{"id":836,"date":"2018-09-05T16:52:19","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T16:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perrisinfo.org\/?p=836"},"modified":"2018-09-05T16:52:56","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T16:52:56","slug":"836","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perrisinfo.org\/index.php\/2018\/09\/05\/836\/","title":{"rendered":"Back in Paris…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Sunday we flew from Amsterdam to Paris. Our original plan was to take a bus as we really enjoyed the French countryside at the beginning of our holiday. But then we realised a day on a bus would not be good for Paul\u2019s back so we booked very expensive flights. Had we planned this better we would not have travelled on the Sunday! You live and learn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We booked a transfer from the Mercure Amsterdam to Schipol airport. This took about 30 minutes and cost 55 euros. Money well spent as it was a comfortable ride in a luxury van rather than a small cab. Cab was 45 euros.<\/p>\n

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Amsterdam Schipol Airport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One thing we have learnt is to book all our transfers before we leave home next time ( if there is a next time?) as the bank wants to text you a code each time you try to pay and we are not using our home phone numbers. We have ended up paying cash for these ones.<\/p>\n

We got to the airport and went to Gate 7 to check in. We couldn\u2019t work out how to use the screen as it said \u2018download the app and start\u2019. Turns out we just needed to touch the screen to start. Felt a bit silly when the airport attendant showed us. We had to pay an extra 40 euros each for our checked baggage. As we moved though the queue, we noticed people were weighing, labelling and checking their own baggage. So we watched carefully so we would know what to do. Luckily an attendant opened the barricade and took us to the area where it would be done for us. This was pure luck as both our bags were just over 24 kg and the maximum allowable for 40 euros each was 23 kg. We said we would pay the extra. She asked if there was anything we could take out of our bags as it costs a lot for one kg extra. The she said she would let it pass and processed us. How lucky! If we hadn\u2019t been moved to that line it would have been a bit of a mess trying to do this at the self-serve counter.<\/p>\n

Then it was a long walk to go through security etc before we got to the boring wait part of the flying day. We always feel we waste a whole day when we fly. That\u2019s why we love cruising!<\/p>\n

Our flight was full and ended up only being 45 minutes in the air. We taxied for 15 minutes before taking off and after landing which made the 1 hr 10 minute advertised time.<\/p>\n

We had booked a transfer and he was waiting for us as soon as we got our luggage. Seems we are always travelling to or from airports in peak hour. It was now 4 pm and it took almost an hour to get to the Mercure Eiffel Tower Centre Hotel.<\/p>\n

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Paris Mercure near EiffelTower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Pairs Mercure Paris Centre Tour Eiffel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I first booked this hotel months ago I wanted to book a room with views of the Eiffel Tower and Paul was very against this due to the extra cost. When we arrived and were checked in we were upgraded to a room with a view of the tower. So lucky again! I am in heaven!<\/p>\n

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Pairs Eiffel Tower from hotel room window<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n