Okay, here's my long overdue trip report. Though hubby and I were only in Paris at the tail end of our Euro trip, we were in France for 10 days coming from Prague. Check na lang my trip report in the Prague thread.
We arrived Strasbourg in Alsace via the TGV from Karlsruhe HBF, Germany where we connected from our overnight train from Prague. We got the deluxe compartment complete with toilet and shower kaya comfortable kami for the 12 hour trip. Plus breakfast was included in the train fare. The TGV from Karlsruhe to Strasbourg only took 45 minutes.
In Strasbourg we rented a car for 6 days to do our Alsace Wine Route trip. For a compact car with basic insurance, no GPS because we brought our own, one designated driver (my hubby), we paid EUR119 only since we were able to get a discount being Marco Polo members. We then drove to our first B&B in Riquewihr which was roughly an hour and 30 minutes south of Strasbourg.
Riquewihr is one of the many quaint and pretty villages along the Alsace Wine route. It was actually voted as one of France's Most Beautiful Village long time running. It was our base for four nights while hubby and I drove around and visited the small villages/towns and vineyards along the Alsace Wine Route.
In case you're wondering the Alsace wine route or Le Vins D'Alsace in French is a 170 km stretch of road that passes through some of the traditional Alsatian towns, villages and vineyards. Here's a good
website about the wine route.
After Riquewihr, we stayed overnight at Eguisheim. It's a smaller version of Riquewihr but equally charming. I think hubby and I had an overload of village cuteness! Not to mention the food and wine we had to try in every town and village we visited.
From Eguisheim, we went back to Strasbourg for our last night in Alsace. Strasbourg is a big town and is the capital city of Alsace. Here you'll find the 6th tallest church in the world, the Notre Dame de Strasbourg and La Petite France, an area of medieval half-timbered houses.
Then it was off to Paris for shopping!
We rented an apartment at the Montmartre area or the 9eme arr for 4 nights. We got it for EUR65/night. It was a two room apartment with big windows facing the street. I have pictures in my blog. It was a 5 minute walk to the nearest metro station and a 20 minute walk to Sacre Coeur. The neighborhood was great! Hindi magulo since mostly locals ang mga nakatira. Pag baba ng apartment you have a boulangerie, cafes, restaurants and a Carrefour. I love Carrefour! Brought home some nice 3-1 cappuccinos.
Since we've done the tourist route before, we decided to just relax visit a market (Richard Lenoir at Place D'Opera) or two and shopping of course! Of the 4 days we were there, we got rained on half the time but carry pa rin ang pasyal.
Hubby and I had another wonderful European adventure! We were on our own time with no hectic schedules to follow. This is the kind of tour we like. DIY all the way!
