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[Pelado]

Yes, you can make it a day trip, but I don't think you get the best experience that way. I think you need at least a full day in the WW2 area to really enjoy it. We had friends that were in Paris and did a day trip and enjoyed it but they wished they'd spent more time there. They basically took the train to Bayeux and got there around lunch time. They did a half day tour with Overlord tours (www.overlordtour.com) and caught the last train back from Bayeux to Paris. You can do it but you are then limited to seeing only Omaha Beach, the American cemetary and maybe Point due Hoc. IMO you also need to see Saint-mere Eglise, Utah Beach and maybe a couple other sites like the Longues sur mere battery. My suggestion would be to take hte train to Bayeux the night before, stay the night in Bayeux (it's an awesome little town) and do a full day tour the next day and then take the train back to Paris...well actually I'd suggest you go to the Mont Saint Michel the next day if you can. The Mont Saint Michel will blow your minds, it's that awesome.

For a quick two day trip in Paris, you can easily hit the Louvre (maybe 2 hours), the Eiffel tower (2 hours), Saint Chapelle/Notre Dame (2 hours but I'd suggest going to a concert in the Saint Chapelle), Sacre Coeur and Place du Tertre (2-3 hours), Arc du Triomphe and walking the Champs Elysees (2-3 hours) and a ride on the Bateux Mouche (2 hours). If you go to Versailles, plan on that taking the full day and you might be able to do something that night...also Versailles is closed one day a week so don't go that day, whatever day it is. The temple is also right outside the Versailles gardens and has a visitor center if you don't want to take the time to do a sesh or baptisms.

If you like impressionism, go to the Musee d-Orsay and the Orangerie, they are both much better than the Louvre...but you have to go to the Louvre since it's the Louvre.

Impressionism hasn't left much of an impression on me.

While waiting for various classes in the atrium of the JSB, I recall hearing other students studying for what I assumed to be a test for an art appreciation class. That seemed really boring to me at the time, so I avoided those types of classes in my general education courses. As such, I don't really know much about art, art history, etc.

[Moliere]

Impressionism hasn't left much of an impression on me.

While waiting for various classes in the atrium of the JSB, I recall hearing other students studying for what I assumed to be a test for an art appreciation class. That seemed really boring to me at the time, so I avoided those types of classes in my general education courses. As such, I don't really know much about art, art history, etc.

Even better. Go to the Louvre to say you went to the Louvre and then avoid all the other art museums.

[Moliere]

re: Italy. If you’re never going to go to europe again then I guess you should try to rope that in this trip. But I’d just make sure you go again to do Italy on its own. I agree with Jeff: I’d go to Florence again but I’m done with Rome. Still, you absolutely have to see Rome once.

I definitely agree on making Italy it's own trip if you think you'll go back to Europe some day. Italy is amazing. Rome and Florence are vastly different but Milan is even more different and Venice is even more different. We spent 9 days in Italy last summer and we are going back in March. The people are great, the food is absolutely incredible and not expensive and there's never nothing to see or do. This time we are renting a car and driving through Tuscany and hitting the Cinque Terre before also hitting Verona and Como. We have plans at some point to return and do the Dolomites. Italy is almost as awesome as France...almost.

[All-American]

Yes, you can make it a day trip, but I don't think you get the best experience that way. I think you need at least a full day in the WW2 area to really enjoy it. We had friends that were in Paris and did a day trip and enjoyed it but they wished they'd spent more time there. They basically took the train to Bayeux and got there around lunch time. They did a half day tour with Overlord tours (www.overlordtour.com) and caught the last train back from Bayeux to Paris. You can do it but you are then limited to seeing only Omaha Beach, the American cemetary and maybe Point due Hoc. IMO you also need to see Saint-mere Eglise, Utah Beach and maybe a couple other sites like the Longues sur mere battery. My suggestion would be to take hte train to Bayeux the night before, stay the night in Bayeux (it's an awesome little town) and do a full day tour the next day and then take the train back to Paris...well actually I'd suggest you go to the Mont Saint Michel the next day if you can. The Mont Saint Michel will blow your minds, it's that awesome.

For a quick two day trip in Paris, you can easily hit the Louvre (maybe 2 hours), the Eiffel tower (2 hours), Saint Chapelle/Notre Dame (2 hours but I'd suggest going to a concert in the Saint Chapelle), Sacre Coeur and Place du Tertre (2-3 hours), Arc du Triomphe and walking the Champs Elysees (2-3 hours) and a ride on the Bateux Mouche (2 hours). If you go to Versailles, plan on that taking the full day and you might be able to do something that night...also Versailles is closed one day a week so don't go that day, whatever day it is. The temple is also right outside the Versailles gardens and has a visitor center if you don't want to take the time to do a sesh or baptisms.

If you like impressionism, go to the Musee d-Orsay and the Orangerie, they are both much better than the Louvre...but you have to go to the Louvre since it's the Louvre.

