John Romano, President, LinkParis.com

If you have a comment to add please email us at blog@linkparis.com, we’d love to hear from you.

• Kitty P..
  April 23, 2012
  I want to thank you for your assistance with transportation to and from the air port. We were picked up in a Mercedes Benz SUV with rear seats facing one another like in a limo. SUV was very clean. The driver was very nice. He drove us the long way(after he had asked if we would like this) to our apartment so that he could give us a driving tour of the city. The driver was very professional, enjoyable and we thoroughly enjoyed the driving toured. We gave him a generous tip for his service. I will highly recommend your services to any friends that will be traveling to Paris. Thank you for all your help - Kitty P.

• Patricia L.
  April 1, 2012
  Just FYI:We loved the 58 Restaurant dinner and it was the best time – glad we went at 9:00 p.m.The cooking class was the highlight of the trip – these ladies love to cook they went back for a second day and one was asked to come and teach the cake decorating class.Versailles was so crowded – lots of school kids and the guide thought they let in too many people at one time – I think it was a great day. We loved the lunch at the little Restaurant in the woods. Next time we will ask for a golf cart to get us there and back up to the gate. It was a little bit of a walk.

  Normandy was perfect day and emotionally moving. One of our fathers landed there and made it out alive, so connecting with his history was priceless.

  We would recommend your services and let me know if I can give a review on the site.

  Thanks for a great time.

  Patricia L.

• Mary
  October 11, 2010 – 11:50 am Hello Laura, I attended the cooking class last week and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The chef, Rachel, really made the experience as she was so upbeat and passionate about cooking.   I’m writing today to ask you if you could request that she email the recipes for the desserts that we made that day (Monday at 3:00, Sept. 27), as I have not received them yet.  She did take down our e-mail addresses, before we left the class.  I’m having a dinner party next weekend and I wanted to try them out.
  Thank you for your assistance with this matter.
  Best Regards,
  Mary

(LP) – Coming from Los Angeles, we have a true fear of temperatures below 60 degrees.  Try tearing your drawers apart finding matching socks when you spend your life in flip flops.  And never mind remembering gloves, scarves and turtlenecks.   But visiting Paris in the winter is a look at the real Paris, with far fewer tourists.  It’s a northern European city, after all, a city with an underground transport system, out of the weather, well-heated museums, and hundreds of warm cafes awaiting discovery. No, you are not going to see the Luxembourg gardens in all its finery, but on the other hand, you can visit every major tourist spot easily.  Had we chosen to, we could have walked right into the elevator up the Eiffel Tower.  We did not.  More on that later.

Dante, the Wonderful French Terrier

John and I brought our 6 year old, Juliet, along for the first time.  With traveling parents, it was high time she had a passport.  She was a little nervous.  “Everyone is going to speak French, and I don’t know any French.  Fine for you guys (not that we are fluent, by any means).”  John: “Say ‘je m’appel Juliet.’ They’ll love it.”   Which they did, with our concierge at the hotel helpfully telling us the nickname for Juliet in French: Juju.  Juju was her name on the trip, though it has not especially stuck back in L.A.  Wearing 3 layers of shirts, a pink plaid scarf and a little brown jacket with a faux leopard hood, Juju became a metro-savvy junior Parisian, gamely marching along corridors, watching the train countdown on the platform, and confidently swaying with the train, standing, when no seats were available.

A direct flight on comfortably-appointed Virgin unfortunately did not stave off jet lag.  It hit us hard.  The grown-ups were either up at 4, or sleeping till noon as precious Paris moments ticked away.  On the plus side, Juliet was wide awake and ready for touring right up until midnight or later, no tears, no whining. A little cough she was developing had me bring along her cold medicine, which knocked her out every night.  John and I developed “Triaminic envy”.  Apparently it gave you 8 blissful hours, while mom and dad awoke, cranky, after a 5 hour nap.

The sun rises at 8:30 in February in Paris, so we dressed for the hotel breakfast in the dark, while your body said “what?”.  Around 5 a.m. you could smell bread baking in the neighborhood, something you know when you are  jetlagged and not sleeping.  That set our stomachs up for good boiling coffee and hot milk (typical Parisian coffee service), plus ridiculously good pastries served casually on the breakfast buffet.  “What? You were expecting a dry English muffin?  Mais, non!”  With many Japanese visitors at our hotel, there was soft rice and miso soup available, as well.  We promised to try it every day, and did not.  We of course found room for the breakfast tart on display.  One morning, pear, another apricot, and on another, dense chocolate.

Every trip to Paris, for us, involves a lot, lot, lot of Parisian-style speed walking, punctuated  by crystalline moments of charm.  This trip was no exception.  A bit drizzly?  Walk faster, between the drops.  Need a metro ticket?  Buy a carnet (book of ten) from the weary ticket seller behind the plexiglass.   Keep it handy as some stops make you re-insert your ticket to get out to daylight, lest you jumped the turnstile.   On our first night, we were tired but wanted our first Parisian experience.  We walked a bit and found an old school upstairs bistro.  Adults were dining on French classics, eyeing the arrival of a 6 year old warily.  Juliet gamely tried a local treat – grenadine syrup in milk.  Pink milk should have been a hit but was only sipped at.  An acquired taste, apparently.  Dad and mom split a delicious onion soup and club sandwich. Ultimately, she  was so good the waiter gave her a lollipop as we left.  She proceeded to be a trooper every day thereafter.   I do think Parisians are generally rather formal and polite, and guess what, children kind of fall into line of the prevailing mood.

