EUROPE ITINERARY
Leave Friday
Arrive London Saturday
DAY 1 - SATURDAY
*Arrive in London, go through customs etc.
*Arrive at flat in Notting Hill around 10:30AM:
*Drop our bags, settle in a bit, then we are headed to PORTOBELLO MARKET! Huge flea market with antiques, vintage clothes, jewelry etc. We’ll eat lunch in Notting Hill somewhere fun. So it’s sight-seeing and shopping day and trying to work off jet lag.
Then we'll pick up some provisions (Tesco, Waitrose, or Recipease).
IF (big IF) we have any time/energy we could explore nearby Holland Park? Westbourne Grove?
DAY 2 - SUNDAY
Breakfast - Notting Hill
By 10:00am - Head out to St James Park through Kensington Gardens, where we’ll see Kensington Palace (where Prince William and Kate reside)
Get to Buckingham Palace by 11:30AM to see the Changing of the Guard.
From there continue to Westminster - a 15 minute walk. Lunch somewhere in the area.
We’ll see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament (all are “walk-bys”)
and go into the Churchill War Rooms (use London Pass) - probably take an hour or so (all right by each other),10 Downing Street (FYI - Big Ben will take half an hour or so to photograph from every angle, ditto parliament which is next door and Westminster Abbey which is round the corner.)
Easy to grab a tube back to Notting Hill from Westminster.
Freshen up and get ready for the evening. Will leave by 6:00PM (if not 5:45PM)
Drinks at a traditional English pub
Dinner reservations at 7:00PM at Rex and Mariano in Soho. It’s ~ 20 minutes on the tube. 2 St Annes Court, London, W1F 0BN
DAY 3 - MONDAY
Leave by 9:15am. From our flat, go walk around Hyde Park - see Kensington Palace - and walk to Harrod’s (it’s in Knightsbridge which is on the other side of Hyde Park - basically on the diagonal from us in Notting Hill-a 30 minute walk).
Get to Harrod’s when it opens at 10:00am. Shop around and nosh there.
Then could take in Sloan Street a bit then head to Fortnum & Mason(12 min via tube from Harrod's) - iconic British dept. store - (via Tube). Take in Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, maybe Benjamin Franklin’s house - just for entertainment.
Then walk to The Savoy (8 minute walk) - lv by 2:30pm
High Tea at THE SAVOY at 3:15pm-4:15-30
After tea walk along the Thames down to the London Eye, see Big Ben. Then head back to the flat (~26 min via tube)
Late dinner somewhere - want to get Fish & Chips - The Fish House of Notting Hill (29 Pembridge Rd)?
DAY 4 - TUESDAY
BRUNCH with a view!!! at Duck & Waffle at Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate - 26 min via tube)10:00am
Then head to Leadenhall Market - 7 minute walk (It is one of the oldest markets in London, dating back to the 14th century, and is located in the historic centre of the City of London. was used in Harry Potter films as Diagon Alley)
Then go to the Tower of London - 13 minute walk (crown jewels, Beefeater tour, white tower - could take 2-3 hours) - USE LONDON PASS - until 2ish
Then see All Hallows By the Tower Church (the oldest church in London founded in 675 AD)
Then if we have energy - go check out Covent Garden?
Then head back to the flat to pack up and freshen up before:
DINNER - Terroirs Wine Bar at 5:30pm 5 William IV Street (~ 23 ride in a cab from our flat) http://terroirswinebar.com
Head after dinner to the PLAY - arrive by 7:00pm- "AMERICAN BUFFALO" at the Wyndham’s Theatre (Charing Cross Rd. in the West End) - about a 4 minute walk from dinner - at 7:30pm - (30 min back to the flat)
Then we leave EARLY tomorrow morning for Paris!
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DAY 5 - WEDNESDAY
Leave at 6:40AM to St Pancras to catch a Eurostar train to Paris -
Leaves London at 7:55am and arrives in Paris at 11:23am ***NOTE there is a 1 hour time difference!
Arrive at at the Gare du Nord station and it’s 20-30 minutes to the flat.
We’ll drop our bags by noon, eat lunch at a nearby café, and hit the streets toward the Eiffel Tower! We can take the Metro or it’s a 38 minute walk.
We have a 2:00pm “Skip the Line Eiffel Tower Tour” - we have to be there at 1:45pm - 36, Avenue de la Bourdonnais
It’s a 2 hour tour to the top of the tower. It’ll give us a great vista of all of Paris and allow us to get our bearings to begin our stay.
Then we’ll head back to the flat - unpack, pick up some provisions at a nearby market - have a drink of wine and get ready for dinner (should be back by 4:45-5).
*DINNER:
Clover at 7:30PM (located in St Germain des Pres)5 rue Perronet, 75007 - a 3 minute walk from our flat
http://parisbymouth.com/clover/ Quaint & cozy eatery with an open kitchen serves up modern French cuisine & wines.
