Categories
BlahBlahBabble

And We’re Off!

We *finally* made a decision last week about the Honeymoon! Yes! The wedding is May 29th, and we finally decided where to go!

We decided to go to both London and Paris!

We have selected The Cranley – A Charming Private Town House Hotel in South Kensington, London for our London stay, but we still need to find a hotel for Paris. Any suggestions? I want something nice and cozy, with a room that has character. No hotel rooms that look like the Radisson down the street.

Now we need your suggestions on where to go and what to see! Have you been to either London or Paris? Is there something we should be sure to see while we are there, that we just can’t pass up? Have travel stories? Travel dreams? Share them here!

By Christine

Christine is an Avenger of Sexiness. Her Superpower is helping Hot Mamas grow their Confidence by rediscovering their Beauty. She lives in the Heights in Houston, Texas, works as a boudoir photographer, and writes about running a Business of Awesome. In her spare time, she loves to knit, especially when she travels. She & her husband Mike have a food blog at Spoon & Knife.

29 replies on “And We’re Off!”

Well, I’ve been to both – how annoying am I? I can’t recommend The Design Museum in London highly enough, plus, if you like this kind of thing, go have a whacking big traditional English dinner at Rules – if you go, you must have Sticky Toffee Pudding for me. In Paris, though I was there for a month, I did not go on the bateaux mouches, nor did I go to The Eiffel Tower – I was too cool for school, so now I want to do that. Ste has some lovely Paris photos to get you in the mood; there are more stills in his archives. I recommend the Centre Pompidou and the Picasso museum; the Renoir museum is also wonderful. Enjoy!

My biggest suggestion is NOT to listen to the person that says drinking a HUGE glass of beer is the PERFECT way to overcome jetlag. (It’s amazing how gullible I can be, isnt it?)

Other than that – the thing I loved the most when I went was the Rodin museum.

OMG I typed this whole long saga about what to do and where to stay in Paris and London and it got lost in cyberhell!

I would recommend Hôtel de Lutèce on rue St-Louis en l’Ile. Fabulous location and the hotel and the area restaurants and shops love Americans.

Wishing you all you wish for on your special day!

I have been lucky enough go visit both London and Paris, however I was drunk most of my stay in London so I don’t have many suggestions for London. But I loved the Convent Garden area. The group that I was will also went to see Big Ben at night with all the lights, but we got there just at 11:00 which is when they turn OFF all the lights. It was actually pretty cool to see it get dark.

As far as Paris goes, I loved and hated it. But if there was one place I would with out a double to back to is the Basilisque du Sacre Coeur and the area around the church with is called Montmartre. It is the highest hill and the last village in the city. It is a bunch of Bohemian sites: Picasso’s studio, van Gogh’s apartment, hangouts of famous poets and authors, Place du Tertre where all the aspiring artists (con and otherwise) congregate. And down the hill is the Pigalle area, home to the Moulin Rouge and tons of good music shops.

Places I would skip definitely include Versailles; it was a huge waste of time in my opinion.

Whatever you end up doing and seeing, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful time!!

Be careful in London. Afterall, that’s where my boyfriend and his boss got run over by a crazed lunatic running from the police. Not trying to scare you or anything but do remember that they are traveling on the opposite side of the street! =)

paris: I found the catacombs to be pretty cool … but don’t go if you’re claustrophobic or don’t want to see a bunch of skeletons. Montemarde was cool; our hotel was right next to the Abbesses stop. Definately not a Raddison.

Oh girl! We stayed in South Ken when we went to London. Be absolutely sure you visit Vama, the most amazing Indian food on the entire planet. The garlic naan is enough to make you crave it every single day. Also, the Victoria & Albert Museum is in South Ken, which I highly recommend. It was cool! My other favorite London things: the Millenium Wheel, Tower of London, Tate Modern Museum. For Paris…don’t miss getting a chocolate crepe from a street vendor, the Catacombs, Eiffel Tower at night, Pere Lachaise cemetary, and all the major art museums.

yay! congrats! london and paris will be fun.

not too sure where you should go in london (i’m only going to properly tour it in june), but for paris, do go and see the eiffel close to sunset. then you’ll see it in the day and just when the lights turn on. it’s beautiful.

go to the arc once in the morning (to get the nice golden glow) and go up to the top at night, then you get to see the parisan roads radiating out from around it.

and see the Basilisque du Sacre Coeur. it’s magnificent, esp if you can see it in the morning or in the evening (sunset). and when you go to notre dame, visit sainte chapelle… go about 11am or just slightly after noon. then you get the sunlight streaming through the stained glass. pretty!

and take a nice dinner on the bateaux (river cruise) if you can. there are a lot of sights along the river… so it’ll make it worthwhile. plus pass by all the nice buildings lit up at night!