Day one we decided it was high time, after numerous trips,  we visited the Bastille.  We got on the right metro line, got off at Bastille, checked the “plan du quartier” (local map posted near the velo bikes you can use by the hour) and . . . could not find it. Okay, plan B.  We we set off to find some hot chocolate.  We turned  a few corners and came upon a playground set in a  quiet square surrounded by apartments, and featuring a few typical businesses frequented by locals.  Storefront by storefront, we asked for “chocolat chaud”  and finally decided we better go to the fancy place with the yellow awning and spend 20 euros.   How nice to part the heavy scarlet velvet curtains and step into a blast of warmth, greeted by a terrier dog who we learned was called Dante.  Dante came over to us sooner than the waitress, but not by much.  I think he felt he was to inform her of every new customer, and a good job he did.    We ordered some lattes and Juliet requested pickles, her go-to comfort food.  Okay, “Avez vous les cornichons?”.  The black-clad waitress in the stylish dress and boots blinked a bit at the 9:30 a.m. request and came back with 4 mini pickles on a  plate.  Juliet was thrilled.   The waitress smiled.  Turns out the cafe is quite famous, having been in many movies due to its timeless decor.  Check it out at  http://www.squaretrousseau.com.

How Does a No Brainer Camera Deliver A Blurry Picture? It's a Mystery

March on tourists, you can’t spend all day in a cafe like a Parisian.  We let Juliet do some gymnastics on the playground, and a little bonding with an absurdly bundled up 3 year old who wanted to copy her every move,  before heading back to Opera to see the Madeleine church, a block from our hotel.  We lit candles for our departed, as we did later in the week at Notre Dame as well.  A nap was in order before our pre-arranged dessert baking class, all the way over in Montmartre.   Never had flour, eggs and sugar combined in so many ways in so little time, to such great effect, thanks to our Australian-transplant instructor Briony.   Pear tarte, choux pastry, frangiapani, profiteroles, creme brulee, eclair – the five adults in the class, besides Juju,  all ate like 6 year olds that day.   One blurry picture of the 3 of us, taken by a classmate,  records the moment.  Montmartre is an arty part of Paris, bordering on scungy Pigalle, but the class was in the gentrified part and we had no worries.   Yes, Juliet was held by both hands through the dodgier parts bordering the metro stop we got off at in error.

Well, the moments came fast and furious after that as the days ticked down.  Here’s one: a lovely meal in one the nicer restaurants inside the Louvre.  Just as we were paying the check, a mouse scampered across the restaurant floor and disappeared into the staff area.   In the U.S., all diners in eyeshot would have had a free meal.  In Paris, a shrug.  Was the mouse actually in your food, monsieur?  Admittedly, no. In the Louvre, we saw old favorites like Winged Victory and trudged a mile through the Egyptian section in hopes of seeing a real live mummy.  And yes, we did, to Juliet’s delight.

The Royal Tenenbaums Picture of Us Waiting for the Metro

Other moments:  a masterful trapeze artist dangling on a rope above our heads at an old-fashioned cabaret show at the Paradis Latin; a cafe stop near Napoleon’s Tomb where we people-watched out of the rain; enjoying the elaborate scenes set up for dolls at the beach, having tea, and going to school at the darling Musee de la Poupee (Doll Museum) near the Pompidou Center;   Juliet almost joining in a school group assigned to sketch swords behind glass at the Armory Museum; out of gas after miles of walking, finding a perfectly-timed pedicab at the Place de La Concorde who rode us back to our hotel for ten euros.   I heard a tired older Parisian asking his daughter how he could get a ride on one,  and, in tones of horror, she reminded him it was “pour les touristes.’”  Damn straight, and happy we were for the ride.

Of course a walk along the Champs Elysees after a terrific Italian meal at Findi at 24 Avenue George V (Italian food in Paris is usually great) finished the trip.  It was close to eleven p.m. and Juliet was running along ahead of us by a bit, window shopping at the Disney store and hoping for a Ferris wheel ride before it closed.  No such luck.  And we missed going inside the Eiffel Tower, deliberately, as the throngs of hawkers and would-be pickpockets all around  the Tower were just too depressing.   That’s two Paris moments we’ll save for next time, perhaps when all is in bloom, perhaps again in winter.

On our LinkParis.com facebook page (feel free to friend us), we posed the question “If you lived in Paris, what arrondissement would you choose?”. We got a record 96 responses, a few voting for “anywhere, as long as it’s Paris,” but plenty of strong and specific opinions.

The winner was the 7th, location of the Eiffel Tower, Musee d’ Orsay and plenty of upscale dining, strolling and shopping. That got 14 votes. The 4th got nine votes, with the historic Marais, Isle de la Cite and Pompidou Center  in or near its borders. You might have heard of Notre Dame Cathedral? That’s in the 4th as well. With 7 votes each, the 1st, 5th and 6th also had their devotees. Stay in any of those areas and you’ll be walking distance, respectively, to the Louvre, Tuileries, Luxembourg Gardens and high fashion shops. Visit gorgeous Sainte Chapelle  in St. Germain if you stay in the 6th.

A couple of decades ago, whether you were Left Bank (a bit scruffy) or Right Bank (quite proper) mattered a lot, but the blurring of social classes, the rise of world class bistro chefs opening restaurants in fringe areas, and the sheer price of Paris real estate has gentrified more than a few formerly dodgy neighborhoods.

Pigalle and Belleville, however, are still not for the faint of heart.

Rounding out the votes, we had 8 folks rooting for the 8th with the famed Champs Elysees cutting right through it, and site of the lovely, high society-favored Madeleine church.  We had 4 votes for the 16th and 11th, both highly residential areas, the 16th being a choice of the solidly wealthy – it features the  vast and beautiful Bois de Boulogne.     Finally, there were a couple of votes each for the 13th – site of Paris’s Chinatown, and the 15th, where you’ll find middle class apartments and the loved/hated Montparnasse Tower.

However, perhaps our favorite response to the question of what arrondissement to live in was “The 3rd, because my mom lives there.”

Aww.

Our initial trips are packed full of the must do and see things all first time Paris visitors feel obligated to accomplish. We walk across all of the bridges, or a fair representation. We wander through the markets, even the marvelous Sunday bird market on Île de la Cité. We view the Tour Eiffel from the ground only (the lines were too long to take a trip up) but that is impressive enough. We scoot through the Louvre hitting the highlights. We dine at Procope. We take the funicular to the base of Sacré-Coeur. We climb to the loft of St Sulpice to hear the massive pipe organ played, up close and personal. We shop at green grocers to stock our apartment kitchen with the freshest of foods. We gaze lovingly at the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry in the Cluny. We witness breath-taking services full of pageantry at Notre Dame. We hang out at the Shakespeare Book Company, finding it just a bit like home. We shop, we make friends, and we fall in love over and over again.

