UK and Europe 4 month sojourn!

[Scash]

We are about to embark on a 4 month journey to UK and Europe. Trip was originally planned for 2020 but COVID changed that! Original trip was for 5 weeks as were were working then, but we have now retired so have extended to 4 months.

Flights are on QF points and we fly out 5 July QF51 BNE-SIN J then AF257 SIN-CDG J. Flights home in November are CX252 LHR-HKG F and then CX157 HKG-BNE J. The trip is partly planned and partly unplanned. We start in Paris, then up to Dunkirk, across to London, Liverpool and then 9 days driving around Ireland. From there we head to Edinburgh where our son lives and will base there for a month. We arrive late July and the Edinburgh Fringe festival will have just started, so we will spend time going to shows etc and exploring Edinburgh. Our son has got tickets to Scotland v France rugby union international in Murrayfield Stadium which I'm really looking forward to!

August is a free month and we will travel around Scotland (will borrow the kids car!) plus look at cheap fares to other places for short trips. In early September we head to Croatia for a 5 night Croatian coastal cruise, then Vienna, Budapest, Salzburg, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam and then back to Edinburgh. Travel around Europe is all by train.

We're arrive back in Edinburgh in early October but head back to Paris later in October for a couple of Rugby Union World Cup games. Between games we are going to do a road trip with the kids to Epernay, Dijon, Annecy, Lyon and then back to Paris. Back to Edinburgh for a few days and then down to London for a couple of days before we fly home 8 November.

I will try and do a trip report but I am a bit unreliable and tend to do it in spurts so there could be delays between updates!

Sorry for repeating myself but I have quoted a post I did recently on 2023 travel plans to save having to re type and to give background on our trip. More to follow!

 

[Scash]

The trip started at BNE QFi lounge and obligatory glass of bubbles. The bubbles were very ordinary and food offering average. Qantas really needs to lift their game.

 

[Scash]

QF51 to SIN was delayed by about 30 minutes but other than that flight was very good. Crew were really friendly and chatty and service was spot on. i thought food was really good and had the dumplings (which were amazing!) and the beef. Beef was a little over cooked but still OK. I was quite full after lunch and a few wines so then had a snooze for an hour or so (

 

[Scash]

We had a layover of just under 6 hours at SIN but as we were flying AF ( even though booked through QF on points) we only had access to the Marhaba Lounge. Food and drink were OK (no bubbles though) and reasonably quiet and to be honest probably on a par with BNE QFi lounge.

 

[Scash]

Second leg SIN-CDG was on AF257 and departed on time around 10:40 pm. I’m guessing the plane was on older 777 as it was showing signs of wear a tear and seat functions were a bit limited. PDB of champagne, juice etc offered. Meal service commenced not long after take off with starter served along with cheese platter and desert.



Main was the braised beef ribs

I was happy with my choices and thought everything was quite tasty. Crew were polite but seemed a little indifferent. Maybe it was just the language barrier as I did see them chatting to some passengers but I’m guessing these were high status holders. After dinner and another red wine or two I had about about 6 hours of fitful sleep. We landed in CDG pretty much on time which was around 6:00 am Paris time. All in all a good flight!

 

[Scash]

Sunrise as we were coming in to Paris. I took the photo through my neighbours window when she went to the toilet!

 

[Scash]

Collected bags and met our driver. We were staying in the St Germain area and the trip into there took about 1 1/2 hours due to traffic. Our room wasn’t ready so we went to a cafe for the obligatory French breakfast !

After that we just wandered around and reacquainted ourselves with the area until our room was ready.

 

[Scash]

Day 2 was a big day if exploring and we walked about 17 klms! We were up early and pretty much had the place to ourselves.

 

[Scash]

We walked from St Germain to the Arc de Triomphe, Galeries Lafayette, and then Montmarte.

Inside Galeries Lafayette

View from the observation deck.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Collected bags and met our driver. We were staying in the St Germain area and the trip into there took about 1 1/2 hours due to traffic. Our room wasn’t ready so we went to a cafe for the obligatory French breakfast !
View attachment 336683
After that we just wandered around and reacquainted ourselves with the area until our room was ready.

Enjoy! Ah, memories. First thing we always do when in the area was go to a cafe near the intersection of Bd Saint-Germain and Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie near the metro, and have a ham and cheese omelette and glass of Beaujolais! We used to like the restaurants in Rue de Buci. And Accueil - Le Christine is excellent.

 

[TheRealTMA]

If you are into food, this was one of the best restaurants we ever ate at in Paris. Book for lunch.

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[TheRealTMA]

Btw: We’ve stayed in a number of hotels in the 6th. What hotel have you chosen?

 

[Scash]

It was my birthday and we then headed to Montmartre for lunch at Le Coq & Fils. This restaurant specialises in French Heritage Poultry breeds and had been recommended to us by my brother.

Food was delicious but the desert and especially the chocolates were the stand out. Desert was a lime sorbet with egg white emulsion and buffalo gras vodka!

 

[Scash]

Btw: We’ve stayed in a number of hotels in the 6th. What hotel have you chosen?

We stayed at the Hotel Dauphine and rooms were bigger than we expected and certainly bigger than the hotel we stayed at last time we were there.

 

[Scash]

If you are into food, this was one of the best restaurants we ever ate at in Paris. Book for lunch.

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Thank you @TheRealTMA but this is a belated post and we’ve actually left Paris.

 

[Flyfrequently]

It was my birthday and we then headed to Montmartre for lunch at Le Coq & Fils. This restaurant specialises in French Heritage Poultry breeds and had been recommended to us by my brother.
View attachment 336698View attachment 336699View attachment 336700
Food was delicious but the desert and especially the chocolates were the stand out. Desert was a lime sorbet with egg white emulsion and buffalo gras vodka!

Joyeux Anniversaire @Scash

 

[TheRealTMA]

Thank you @TheRealTMA but this is a belated post and we’ve actually left Paris.

So, where next?

 

[Scash]

So, where next?

After Paris we went north to Dunkirk for two nights then London for 5 nights. We’re currently in Liverpool for three nights. We leave on the 21st for 9 days driving around Ireland. We had some big days in Paris and London so was too buggered to post and I’m trying to now catch up!

 

[Scash]

Joyeux Anniversaire @Scash

Thank you

 

[Scash]

After Paris we headed to Dunkirk for two nights mainly for the history and the historic evacuation of 338,000 Belgian, British and French soldiers from Dunkirk in the early stages of WW2 (Operation Dynamo or the Miracle of Dunkirk). It’s hard to imagine now what they went through. Dunkirk itself is a very pretty place and worth a visit but not a lot to do. It’s was almost totally destroyed during the war and some of the few remaining original buildings have what appear to be numerous bullet holes!