Discovering Europe

Hello my fellow adventure seekers!!!! 

 I recently took a trip to Europe, it was  AMAAAZZIINNNGGGG.... not without it's challenges, but still amazing.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but before going, I only pre-arranged a few things and decided I wanted to go freestyling with this one.  I wanted to see where my whims takes me, and you know what, it was the best decision ever.. It gave me the flexibility to enjoy the sites and ambiance and adjust my scheduling accordingly. I'm glad I did it. Had it not being that way, I fear I would have missed out on a lot trying to gain a lot.

Planning any trip requires research. There is so much information out there and so many things can be misleading. The sweet spot is to hound in on what truly speaks to you and ignore all the noises. I learnt that what works for someone else, might not be your cup of tea, as long as you do you, then you will have the best experiences that way. Remember you do you, that's all that matters.

Early research and planning is the key in my book. I find it gives time to work out all the details and kinks along the way.  Research comes in many forms and to have the desired vacation, there is a lot of moving parts involved, so you need to plan carefully, and  wisely but not without flexibility, and last but not least, have an open mind. Once your plans are in place adaptability to situations and events will be your best friends.

I will be doing several blogs about my trips one country at a time. There are lots involved, because we visited many countries during the trip. Now that we have that out the way, let start exploring.  And lets start with Pariiiiiiiiiii... Excitiiiiiiiiinnnnnngggggg. Flying business class all the way, you betcha!!!!!

I wanted to create an itinerary that gets the most out of Europe, visits as many countries as possible without being too overwhelming or exhausting. The best way to achieve this in my book is through cruising. (fun fact, the cruise can act as your travelling floating hotel at night that takes you across country) This gives the flexibility to explore to your heart's content during the day and have your moving hotel transport you to your next destination at night, sometimes your hotel stays from the night, giving you more options to enjoy, who wouldn't want that?!. First I chose a cruise itinerary for Portugal, Spain and France, departing in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and ending in Barcelona, Spain. I wanted to incorporate London, Brussels possible Bruges and Copenhagen in it, once that was determined, I now have my base to plan my trip around.

I looked into whether it was best  to explore London pre vs post cruise, the same consideration was given to Copenhagen, and after much research, I decided it was better to explore London pre-cruise and Copenhagen post cruise. Ok, now that it's all set , it's time to find flights and hotels.

I learnt from travelling over the years that I do not like connecting flights.. I tried to avoid them whenever possible. Since we have a Europe destination, I wanted to go business class, it's a long flight and I wanted to be comfortable, so I had to get creative in order to achieve this. I started checking direct flights to London.  Even though there were several directs flights to London on Air Canada on a daily basis, business class was full on the days I checked to book using aeroplan points, I had option to be waitlisted, which usually clears up closer to flight time depending on your status and the category booked and of course availability. I wasn't deterred. It got me to thinking, what if I flew to one of the neighbouring countries to London, do some exploring while there and then maybe take a train or a local flight onwards to my destination. Challenge accepted and now my creative curiosity juice starting to flow.

With the thought process of how I could do this the most economical way, I started by checking layover flights first, focusing on the length and destinations of the layovers while comparing prices. For this particular trip I was using my aeroplan points for flights and hotels, so I wanted to maximize my points usage without compromising my experience. Since I have 25K elite status as an aeroplan member, I was able to book economic class flights and then use my e-upgrade credits to upgrade my flights to business class for free! Yes did I mentioned FREE?! Take for example... My flight from Toronto to London I used 75K points for two tickets which includes business class on the European segments of the flights,, I then used 24 e-upgrades credits to upgrade both tickets to business class. On the other hand, if I were book business class directly, if would require 250K points per ticket. WOWZA my adventure seekers, what a sweet deals I snagged!!!!The other advantage of being an aeroplan member, is that aeroplan allows you to use just 5k aeroplan point per ticket for a stopover in any country on your route, so I took advantage of this little perk because I was looking to stop in neighbouring countries. What a way to save points to use for other things. I came across a flight to London with a 22 hours layover in Paris, I added a stopover in Brussels with turned into two GLORIOUS days because of flight schedules, then onwards to my intended destination of London.

From London, we took an over night ferry to Holland, then  a Train to Amsterdam for a day of exploring, and onwards to Rotterdam... "We spent a two days one night in Rotterdam and then board the cruise for France, Portugal, Spain & the United Kingdom.  Sounds like the route I just explored on land except for Belgium & the Netherlands, doesn't it? but it's not, just same countries different cities. Now that you know part of my route, its time to dive in and explore.

First up Paris... My flight arrives Paris at 09:30am leaving the next day at 08:30am, so for Paris I opted for a hotel closer to the airport and then take the train into the city.  I figure if I get too tired or over slept I would not have far to travel to catch my flight. I was surprised upon arriving Paris as soon as you enter the airport they greet you with mini croissants and coffee,.. CEST MAGNIFIQUE! It was fascinating looking at these staffs with trays of croissant and coffee, welcoming you...My first thought was how sweet, then this is definitely a Kodak moment.. Yes, absolutely I took some just because it was offered and after all this is Paris I wanted to taste the difference...and it's free.....lol

Paris was beautiful, it was especially pretty because of all the Olympic colours decorating stuff all around, we certainly did a lot of walking all over the city, among sites visited, Champ 'Elysee, the River Scene as well a Boat Ride down the River Scene, we visited the Louvre museum and of course, the famous Eiffel tower with the Olympic ring decoration, just to name a few. We like to do things on our own, this way we control our schedules and what's important to us.  Can you believe I was in Paris for a day and shopping wasn't foremost on  my mind? Guess I must have been jetlagged that day. because we were having a great time it didn't feel like a lot, but before you know it was whew!!!, it's dark outside and time to grab a bite to eat. We had pasta at a little Cafe by the wayside, some awesome food it was, we got back to our hotel around 11:00pm thoroughly exhausted and ready to take on the next adventure that awaits for the next day.

Merci Paris pour ce bon debut dans notre aventure, tu etais incroyable..

Were you paying attention Adventure Seekers??  Up next......can you guess where the next adventure will take us??

 Until next time my fellow adventure seekers, enjoy discovering your own delights!

Leona