But as wonderful as Paris is, there is so much more to France, we reason. On our next trip we decide to branch out. I, being an artist, want to visit Monet’s Giverny. We are sure that Versailles is a must see.  Thousands and thousands of people cannot be wrong. But how to accomplish these visits in our comfort zone? We do not want to rent a car and deal with pick up, drop off, parking. Taking the train is a plan but then we face a lot of walking. And so upon the recommendation of a couple we met on a prior trip, we opt for a bike tour. Ideal for us. A good option almost year around (most shut down during the winter months) a bike tour is particularly perfect for anyone traveling to Paris in the fall when the weather is almost always accommodating.

We book our two selected tours a few days apart with a company based near the Eiffel Tower. The Giverny tour sees us meet at the office (after a harrowing metro ride in the wrong direction which we discover in barely enough time to recover and get where we need to be), ride our bikes through the city to the Gare and board the train with bikes in tow. Not so hard but a new skill indeed. In Giverny we get to line jump for the garden tour which is a huge plus and gives us much more time to take some bike tours around the immediate countryside.

For our Versailles trip, we meet at the office and take the train to the town of Versailles where we pick up our bikes and proceed to the market, where we buy food for our lunch. We then cycle to the estate of Marie Antoinette which is adjacent to the palace proper. Both the estate and the palace are enormous with huge grounds and our bikes save us an immense amount of time. After touring everything extensively and leisurely we picnic by the lake, garage our bikes and hop the train back to Paris.

Paris, and beyond.  Horizons expanded.  C’est bon.

When I grow up I want to be French.

Even though my family name is Macdonald (‘ac’ small ‘d’,) and I’m as proud of my Scots ancestry as the next member of any of my clan, this ambition is neither incongruent with my lineage nor as far fetched as it may seem. You can hardly imagine my delight when during my first visit to Paris, more specifically a foray to the Science Museum at La Vilette, I found myself wandering along one of the boulevards forming the ring around the greater city and it was signposted – wait for it – Boulevard MacDonald. It is of course named after the Napoleonic Marechal, Étienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre MacDonald. What’s a size difference in D’s between clan members? As the genealogist at Inverness library informed me once “all ye Donald clanfolk be kinfolk!”

Pere Lachaise cemetery Paris, France.

And then of course there are those famous Parisian hamburger stores of this name. Not.

This love of France, and the city of Paris in particular, started in my High School years, thanks to a certain Miss Cook – my French mistress (in the teacher sense of that word). Born with a musical ear, I guess from the first time I heard the late Eartha Kitt purr her way through C’est Si Bon with that phoney French accent that she did so well I was hooked on the sound of language if not the language itself. Edith Piaf did nothing to dissuade me that it was the most romantic of the Latin derived tongues, and so my choice of modern language studies (a compulsory high school subject) was not entirely the free elective choice for me it may have seemed to others. Furthermore, I was now thirteen, and being at a boys only institution vive la différence was starting to make sense, so you could add to the mix the fact that the then twenty-something Miss Cook was by a street mile the best looking teacher in a predominantly aging and male staff ensemble. My determination to parlez-vous became unshakable.

The next five years of my schooling entailed understanding that no noun animate or in could possibly be neuter gendered.  I tried to see every table (and différence) as a decidedly feminine object. Tricky, but that was an easy one (probably because I encountered la table on day one so it stuck). More importantly though, Mmlle Cook insisted on instilling in her young charges not only exemplary linguistic skills and l’accent d’un Suisse Romande, but also a deeper understanding of the country’s culture. And so we were exposed for an entire one hour lesson each week to Piaf or Brel (no Jane and Serge with Je t’Aime however), an unforgettable childrens’ ditty called Savez-Vous Planter les Choux? (which became a surprise hit of the sixties), the humour of Loup cartoons, a taste of canned frogs legs or escargots, and the deep literature of Jean Cocteau in La Machine Infernale. But best of all were the travel films, the pick of which were about that magical city of lights.

Fast forward some thirty years and, apart from a couple of unfulfilled tourist plans I made to hit the rues de Paris, I had sadly come no closer to becoming a Frenchman than those schoolboy dreams had first allowed.

And then I was headhunted by a large international software company. “Unfortunately,” they informed me, “joining us will necessitate three weeks of intensive product training in Paris.” Unfortunately? I wouldn’t have cared less if their immature software offering could lead to the immediate downfall of Enron (who ultimately didn’t require much help in that area anyway) – I was already ready to sign on.

And so it was I first went to Paris. For three wonderful weeks I immersed myself in the city’s life. The intensive training turned out to be not so intensive, allowing me many free hours of daylight thanks in large measure to strict French working hours (which started at 09:00 am with a break for croissants au chocolat); plus the inclusion of three full weekends straddling my stay. The first of these September weekends fortuitously coincided with an event known as the jours de patrimoine on the Thursday, and although not legislated as such, by popular decree the European attendees decided it was to be a general holiday. That meant that those delegates from neighbouring countries would return home until the following Monday, and so a four day non-working break fell into my lap. What luck!

My schoolboy fluency in French, long diminished through years of disuse, began to return. It certainly made the local townsfolk friendlier.

One of my last calls in Paris was to Père Lachaise cemetery, the final resting place of my distantly related Marechal (remember the genealogist’s words). Now, if I’m not going to be French in my lifetime, perhaps the city will allow a puff of my ashes to one day blow into the family crypt and I could become eternally French.

It happened that an opportunity to illustrate a storybook fell into my lap and by the time the dust had settled about the details the final deadline was but weeks away. We live in a beautiful coastal area, great art inspiration, but it’s home, with many distractions. As I fretted over the time line of the project, Donny made an offer, “I’ll take you to Paris.” That sounded more than good, it sounded perfect.

And so five days later we were off.

