We will be doing the tourist sights during the day, so we will be in the busy sections of town. We need suggestions for restaurants so we can make a reservation. Thanks

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Hi --

Go into any corner brasserie in any neighbourhood and steak frites will be on the menu. Reservations aren%26#39;t necessary.

The house wine will be more than drinkable and brasserie portions tend to be a little larger than those in restaurants - a good thing if you have teen boys.

I don%26#39;t know where you can count on thick steaks like what we have here in North America except the dining rooms in American chain hotels and the Hard Rock Cafe, none of which could be considered reasonable in price.

I have no idea what exotic food is.

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I echo the sentiments of the earlier poster. The bistros, creperies and restaurants of that sort are what Paris means to us after ten trips. Faux filet avec frites is available at every bistro and each place tends to have a house specialty which they offer as a %26quot;formule,%26quot; with a fixed offering and price. At some bistros it is salads or stews, at some it is pasta or whatever. One issue with kids is that a coke costs the same as a glass of wine and the cokes are small. A kid could put away fifteen bucks worth of coke in an instant. Ask for %26quot;carafe d%26#39;eau%26quot;, which is house water and is gratis. We always drink the house wine and have never had a bad glass. All the bistros and restaurants have their menus posted so you can cruise until you see something you like. Be adventurous. Our first few trios when our language skill were meager often resulted in surprises at dinner, but they were wonderful surprises that we talks about for years.

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Hi beanosmom,

I third the previous postings. Went two years ago with my then, 14 year old daughter. Ate mostly at braserries, cafes and some restaurants.

There was one restaurant, forgot the name but its right across the street foem the Trocadero plaza.

Natasha had a wonerful pasta bolognese plate and I was able to get my French fix and had , pate,

escargots, etc. The house wine was very good.

No reservations needed .

Goimg again this Jine ,Natasha is now 26 and my son is coming who is now 14 years old. Here are some of the Restaurants I have found that meet our crietria.

Montmarte area

La Cremaillere

www.cremaillere1900.com

Le Zimmer , 1e (near Louvre)

www.lezimmer.com

Le Boeuf sur le Toit (near Champs deElysees)

www.boeufsurletoit.com

Relais de L%26#39;Entrecote (2locations 6e and 8the)

www.relaisentrecote.fr/uk

Chartier 9e (near Galaria Lafayette)

www.restaurant-chartier.com

Restaurant Polidor 6e (St Germane)

restaurantpolidor.info

La Cigale(SOUFFLES)

4 rue Recamier(think its near Eiffel Tower area)

Check out websits for menue and prices , some of these might require reservations.

If you need any other help let me know ,I%26#39;ve done

nothing but research places to eat with my 2 kids

Curves

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Sorry meant Natasha is now 16 !!!

Long day getting tired

Curves

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Thanks for the input! At least you didn%26#39;t ask what exotic food was! My kids are adventurous eaters, bit sometimes they draw the line.

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For most restaurants you can look at the menu that day as you wander by,, and if you like it , go in and make a reservation for that evening.This would exclude very fancy places, but since your kids( like most) wouldn%26#39;t want anything exotic, it would be a waste to take them somewhere with a 100( per person) euro menu! LOL

Really most of the time ( I took my 14 yr old son three years ago, and this year I am taking my 12 yr old daughter) we were so beat that I tended to find places for us to eat near where ever we ended up ...or near the hotel. Last year I went just with a friend and we went to a few places that were more out of the way, and more adult so to speak... plus we would go out to eat at 8;30 or later, whereas with kids mine like to eat between 6-7:30.

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We love Bistro du 7eme in the 7th district. The prices are right, the food is great and they%26#39;ve got %26quot;normal%26quot; things your kids will enjoy while also offering the escargot and foie gras for you and your husband. Their address is 56, Blvd. de la Tour Maubourg and phone is 01-45-51-93-08.

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I have always wanted to try Breakfast in America, www.breakfast-in-america.com.