I got married in Scotland, but we spent most of our time in London. The shopping in SOHO and Camden was fabulous and you must not miss out on the Egyptian exibit at the British Museum. They have the Rosetta stone and the Elgin Marbles taken from the Parthenon. We stayed over in Kings Cross at a nice B&B right next to a tube station. Make sure you take an ATM card or Visa because most places do not take travelers checks any more, and get your Tube cards prepaid, because if you buy them there in London they are almost double. Feel free to email me personally if you want to know more. J

I’ve been to both, but only stayed 2 days in each and I was hosteling which I am sure was quite a different experience than you will have. But if you want to know what I did, let’s talk and I’ll tell ya, but it was all random and spontaneous.

Paris – Montmartre, rodin museum, Musee D’Orsay… There’s o much to see and do… Wow! I lived there for a year and didn’t do all I wanted to.

Not sure what the entrance prices etc are for the Louvre but if there’s an option to have a multi day ticket I’d reccommend it becuase it’s impossible to get your money’s worth in one day.

I’m SO excited for you. I’ll be celebrating my first wedding anniversary just after you get married – great time of year to make a commitment 😀

When HoBiscuit and I went to London we decided to do a tour of the countryside instead of wasting our time (as we saw it) wandering yet another city. If you think you’d enjoy spending a few days getting a fairly personal, fun-filled and extremely interesting tour of the places most tourists never get the chance to explore, then I would suggest Back Roads Touring (www.backroadstouring.co.uk). They have a tour for almost any interest you might have, and each tour is small enough that you get very personalized service (3 or 4 couples, usually). You spend your time seeing more of the country than you ever might on your own, and you never feel as if you’re being rushed or ‘herded’ from place to place. I’d suggest asking for a specific tour guide, but so far HoBiscuit and I have been nothing but THRILLED with all of the guides we’ve had the fortune to spend time with.

We took the tour of Spires and Steeples (http://www.backroadstouring.co.uk/Spires_and_Steeples.htm) and another based on the Arthurian legend (http://www.backroadstouring.co.uk/Arthur.htm). The best tours are fairly long, 4-14 days or so, but they have been worth every penny, every time. No exception. Back Road Touring also has day tours of London, but we’ve never taken one of those so we don’t know how good they are. However, since our past experience with them has been so fabulous, we can’t help but believe the same would hold true for their shorter tours.

If you want to ask us any questions, feel free to email us. Otherwise, enjoy yourself! And congratulations again on your upcoming nuptials!

The England tours look cool, but since we already have a flight picked and the dates don’t correspond, we’ll probably go the day tour route. We decided we are actually city people – I looooove spending time in busy downtown areas and I have dreamed of visiting London since I was a little girl, and Mike can’t wait to go back – so the hustle and bustle is where it’s at!

Now we just have to figure out how to get in at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant…

I spent a summer in England, but we didn’t really spend much time in London. we went to see The Phantom of the Opera, went to the British Museum and some Natural History Museum, I think. we also took a trip up to Stonehenge.

I personally hated London but I suggest that if you get the oppotunity take the short bus trip to Leeds and have a look around. It is magnificent.
The country far outweights the city in England. But that is coming from a country girl.

All of Paris is just great. Except the giant digital clock that they had on the Eiffel Tower when I was there…

HAVE FUN!!!

Ohhhhh… I did both those a couple of years ago. Of course, our college-student budgets ran out and we ended up sleeping on benches in front of Notre Dame cathedral.

It’s going to be gorgeous. I’m so excited for you!!!

Christine, you should contact Brian of BrianKaneOnline.com…you met him at our little get-together in Boston last year. Last October, he took a two-week vacation to Paris and London, and could probably advise you on what’s good and what’s not.

I have no advice myself, being that the only time I’ve ever been out of the States was when we went to Nova Scotia…

Paris – Ok, you like chocolate, right? Angelina, right on the rue de Rivoli, serves the most amazing hot chocolate in the ENTIRE WORLD. It’s as thick as motor oil, is served with a small vat of real whipped cream, and is the richest, most dreamy hot chocolate ever. You can buy packets of it to take home, too, (they’re really good, too) and they also sell delish macaroons. I tote home a ton of each every time I visit. If you’re a tea person at all, you can’t miss Mariage Freres for sampling and buying, or for a quick refresher snack after a morning spent at the Centre Pompidou. It’s not terribly far, and the shopping in that area is very nice, too! Lastly, the Buddha Bar, is always fun. It’s a cool spot – very central to many of the things you’ll likely be doing, on rue Boissy d’Anglas just off the Place de la Concorde. Have fun!

Christine, I can actually say I’ve been to both and I wish I could remember more of each.

My hubby and I spent a romantic week in Paris and the highlight was buying fresh cheese and bread and other goodies at the open air market near Place de Bastille and then walking to the Seine and having a picnic. Otherwise, we didn’t see much of Paris. (vbg)

London I went to all by myself, so as far as romance, can’t help you there. But definitely go to Liberty and have afternoon tea in their tea room. Just wandering around Liberty is fascinating all by itself.

MAZAL TOV and much joy!!

Comments are closed.