We like to rent apartments in Paris having discovered they are generally not that much more expensive than hotel rooms and even tiny ones (aren’t they all in Paris?) help us feel like we might even be Parisian. Never mind that neither of us speak a word of French. Okay a word or two but that’s pretty much it. We try to use those few words whenever we can finding that our struggles even with a limited vocabulary are appreciated. The French have always been polite, helpful, and amused by our accent. The first time we heard that comment we were amazed. “We have an accent?” we pondered. Others have accents but we never thought of ourselves as having one. Tres chic!

Our favorite place to stay in the city is on Ile St Louis and this is where Donny has rented an apartment for my art adventure. Great northern light and a perfect working table (all happenstance, our only plan was to have an interior court view) but sweeten the pot. One long flight later make more enjoyable by Air France’s new Premier Voyageur more leg room seating, we unpack our bags at 12 rue Jean du Bellay on Ile St Louis. We are within shouting distance of Notre Dame to the left and the Marais to the right.

We are exhausted but we struggle downstairs to the cafe truly just outside our door for a quick bite and then back upstairs to our new home for ten days. We fall asleep to the muffled sounds of the city. Ah, Paris, we love you! It’s good to be back.

My first trip to France was in 1997.

I was a bit late in leaving the United States for the first time at age 27. Of course some folks can’t leave the country until they are much older due to family and work obligations. Basically, I had neither in the 1990′s. Therefore, I had no excuse.

If it is possible, I’d recommend anyone just out of college (or in between semesters) visit another country before they embark on their post-college life. Europe, France and the UK in particular, are great places to start. Once family and work kick in, the opportunities to roam the streets of Paris, Budapest or Rome become greatly diminished.

I arrived in Paris in March of 1997. Upon arrival I took the RER into Paris and made my way to the Aloha Hostel. My journey then began.

I purchased a five day rail pass from Rail Europe before leaving the states. I had planned on traveling to Venice, Germany, Prague and then back to Paris over three weeks. Things didn’t go according to plan. Outside of going to Venice for one night, and Amsterdam for one other, I never left Paris (in a way, I never have).

I cut my three week vacation short by a few days and gave an ecstatic hostel master my Rail Pass. The fact that I’m named John Romano and he was named something akin to “Bob Simmons” didn’t matter. He assured me he’d work it out with the French Rail system. I wonder how that went? I digress.

I cut the vacation short because something inside me said I should head back to the States. I think it was adulthood calling, because the day after I arrived home in New York I met the fellow who gave me the job that over thirteen years led directly to me writing this article.

Through the years, I’ve been back to France many times. I’ve had arguments with French and British people defending America and I’ve defended the French to Americans. Two out of nine men that marched off to war in WWI for France died in the trenches. That fact more than anything led to the poor French showing in WWII. The population never recovered, and the country quite frankly wasn’t ready for Hitler two decades later.

I won’t even get into some of the things I’ve defended America over to Europeans. Suffice it to say, there are many misconceptions on both sides of the Atlantic.

I started LinkParis.com in 2002 with my business partner and wife Laura. My multiple trips to Europe, and France in particular, taught me much about life and myself. In 2002 we had a child on the way and I needed a new gig. I had sworn to myself years earlier that if I could I’d do everything in my power to not work in an office for someone else past the age of 30. From this necessity, and our love of travel and Paris, LinkParis.com was born.

The two weeks I spent walking around Paris in 1997 were two of the best of my life. If I can help others realize that experience I’ve done my job.

Paris is separate among the great cities of the world. It is New York, but safer. It is San Francisco, but much larger and more dynamic. It is London with a greater sense of Joie de vivre.

If you haven’t been, I suggest you plan a trip. Seeing the Eiffel Tower the first time in person is one of life’s great pleasures. Age does not matter. In some ways experiencing Paris in retirement may even be better!

The food is fantastic. The streets are ancient. The architecture is inspiring. The nightlife is enthralling and the museums are among the world’s best.

Paris is the place to be. I hope you get there. Enjoy!

If you are determined to see the second most visited site in France, the monastery at Mont St. Michel, you might as well include the Brittany coast, too.
That was our logic as we set off via rental car from Charles De Gaulle, me fresh off a coach flight from Los Angeles, husband John with a head start on his jet lag having arrived about 36 hours before. We were in a jaunty 5 speed diesel Renault rental, shockingly roomy inside, and with that awesome heating capability you absolutely need in Northern Europe, even in March. Maybe especially in March.

As the guy whose sleep was mostly caught up, John was the driver. Should the navigator have been jet-lagged? Well like it or not, she was. We sat in bumper to bumper ring road traffic trying to leave Paris, basically alternating between “Hey is that the lane we need?” and “Oops, I think that was our exit.” As much fun as it is to get off an American freeway in an industrial area to re-find the road, double that when doing it in France near heavily-grafittied high rises. Hey, was that a burning car in the distance?

Mont St. Michel

In any case we were eventually on the right highway, the only non-toll, free roads in France. The region makes a point of doing road signs in French and Bretagne, the Celtic-like language of the area. We could not easily read either one, so it was a win-win. We listened to French deejays playing an absolutely eclectic mix of ancient Led Zeppelin, breathy French pop chicks and maybe a bit of jazz? Yes, in French, you can still tell when a caller is a winner! Deejays are eternal wherever you are.

Brittany is a place of well-tended farms and misty old villages, but it’s also got fancy spa hotels along the coast offering Thalassotherapy, a kind of sea water cure much-loved by the French. There are even casinos, but nothing like the Cote d’Azure when it comes to luxury.

Brittany was part of Great Britain for a century or 3, and in fact has a sizable Irish population, complete with a pub culture and their own newspapers. Irish farmers have been emigrating with their families since the ’80′s, happy to raise lamb in a country where food growing is both prized and subsidized.

The Brittany salt lamb is deservedly famous, the oysters raised along the coast are served all over France. We tried both in a memorable business dinner of 4 courses which is a blur in memory. Champagne, beer, white wine, red wine and port will have that effect. Suffice to say it is considered rude not to toast and taste along. I have never, and will never, have that kind of alcohol tolerance. Maybe that’s what happened at the Treaty of Versailles. . . .