DAY 6 - THURSDAY
Breakfast - grab something at a nearby cafe. Then get ready and leave by 9:30am and walk 18 minutes to meet Wendy Lyn for the food tour! http://www.thepariskitchen.com/wendy-lyns-private-paris-food-wine-cheese-tours/It’s a 3 hour tour. 10:00-1:00pm. Meeting her at Maubert - Mutualite (Rue Jacob to RIGHT on Rue de Seine to LEFT on Blvd St Germain. Just past the Sorbonne et Musee de Cluny.) The tour ends with:
Lunch at L’Avant Comptoir
Afternoon - explore around St Germain des Pres - go to Bon Marche - buy some wine and cheese and bread if we haven’t already or we could do the chocolate crawl - see below
or go to Luxembourg Gardens or Rodin Museum
*DINNER (~15/22 minutes away cab vs metro/bus):
FRENCHIE!! at 8:00PM 5, rue du Nil 75002 Paris
Phone: +33 (0)1.40.39.96.19
Subway 3, 4: Sentier, Réaumur Sébastopol
Subway 3, 4: Sentier, Réaumur Sébastopol
DAY 7 - FRIDAY
9:30am - Be at Notre Dame (an 18 minute walk from our flat) when it opens
Walk through the streets to Pont des Arts (the Love Lock Bridge)
Walk along the bank of the Seine to the Louvre, through Tuileries Gardens
then down the
Champs Elysees, see Chanel and Louis Vuitton store right by the Ritz, and go all the way to the Arc de Triomphe
Lunch - pick a cafe!
Musee Rodin? Musee D'Orsay?
Drinks? Hotel Ritz - Hemingway Bar (it’s a 19 minute walk from the Ritz to The Clown Bar)
DINNER:
THE CLOWN BAR at 7:30PM 114 Rue Amelot, 11th arr, Right Bank - 31-35 minutes by metro
DAY 8 - SATURDAY
Arrive by 9AM at Les Puces de Saint-Ouen Flea Market - http://www.marcheauxpuces-saintouen.com/3en.aspx
Get off at the Giribaldi Station (Line 13) and walk to the south - - - PAUL BERT!
Then head to Montmartre and the highest point in the city - Sacre Coeur Basilica (highest point in the city at 425 ft above sea level)
Walk the streets where many artists and writers have lived for 200+ years
Cafes, artists, side streets to explore - great to stop for a drink or two & lunch
At the bottom of the hill - Moulin Rouge
Spend the afternoon exploring more of St Germain des Pres
- could picnic in the park or along the Seine? Or could visit a museum if we haven't see what we want already (see below)
OR
Could start at Moulin Rouge (Toulouse-Leautrec painted circus freaks and bawdy prostitutes from here. Then go up Rue Lepic toRue des Absesses (van gogh lived at 54). Turn L at Rue Lavignan (tree lined) Timhotel and Bateau-Lavoir (Picasso and Modigliani lived). Wind to Rue Norvins till streets collide - Dali Museum - +Place du Calvaire - best view of Paris. Then old square of Place du Tertre.
*DINNER:
SPRING at 7:15PM 6 rue Bailleul, 2nd arr, Right Bank
DAY 9 - SUNDAY
We’ll either eat an early brunch/breakfast out (Les Deux Magot? Cafe de Flore?)
or pick up some final croissants and coffee nearby before packing up and heading to the airport :(
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Other London possibilities:
- could go check out Covent Garden? Could go see the National Gallery?
Go ON the London Eye????
St Pauls - Oxford Street - then possibly take in Tate Modern - and walk the south bank river path past the globe (Shakespeare’s theater founded in 1599).
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Other sights to see in Paris to try and fit in if we want:
*Picasso Museum ~ 30 minutes by public transportation—heard this museum was great
*Musee du vin ~ 35 minutes “ “ “ - 16th Arron.—Brock went and said it was great
*Musee Rodin~ 18 minute WALK - very near our flat- Ross saw in Architectural Digest - beautiful gardens and art— I really want to see this one!
*Musee d’Orsay ~ 11 minute WALK - in the 7th Arron. - fabulous museum that’s more “doable” than the Louvre - Another one I’d really like to try and go to
*Do a Chocolate Crawl in St Germain - 15 world class chocolatiers w/i a single square mile (some of the best are: Henri Leroux, Jean-Paul Hevin, Patrick Roger, Jean-Charles Rouchoux, La Maison du chocolate, Christian Constant, Pierre Marcolini)
*Traipse through “covered passages” - the best ones are: Galerie Vivienne, passage du grand cert, passage molliere, cour du Bel Air
*Walk/run/picnic in Luxembourg Gardens (near our flat)
*Visit Marais - very cool area, young people, Victor Hugo lived (author of Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserables etc) - 27 minutes by public transport - 3rd Arrond.
*stroll across the Pont Neuf (The Pont Neuf is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. Its name, which was given to distinguish it from older bridges that were lined on both sides with houses, has remained.)
*Just “be” - - - find an interesting or charming cafe, order a bottle of wine, and just watch the magic of Paris go by…
A final note - the above itinerary details certainly can be adjusted. This guide is a framework - if we are exhausted, we can go to a Plan “B” at any time.
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