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I suggest you try Altitude 95 on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower for dinner. Make a reservation for around sunset and dine while the lights of the city come on. I have dined there twice with my teenage daughter and it was memorable both times.

DH and I took our 12 year old son to Auberge de la Blanche Reine on I%26#39;le St. Louis. Excellent food in a nice atmosphere. The shops on the street around the restaurant were very fun before dinner.

For a drink and appetizers, I suggest Le Petit Pont directly across the Seine from Notre Dame (at the start of the Latin Quarter). It offers a lovely view of Notre Dame from the outside tables and provides a great place to relax with a bowl of onion soup or delicious escargot. Moms

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Removed on: 3:38 am, September 27, 2009

French TGV, is it punctual? reliable?

I%26#39;m considering a trip back from Lyon, France to Charles de Gaulle airport by TGV, arrving at 10:04 and expecting a flight to catch at 11:50.

I was wondering if I should reconsider.

I appreciate any comments or suggestions.

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Yes TGV has a good ontime record. It isnt bothered much by weather. However, all bets are off if there is a strike. Fortunately, the unions schedule strikes in advance with both a begin and end date / time. This would allow you to make other plans.

However, 1h45 mins could be tight if checking in for an international flight. Are you flying back to the US? If so what airline? What terminal? What class?

You understand that if you are late you are at the airlines mercy basically. They could take pity on you and let you fly the next day for a small fee or depending on your fare class, you could lose your ticket all together ... Food for though.

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Our experience with the French railway system (TGV, SNCF, etc.) has also been very good: punctual and reliable, except of course when there is a strike as mentioned by the other TA poster. I guess I would be a little more concerned about your having just under 2 hours for checking in for presumably an international flight back to the US. You probably will be okay, but then again depending on the time of day and your airline, etc., there may be lines at the ticket counters and at the security checkpoints. If you have some sort of an elite frequent flyer with your airline, that actually will help. We used the elite check-in with ours and things went pretty smoothly this past Friday at CDG.

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Hi --

If you are indeed about to fly back to the US, you%26#39;ll need a minimum of 3 hours lead time for check in before your flight. For a mid-day flight, I%26#39;d want 4 hours.

Your airline will have a time selected at which they will shut down new check ins for your flight, and begin to give the unoccupied seats to passengers with stand by status. There is nothing you can do to reverse this process, so be sure to check with your airline about your grace time.

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3 to 4 hours is excessive IMHO. 2 hours is fairly standard. I%26#39;ve never seen a situation where I couldnt complete check-in / security etc and get to the plane in 2 hours and i%26#39;ve flown in and out of CDG many times. With internet check-in, fast bag drops and kiosks the process has improved. Also, if push comes to shove and it looks to be taking to long you simply make yourself known and they will check you in.

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Thank you for the valuable info. Greatly appreciated.

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Removed on: 1:25 am, September 27, 2009

Antibes, France

Travelling to this are at the end of July. Apart from the beach , any advice onthings to see and do , two children ages 12 and 15.

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I am no expert, but I spent two wonderful weeks with my husband in Antibes last June. Also, it%26#39;s a while since my sons were teenagers - they are all grown up and getting married now! However, three ideas immediately spring to mind:

1) Take the bus from the Gare Routiere (bus station) in Antibes to Eden Rock. From the end of the line bus stop we walked down a steep hill to the sea. From there we were able to scramble over rocks and practically stand beside the Paparrazi who were stationed there with huge-lensed cameras aimed at any unsuspecting famous people coming/going by sea to the fabulous Hotel Eden Rock. We saw no-one famous, but got a real buzz from this experience - and the views all around there are terrific.

2} Take the same bus but get off at Garoupe Beach. and walk round the coastal path which has spectular views.

2) Visit the old fort in Antibes. We weren%26#39;t sure about it, but on our last day decided to give it a go and we felt it was really worth a visit, if for the views alone. There is a good guided tour in French and English and your kids may be interested to know that the fort features in the James Bond film %26#39;Never Say Never Again%26#39;. It%26#39;s beautifully lit up at night time.