As we neared the coast that first day, we stopped at a highway rest area and napped in the car while a rainstorm passed through. We stopped to fuel up and noted the French convenience marts have a full supply of junk food. Let’s call it junque food. The chocolaty goodness of cheap sugar will taste classier. And they have those wacky potato chip flavors the British love, like shrimp, beef and other frightening chemical concoctions.

At Mont St. Michel we parked in the nearest lot, slated for closure over the next couple of years as the rock and monastery are getting pocked and dinged by fossil emissions and acid mist. There will be buses taking you from far lots one of these days, but not as yet. I think those committees have another few years of meetings ahead of them. The lower area is on the tatty side, but the monastery itself is stunning and special. Down below we had a $50 omelet at Mere Poulard – you read that number right – dessert included, but wine was extra. As you eat, you gaze at signed pictures of former diners and 20th century titans like General Omar Bradley. Outside your little bubble, orange-hatted groups throng the t-shirt shops.

We stayed along the coast in St. Malo, at Perros-Guirec (kind of a Carmel By the Sea of Brittany). The Agape Hotel there is built into a cliff side. We took the steep stairs down to the casino, and bought 10 euro glasses of champagne while marveling at the French slot machines. We watched a French workingman throw a lot of euros at roulette – in the land where it was invented, I guess, and he lost everything. The only gambling we did on the trip was the next day, and not in a casino.

They talk about the famous rushing tides of Brittany and we found out how true that was. We walked way out on the tidal flats the next afternoon. We passed folks digging for clams in waders, filling buckets with perhaps the freshest seafood on earth. Did we especially notice we were leaving them behind and maybe they were tending to walk closer to shore as we walked further out? That would be a “no.’

We were dawdling among rocks and tidal pools when John noticed what had been sand behind us now had a foot of water. Oops. Better head back. Hey. Now it is 18 inches of water and 8 seconds has passed. Hmm. I started to take my shoes off to save them and John pointed out the sharp rocks and I said goodbye to my best European walking shoes. They were going to be waterlogged. Better them than us – as the water was by now up to my waist. John’s a lot taller so he was doing better. We made it to shore and looked back. Now about 6 feet of water where we had been. At dinner later that night, we made out the top of a rock where we would have been spending the night if we had hung out another 7 or 8 minutes. Whew.

Brittany connects to Ireland, Britain, Jersey and Gibralter via regular ferries, all of which bring families of summer holiday-makers renting a house for a week so they can cavort on the rocky shore in freezing waves. Bring your wet suit! Buy a classic Brittany blue and white striped sweater – and wear it – in August!.

It’s Brittany. It will never be luxe or fancy. It will always have dramatic wind and weather, be family-friendly and charming and one the most hospitable regions of France.

The beaches and museums are great, but it is the American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer that will leave you with goosebumps. It is truly hallowed ground. Below are reviews of our Normandy tours from Paris.

We hope to see you in Normandy soon.

John Romano, President, LinkParis.com

If you have a comment to add please email us at blog@linkparis.com, we’d love to hear from you.

• Jeff R.
  April 23, 2012 
  Hello Laura,Where do I start? The whole experience was fantastic!
  Maryline meet me at the station in Caen with a sign and van ( place to stow my luggage as I came straight from the airplane at CDG ) took me to tour the museum and a wonderful sit down french coq au vin luncheon.

  Then we met with 4 others and did the beaches and cemetery tours. Weather turned from grey and spitting rain to blue skies and a brisk wind. All was so good.

  They even ( can’t remember the driver’s name) got me to the train 3 minutes early for a train that got me back to Paris 1 hour earlier than expected. Went so far as to carry one bag to the appropriate track!
  Could not ask for better company and service.

  Would love to recommend your service and team to anyone wanting to see this touching part of our history.

  Thanks so much and best regards!

  Peace,
  Jeff

• Lisa K.
  March 31, 2012 I had such a fabulous time on the D-Day tour of Normandy! I can’t stop telling everyone I know about it! Our tour guide was absolutely incredible and I would love to find out her name/contact info so that I may send a note to her. Her name was Patricia (I believe). She was the guide for our group on Friday, March 23rd. Any way of finding out this information??

• BVnLJ.
  February 19, 2012 From Trip Advisor: We stayed in Paris and did a day trip to Normandy Beaches. The tour company assisted with train tickets, transfers to the 1st meeting place before the tour started. I would recommend this tour to anyone. While writing this, I asked my wife if she liked the Normandy tour and train ride and her reply was “Heck Yeah!” she continued “I was whining to everyone at work about how you were taking me to see holes in the ground and war junk, but after the tour you could not get me to leave”. Now if that is not a recommendation then nothing is. We both really enjoyed the tour and the guide was very helpful. The beaches, country side and especially American cemetery are something to see. The link below is who we used. Your day will be long but on the way to and from the tours starting point you can nap on the train.

• Jeff D.
  September 29, 2011 – 1:33 pm Hello, I finally have a chance to write you after my D-Day / Normandy Beach tour on Sept 12, 2011.All I can say is WOW!From the ease of booking, and every step along the way – it was flawless.  Thank you so much!I was a bit apprehensive about catching the train from Paris, but your instructions (including the note saying, “your train may be marked as XXX instead of Caen”) were perfect.  Our tour guide picked us up at the train station just as promised.  By the way, Theiri (I apologize for possibly mis-spelling his name), our tour guide was fantastic.  He was exceptionally knowledgeable, and his delivery/presentation was just super.  I really enjoyed spending the day with him.  And – the idea of using mini-vans rather than a 60 passenger tour bus is fantastic.  It allowed us to talk on the way, but there wasn’t so much chatter that we couldn’t hear the guide.  What a great idea.I could go on and on about how wonderful the experience was.  The best explanation that I have been giving my friends is, “awe inspiring.”The only thing I wasn’t prepared for was how long the day would be.  I suppose my own fault for not doing the math, based on the printed itinerary I received.  I left my hotel room to go to the train station at 6:00 a.m. and returned at 11:00 p.m!!  A full day indeed, and worth every penny.  I will recommend your service to all of my friends who are looking for a D-Day tour.Thank you again!
  Jeff Duncan
  Rochester, MN

• Alan and Laura M.
  September 13, 2011 – 5:37 pm  My wife and I completely enjoyed our tour of the museum and battle sites on 9/5. Our guide was named Lena and she was terrific. She was knowledgable, informative and attentive to the needs of our entire group. Things went smoothly and the weather and conditions were perfect. Thanks again to LinkParis and Lena, in particular!!Sincerely,
  Alan and Laura M.

