Paris hotel ...

[herbidacious]

I wasn't... But I am easily freaked out!

If no one reminds me, I will have forgotten about it by May

I certainly won't be able to make T keep his stuff off the floor!

[Suffs]

Under no account put suitcases or coats on the bed or soft furnishings.

[KeenCook]

Under no account put suitcases or coats on the bed or soft furnishings.

Suffs, could you please remind me before we depart on 5th Feb I know I'll forget

[Suffs]

I’ll try

[Stokey Sue]

More than you wanted to know about the current bedbug infestations and tourism
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct4 ... factual%5D

It's worth remembering that almost alone among obligate blood suckers, bed bugs tend not to carry diseases you can catch from them; they don't carry malaria, dengue or anything like that, the bite is nasty, but that's all.

[Pepper Pig]

Have you seen this Herbi?

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2024 ... save-money

[herbidacious]

Thanks PP. Good idea in principle. I think I'd rather stay centrally though, not least because, with my chronic fatigue, I would prefer to be able to get back to my hotel as quickly as possible - and I will probably need to rest at some point in the afternoon, unfortunately. (I am hoping that the whole idea of going and it working out ok from that perspeftive isn't delusional.)

To stay at that very hotel is not as cost effective as the author suggests. Staying the same days I am staying, it would only be 15 euros per room per night less than I am paying. Both hotels are 3 stars. And a one way ticket from Chantilly to Paris is just under 8 euros.
Also you have to add 15 minutes onto half hour the journey into Paris/Gare du Nord to get from the hotel to Chantilly station...

But the chateau sounds worth a visit. And the idea is a good one.

[Stokey Sue]

I know a lot of people do Potsdam for Berlin, which is a similar idea mentioned in the article, we planned to stay in Chantilly the next time we went (which never happened) but that was because we had family in the horse racing business

[herbidacious]

It does look nice!

[aero280]

We haven't been into Paris recently, but we have always stayed on the outside and travelled in. We found it was quite convenient to stay near an RER station and get a fast train into Paris. And it was easier to get a Metro to a main station, usually without changing, when we wanted to get back.

[slimpersoninside]

We often stay on the outskirts and travel in when we visit large cities, it suits us.

I think it was 2019 when we stayed at the Pullman hotel with an entrance in Brussels station, our plans were to use Brussels as a base for visiting various Belgian towns and it made getting trains very easy. This is other way around but it was a great way to do it, so nice to get back from a day out and straight into the hotel!

[herbidacious]

I think having to have the whole day out is what bothers me. Even when I had more energy, it was nice to be able to nip back to one's hotel and have a sit.

I have also spent so much of my adult (and indeed teen) life commuting... It's lovely to be in the heart of things. One of the things I really liked about living in Oxford...

[KeenCook]

One of the things we most enjoy about Paris is wandering around after supper, especially when the days are long and evenings are getting warmer, and then sliding into our hotel, tired out, probably! I think I wouldn't enjoy having to "commute" back to where we were staying - it would be different if we were staying with friends, of course.

I also agree with Herbi that it is nice to be able to pop back during the day to refresh, regroup, whatever. It's also nice if you've had a touristy day to be able to have a shower and change your clothes.

[halfateabag]

I think it depends on the which city (I know this thread is about Paris) you are in and the length of time you are in the city for. We have done both - staying outside the city and close to city centre. Because we tend to have shorter city breaks (4 days) it seems a bit time consuming to spend ages commuting and we have zipped back to accommodation for a 'rest' if the legs are complaining and one has had enough of hordes of people. It's a personal thing...

[herbidacious]

When I was younger I really hated city holidays. Living and working in London was enough city for me. (Having the place in France cured me of this a bit.) So for the second part of our honeymoon, a week, 'in' Rome, we stayed on the outskirts. We stayed in this odd igloo-shaped building (bedroom, bathroom, very large kitchen/living room on one floor) in the grounds of someone's house. We were free to use the whole (very big) garden, complete with swimming pool and dogs. The host was OTT and fun (he made us dinner the first night and he had an interesting, American film-producer friend staying with him who joined us) and it was nice to have a day of rest, there, just reading and lying out in the sun, after a stressful journey from Venice. But it was a pain having to commute into Rome. Last time I was in Rome, in 2016, we had a large apartment near the Trevi Fountain with a sunny balcony which ticked all the boxes I wanted ticking (and was very cheap. I wonder if it still is...)
I wonder how many hours I have spent commuting in my life. It was two one hour journeys to get to my secondary school. Since London part II it's been about the same. At least it's a lot less stressful post Covid.

I usually try to do an Air bnb type thing to cut down costs (we stayed in a fascinating one near Notre Dame last time T and I went to Paris together) but the prices of those have crept up, plus there is the issue of where to put your luggage on checking out day - and less generous cancellation policies. Reminds me, I need to find one for Copenhagen.

[KeenCook]

Thinking of Suffs' advice, I just found this rather useful article https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-bedb ... traveling/ for anyone else who may be going to Paris! Or other tourist destinations ....

Our Eurostar is at 2.30 pm tomorrow ....