We are going back again this year - third year in a row - but staying in Nice this time, but will be returning to the coastal path at Garoupe.

I hope these ideas are helpful. As I say I am no expert, but I love the whole area and the fact that it is so easy to travel by train or bus to different places. So much to see and do - can%26#39;t wait!

Have a lovely trip!

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Just be there .... I promise you it will be enough. Wander round the old town, take a coffee at Cafe Felix and people watch through the arch, stare at the yachts in the harbour, have the best Flan Nature from the market ..... simply enjoy this wonderful town.

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I completely agree about walking along the Cap d%26#39;Antibes.

With its white inlets that plunge into the Med, it%26#39;s gorgeous even if it%26#39;ll be busy at the end of July.

For the bus from the town of Antibes to the Cap d%26#39;Antibes, it%26#39;s the EnviBus line. Check out their schedules on envibus.fr (has english version). The line to Eden Roc is %26quot;Ligne 2%26quot; and you can get off at Garoupe, Contrebandiers, Galion or Bouée to begin the walk to the Cap d%26#39;Antibes.

Enjoy!

AzurAlive.com

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Hi Siubhan,

Just 4 kms East of Antibes is the Marineland theme park. Your teens will love it. Five different parks with Marineland being the best, with every type of sealife. A glass surrounded whale tank, where you can view killer whales interacting with their trainers. When i was last there, there were nine whales, three born in captivity. As well, they have the largest dolphin pool in Europe. A walk through shark pool, and a ray touch pool. You also have an Aqua-splash, and wavepool, and other great water activities. To end it all, they even have miniature golf. Enjoy!

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Removed on: 2:22 am, September 27, 2009

30th anniversary, Altitude 95?

Im sorry, another Altitude 95 question....but wer%26#39;e leaving in 2 days on our first trip, and I%26#39;m re-thinking our reservation for dinner at Altitude, because of the negative comments lately.

Do you think we should celebrate elsewhere? I know there are so many good restaurants to choose....we are staying in the St Germain area, any help appreciated!!!!! Thanks!

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i suggest you Le Violon d%26#39;Ingres in the 7th(www.leviolondingres.com) a bit expensive, but really nice or in the 6th, St Germain : ze kitchen galerie (www.thekitchengalerie.fr) ...

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May I recommend www.restaurant-cafedelhomme.com

My husband and I too will be in Paris for our 30th anniversary in September. We originally were going to make reservations at Altitude 95 until I read about Cafe de L%26#39;Homme in one of the threads. I thought it would be more romantic to dine on their outside terrace with the Eiffel glistening in our view. Have a wonderful anniversary!!!!

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There is something very magical about dining on the Eiffel Tower. I recently dined at Altitude 95 and found the food delicious and the service impeccable. In fact, our waiter remembered my daughter from our trip two years earlier. I thought he was kidding until he pointed out the precise table where we sat. I can%26#39;t get that kind of service here!

I have not dined at Cafe de l%26#39;Homme. But I have enjoyed two delicious meals that created lifetime memories at Altitude 95. Moms

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Removed on: 3:38 am, September 27, 2009

photo for carte orange/passe navigo decouverte

Hello all,

Will a good-quality colour photocopy of our drivers%26#39; license pictures suffice for the photo needed for these cards? (trying to organize ahead of our departure Sun. for Paris!)

thanks1

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Doesn%26#39;t need to be in color.

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Thanks, Francophool; so in other words any photocopied photo around 1 %26quot; x 7/8%26quot; will do?

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yes, i just scanned photos (head shots), put it into powerpoint, save as a jpeg, and had it printed at costco, 2 photos on one page/print, $0.19.

size is the most important, so it will fit.

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You can just print it on regular copy paper. It%26#39;s not necessary to print it out at Costco.

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Removed on: 4:17 am, September 27, 2009