• Bob S.
  May 23, 2011 – 3:54 pm Had our tour yesterday and just wanted to tell you that it was a great success. Our guide, Lena, was wonderful. She spoke wonderful English, had great knowledge of the sites and went out of her way to make things pleasant for us.   Obviously, I booked the tour on line, and had some reservations about whom to pick, but this trip was great. The train ride from Paris saved so much time and was very comfortable, and the size of our group was perfect, 7 people total, all very enjoyable and pleasant. Nice job! Thanks for a great day at a wonderfully historic location. This is a must see day for anyone planning time in Paris. Regards, Bob S

• Mark S.
  January 31, 2011 – 1:23 pm Dear Laura, We recently had the privilege of touring Normandy sites with one of your guides: jean Marie Ceccaldi. This was one of the most memorable days of our lives.   Mr Ceccaldi (or Sean as he preferred to be called) was absolutely first class, knowledgeable and wonderful.    He met us at the train station and we immediately felt at ease.  He doesn’t waste time,,,,and started an in depth talk-a-thon. Telling us some of the most minute and remarkable details.  We were enthralled.  He had a very organized and sequential trip planned that took in all the important sites/ memorials.  His insight is remarkable.  I highly recommend Mr. Ceccaldi and hope that you continue to use his services. We have already recommended your service to some friends and clients. Thank you for a wonderful day in Normandy and surrounding areas.   Made us even more proud to be Americans. Regards, Marc S**** – Pittsburgh

• Chris S.
  January 31, 2011 – 1:23 pm The D-Day tour was very well run and our tour guide “Sandy” was the best
  guide I’ve ever had.  Very knowledgeable, organized, well paced, in tune with her group.

• Cliff G. – Private Normandy Tour Review
  December 15, 2010 – 9:26 pm Laura,Just a note to tell you our journey was incredible, and to let you know that David, our guide and driver in Normandy, was fantastic. He was knowledgeable, patient and had great suggestions for dining and an additional side venture to Deauville for lunch after Honfleur.  We all enjoyed being with him and would highly recommend him for future tours.Cliff

• Tom Schull
  August 3rd, 2010 – 3:45 am I highly recommend the Normandy D-Day tour through LinkParis. I called on Sunday for a tour on Friday, and I had my rail and tour tickets in hand by Tuesday – well done! The tour was awesome! Taking the train from Paris to Caen (rather than going by tour bus or some other means) is faster and very comfortable. Plus it was a great way to enjoy the popular European rail system. Our tour guide, Lena from Nuremburg, was excellent (very friendly and knowledgeable, spoke perfect english) – thanks Lena! The tour was wonderful – very extensive with visits to all of the major sites (the museums, the beaches, the cemetery) and a comfortable amount of time to freely roam at each site. Definitely felt I got my money’s worth. This tour was well designed LinkParis!Thanks again!Tom

• Mike S.
  August 2nd, 2010 – 10:43 pm Laura:D-Day Tour was great. Our tour guide Louisa was very knowledgeable and quite pleasant to be with. Caen Memorial was very nice and the small group was so much better than a large bus excursion. I will be returning one of these days and am hopeful to go. Train connections went without a hitch as did finding our guide at the station in the first place. This was the first of 2 trips we took with you (the other was the Chateau trip) and they mad for a great break in our stay in Pairs. I will book your overnight stay next time or arrange to go on out to St. Mere Eglise and Utah beach as well. Keep up the good work. Well worth the time and money.

• Ed and Kevin
  July 11th, 2010 – 9:06 pm Sandine-Iwas the “old guy” on the D Day tour on July 7,2010. The tour was the highlight of our trip. I did not mention it that day, but it was my 81st birthday. You are a superb guide and a great lady. Your knowledge of the area and the events of June, 1944 is great. I would not hesitate to reccommend this tour to anyone. Our tour grou[ melded well, we all went out for dinner after the tour. (the driver of the van was also very competent)

• Nancy B.
  May 18th, 2010 – 7:59 pm Laura, I wanted to thank you for organizing a wonder tour and for answering all my questions. The Normandy tour was outstanding, and I am appreciative of the clear directions regarding the train and pick up sites, the competency of the guide, and the history provided by the guide. I really want to revisit the region on my next trip to France. I have recommended this tour to others- which is the best compliment I can give! Thanks-Nancy

• Stephen D
  April 20th, 2010 – 9:22 pm I wanted to report back to you that my family’s trip to the D-day beaches on April 2 went flawlessly. The weather was cold, wet, and blustery. Exactly the right weather to help the family understand the environment our brave soldiers had to fight in. Our guide, “Karine” was perfect. Friendly, knowledgeable, comprehensive. I would highly recommend her for your other clients. The driver, Michel, was courteous and safe. Thank you for your organization and helping to make our day special.Stephen

• Don and Robert Costa
  March 13th, 2010 – 10:08 pm Hello:
  My son Robert and I utilized your services on 1/29/10. Thank you so much. The entire experience was tremendous !!!. From the time we were picked up until they dropped us off it was a nice day. Our tour guide , Sandrine Lepetit , was professional and knowledgeable. The planning, tickets and experience went without a hitch. That is a nice thought when you plan on the web and from so far away. Thank you all for this wonderful experience.
  Don and Robert Costa

• Kevin Keim
  September 24th, 2009 – 12:48 pm This was our first trip to France and my wife and I had a wonderful time on our D-Day Beaches Tour! I am a big history buff and I was very impressed with our young tour guide Lisa. Lisa was extremely nice and knew her history of all the sites around the D-Day Beaches. My wife and I would highly recommend this tour! Laura was also wonderful and a lot of help when booking this trip! Kevin & Diane Keim
  Fort Worth, Texas

• Scott and Susan
  September 14th, 2009 – 3:02 pm To Laura and our friends at LinkParis,We just returned from our trip to Paris which included our LinkParis.com planned visit to Caen, Normandy and the D-Day memorial tour. The trip to Normandy went perfectly and without a hitch. During our stay in Paris the day trip to Normandy was a perfect addition to our travels and a most memorable experience. The travel arrangements were perfect, the train trip was beautiful, the tour guide was intelligent, articulate and a great source of help, information with an interjection of humor every now and then. It was a perfect experience!Thanks again!Scott and Susan

• Cynthia & Tom M.
  August 24th, 2009 – 6:00 pm I must admit, I was a bit leery of booking our trip to Normandy through LinkParis since I had never heard of the company before and didn’t know what to expect in terms of tour quality and organization. In the past, we have gone through larger tour companies with anywhere from 30-50 people crammed in a large bus. We were always left feeling frustrated with the sheer number of people and their “I’m going to be first no matted what” attitude and accompanying rude behavior. Our D-Day tour of Normandy was nothing like our past experiences. From the beginning stages of booking the tour via e-mail to our final goodbyes at the Caen station, our tour was professional, friendly, and well organized. Our group had 8 people and they were all very nice. Our guide, Sylvain, was charming, knowledgeable, and very personable with our group. Luisa (I think this was her name), whom we were only with during the transfer from the station to the Memorial Museum, was very friendly and organized. If you are in the process of researching companies for an excursion to Normandy (such as Cityrama or Paris Vision), I highly recommend going through Link Paris. Considering the high level of customer service we received and the number of sites we visited, they are very reasonably priced. Above all, they made our trip to Normandy one of the best memories of our stay in France. We will definitely use them again during future trips.

• LinkParis.com
  August 22nd, 2009 – 7:25 am A recent client wrote a review and published it on their own blog (www.roseyland.com), please visit here: LinkParis.com DDay Tour Review

• Howard and Stephanie
  July 30th, 2009 – 8:04 pm Hello Laura and John,Our D-Day tour yesterday was terrific. Thanks for getting us in.Also our guide, Karine, was truly superb (aka “vachement chouette”!).
  She was very knowledgeable, flexible, charming and even adapted well to
  our desires to chat in our fractured French instead of her own
  excellent English. Please forward this message to Karine and to your
  contacts at the Memorial. We really want to express our appreciation
  to you allThanks againHoward and Stephanie K

• Nathan M
  July 29th, 2009 – 3:53 am Laura,I have recovered from my trip and settled back into my regular routine (drats). I wanted to send you a note and thank you for the arrangements you made. All of the accomodations we made with you were top notch and went perfectly. The train rides were excellent and we loved the countryside.I want to single out our tour of Normandy and the tour guide. The tour was wonderful – from the beaches to the bunkers to the US Cemetary it was an incredible experience. Additionally, Rosine (our tour guide) was extremely knowledgeable and made the entire trip something my mother and I will never forget. The tour campany also helped us out with a small problem we had – my briefcase with our tour tickets was lost by the airline and they worked with us to make sure we still were on the tour and keep our experience from hitting any snags.Once again thanks to Rosine, the tour company, and to you for making this trip something that we will never forget. I will be traveling back to France with my wife in a couple years and you can bet that my first call for any arrangements will be Link Paris!Best Regards,Nathan M

• Loudon
  July 11th, 2009 – 9:49 pm I wanted to follow up with you on our Normandy Tour.This tour was wonderful, and we enjoyed it very much. It was a highlight of the visit for us and for my 14-year-old twin grandchildren. Our tour guide was terrific–a young woman named Marylin–she was very knowledgeable and personable.I also got some informal advice when I talked with you on the phone, which was appreciated very much.Very best wishes for continued success in your business!-Marc Loudon

• Trish Marino
  July 7th, 2009 – 12:11 pm My husband and I truly enjoyed our Normandy tour on June 28, 2009. The tour guides were friendly and knowledgeable..and even impressed my husband a World War 2 history buff! Thank you for a wonderful time in Caen and Normandy. We have already recommended this tour to others.

• Pete
  May 22nd, 2009 – 1:48 pm Laura, Just wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful trip with Francois. He was a great guide. We took the train to Carentan, and he was right there to pick us up. We had a wonderful lunch in St. Mere Aglise, We enjoyed all the scenery small town. All of the sights he took us were just what we wanted to see. We were able to get an early train back to Paris as all of the restaurants would not open till later that night. Thanks for making all the arrangements. Pete and Barb<

• Doug Man
  April 30th, 2009 – 11:55 pm Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the tour of the Normandy beaches with
  your tour guide last week. She was very knowledgeable, and a joy to be with. As for
  myself, it was a wonderful experience. Thank you so much. I would gladly recommend
  your tour to whomever would visit Normandy…Again thanks so much…. Doug S.

• Jeanette
  February 9th, 2009 – 9:57 am Laura, we just arrived back home and getting over jet lag!! Wanted to thank you for a most wonderful Normandy D-Day tour last Wednesday that we arranged through you. You were right about the train to Caen, very easy to access from St.Lazare. Our tour guide and museum staff member Arnaunt was great and when you next speak to the museum please tell them how pleased we were with him as our guide.By the way, even though our hotel was located at the plaza Republique it still gave us full access to the transit system and we got around everywhere in just a short ride. The advantage to the neighborhood was we had the convenience of the local stores and a laundromat!!!!Thank you for a great trip down history lane, it was everything we had hoped it would be!Warmest Regards!Jeannette

• Elizabeth
  August 11th, 2008 – 10:33 pm Hello, I wanted to let you know that the tour of the Dday museum and
  beaches were the highlight of our trip! The tour guide was terrific, met us
  as planned and gave us a very thorough and enlightening tour. I just
  recommended you to a friend, also!Thanks so very much for all of your information and advice!
  Elizabeth
  F.

• nick117
  November 15th, 2007 – 7:55 pm I wanted to take the time to thank you for a great day during our recent tour of
  Normandy. Our day trip went seamlessly and our tour guide was very informative and
  professional. The young lady exceeded our expectations, please pass this on.Thanks again!Regards,Nick & Pam P.

• Hart
  August 8th, 2007 – 1:02 pm Dear Laura
  Just wanted to get back with you guys to let you know how much we
  liked our stay in Caen and the Hotel you picked for us. It was a lot
  of fun and I will certainly recommend you outfit to anyone
  interested. If you are interested in seeing it, I am including a link
  to my blog, even tough due to limitation during our trip in Europe it
  is not completely up to date yet.

Whether you choose our standard Loire day trips or our Wine and Castle tour, both deliver a great experience.

John Romano, President, LinkParis.com

If you have a comment to add please email us at blog@linkparis.com, we’d love to hear from you.

• Cathy T.
  March 21, 2011 – 1:13 pm Hi Laura,

  We just returned from our trip to Paris and I wanted to let you know how much we loved our tour of the Loire Valley. Our guide was Simon and we could not have had anyone better. There were 7 people on the tour and I and I’d say we were all pleased and had terrific day! Simon was a wonderful host and a great tour guide, he really made the day enjoyable! The wine tasting was just as wonderful and our host there, Daniel, provided us with a lovely wine selection and an equally delicious lunch. I’m so happy we were able to go on this tour! Thanks again for all  of you help.

  Regards,
  Cathy T*****

• Mike S.
  August 2nd, 2010 – 10:25 pm Laura:
  Itinerary #2 was tremendous. Such beautiful countryside and the chateaus were incredible. Rail connections were perfect and trains and coaches easy to locate even though I don’t speak French. Even with the size of Montparnasse there was no problem. We enjoyed the TGV and had no trouble finding the guide and Tourism Dept in Tours. Your directions on both the trains and meeting the guides were spot on. Our guide was good to be with and spoke English very well. Everyone involved was quite pleasant and made for a great trip. Lunch at Bigot in Amboise was very relaxed and the attached chocolate shop was exquisite. Could not have been more pleased unless we had had a few more minutes at the regional wine tasting kiosk across from Cheverny, our last stop. I plan to return to France and will certainly contact you about the Brittany tours you have. Keep up the good work. Best regards.



• Mary D’Anna
  June 28th, 2010 – 8:00 pm Dear Laura,
  We had a wonderful tour of the D-day beaches with our guide, Luisa. She was very knowledgeable and personable and our entire group was a lot of fun. Thank you again for catching my booking mistake and for making sure our tickets arrived on time. My husband and I enjoyed the tour and we would recommend it to anyone who is considering a visit to France.
  Mary and John D’Anna
  June 2010



• Ben & Stasia H
  March 13th, 2010 – 10:07 pm Hi Laura,I am writing this email to thank you for organising a wonderful tour of the Loire valley for myself and Stasia.

  The driver was really nice and the journey couldn’t have been easier to do.

  We have memories that will last a lifetime and will be recommending you to anyone we know travelling to France.

  Kind Regards

  Ben & Stasia H

  

• Kevin Keim
  September 24th, 2009 – 12:42 pm This was our first trip to France and my wife and I had a wonderful time on our Loire Valley Tour. We toured four chateaux’s and had a wonderful lunch in Amboise. We would like to go back to Amboise sometime. It is a lovely town. Our driver was very helpful and knew the history of each chateaux. Laura was also wonderful and a lot of help when booking this trip!Kevin & Diane Keim
  Fort Worth, Texas

  

• Janice St.
  July 29th, 2009 – 3:17 pm I have been traveling to Europe with a great emphasis on France for over thirty years; with the aid of my travel agent, I make all the arrangements. The first time I used Link Paris was for a day trip to the Loire Valley; we were only 9 and the day was perfect: three chateaux, a wonderful guide, a safe driver. When my students expressed an interest in going to Normandy the next year, I used Link Paris again. They arranged for our wonderful hotel in Caen, and our bus was magnificent; even better was our guide. We began our day at St-Mere Eglise and journeyed on to the beaches, Point du Hoc, the American Cemetery, and finally to Bayeux. The day remains the most memorable of that trip, perhaps of any trip!I am so impressed with the quality of Link Paris that we will use the company again in March for the Normandy experience; my husband and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in Bourg-en-Bresse, France, and we have a rather large group that will join us from Alaska and Texas. Then, many of us will continue to Paris; from there, we will go to Normandy with Link Paris. I have not even considered using another company.

  Laura has been an incredible help to us, and I would recommend Link Paris to anyone who wants quality in transportation, knowledge, and guide. In all honesty, we find them to be remarkably reasonable in terms of cost.

  Janice S

  

• B & B
  July 29th, 2008 – 10:14 am Laura -Just had to let you know how much we enjoyed our trip to France and how much the tours we arranged through you helped make it so fun.

  We went to the Normandy beaches, Mont St. Michel, and the Loire Valley – all three were wonderful day trips from Paris. The guides were all professional and knowledgable – allowing us enough time at each place to enjoy it without feeling rushed, but still getting us to the next location in a timely way.

  We will certainly use your service again and will recommend you to our friends and family!

  Thanks.

  S and D Brakebill

  

• Carolyn P
  May 1st, 2008 – 7:57 pm Hello/Bonjour:
  Just a report to let you know that we received the voucher and loved the
  tour. Our guides were great – very knowledgeable and interesting – and
  patient. Thanks for your help and the arrangements.
  Carolyn P



• christtt
  April 23rd, 2006 – 5:19 am Laura thank you so much for your comment to my trip,every thing worked out great. the tour was by far the best I’ve ever been on. My guide was wonderful, i think her name was Rene champion but i could be wrong. In any case I loved the tour and hope to come back sometime soon and do all over again, next time I’ll be sure to print everything before hand. please send me the name of your boss so i can tell him or her about the outstanding job you and my guide have done. many thanks and I look forward to talking to you in the future. sincerely your Chris