We saw all those on our day trip too. Got there earlier I guess.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I definitely agree on making Italy it's own trip if you think you'll go back to Europe some day. Italy is amazing. Rome and Florence are vastly different but Milan is even more different and Venice is even more different. We spent 9 days in Italy last summer and we are going back in March. The people are great, the food is absolutely incredible and not expensive and there's never nothing to see or do. This time we are renting a car and driving through Tuscany and hitting the Cinque Terre before also hitting Verona and Como. We have plans at some point to return and do the Dolomites. Italy is almost as awesome as France...almost.

Yes. Italy is such a fun place to travel.

[Pelado]

I definitely agree on making Italy it's own trip if you think you'll go back to Europe some day. Italy is amazing. Rome and Florence are vastly different but Milan is even more different and Venice is even more different. We spent 9 days in Italy last summer and we are going back in March. The people are great, the food is absolutely incredible and not expensive and there's never nothing to see or do. This time we are renting a car and driving through Tuscany and hitting the Cinque Terre before also hitting Verona and Como. We have plans at some point to return and do the Dolomites. Italy is almost as awesome as France...almost.

I've watched a bunch of Rick Steves' shows and recently watched "Our Man in Italy" with James May on Amazon Prime, and found that there are more places that I want to see in Italy than I'd previously realized.

[Pelado]

Even better. Go to the Louvre to say you went to the Louvre and then avoid all the other art museums.

Thanks to Rick Steves, I would actually like to check out Monet's water lily room at L'Orangerie.

[Moliere]

Thanks to Rick Steves, I would actually like to check out Monet's water lily room at L'Orangerie.

It's incredible. I'd never been to the Orangerie until we took our middle child last summer. It is now MJ's favorite museum in Paris and a close second for me (behind the Musee d'Orsay). We spent a good 4 hours in there. You should also watch Midnight in Paris where that water lily room makes a cameo as well.

Another half day trip from Paris is to Giverny, Monet's hometown and a quaint town on the Seine. Definitely worth the trip in the spring when the garden is in bloom.

[Pelado]

I booked some reward travel. Here are the points I had available to me:

Chase Ultimate Rewards - 355,456
United MileagePlus - 63,274
Southwest - 54,025

I tried using Virgin Atlantic to get space on Delta One, but I couldn't find any available awards. I tried finding space through Flying Blue on Air France or KLM. I found several available spots there, but the pricing was upwards of 500k points per person - not particularly affordable.

Round trip pricing from Boise to Europe and back on United was possible (with the right dates), but would eat up pretty much all my Ultimate Rewards and MileagePlus points. So I did some research looking at other options for the launching point - SLC, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Phoenix, Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth. I tried to get as much business class travel for the least amount of reward points and the shortest travel times. I figured this itinerary would need more than two weeks but tried to keep it under three weeks.

I had to get a bit creative. I ended up using the Southwest miles to get us to Chicago (ORD) to start the United portion of our trip - where I think I'll have to fetch luggage and check back in. We've also got a return trip on Southwest from ORD after the United portion is over (which will likely include another trip to baggage claim and security check in. Southwest is obviously not business class travel, so that sucks, but using Southwest for that leg allowed me to preserve my Ultimate Rewards points. It would have cost an additional 70k-ish points to do that segment through United, which would still have been economy class and likely still require that I fetch luggage both times.

From Chicago, we fly economy to DC and then United Polaris to London. I'm thinking we'll spend a few days in and around London, spend a day or two in Wales, and then take the Chunnel train to...Amsterdam. Then we'll make our way back to France - spending some time at Normandy before heading to Paris. After a few days in and around Paris, we fly to Florence (business class on Lufthansa and then Air Dolomiti) through Munich. We'll be in and around Florence for 2-3 days before taking a train to Rome where we'll spend the remaining 2-3 days before flying home. The flight home is through Brussels (business class on Brussels Airlines) and back to Chicago (United Polaris). Then we're back to slumming it on Southwest to get back to Boise.

We leave Boise at 5 am on the first day of the trip and return at 12:05 am on the 20th calendar day of the trip.

The trip cost me 43,326 of my Southwest Rapid Reward points, leaving me with 10,699 remaining.

The portion booked through United cost 240k MileagePlus miles, so I had to transfer 177k Ultimate Rewards points to cover it, leaving me with just 274 MileagePlus miles.

After transferring points to United, I was still left with 178,456 Ultimate Rewards points.

I'm planning to use some of those UR points to book some Hyatt hotel stays in London and maybe Paris/Rome. I can get some of them for as little as 5-9k points per night. We'd also like to stay at some bed and breakfast places and such for at least some of our time there. Any suggestions for cool lodging experiences in or near London, Wales, Amsterdam, Normandy, Paris, Florence, or Rome?

[Pelado]

It's incredible. I'd never been to the Orangerie until we took our middle child last summer. It is now MJ's favorite museum in Paris and a close second for me (behind the Musee d'Orsay). We spent a good 4 hours in there. You should also watch Midnight in Paris where that water lily room makes a cameo as well.

Another half day trip from Paris is to Giverny, Monet's hometown and a quaint town on the Seine. Definitely worth the trip in the spring when the garden is in bloom.

I have seen Midnight in Paris, but I must have watched it before I'd seen the Rick Steves episode about the water lily room, because I don't remember the scene(s) making any particular impression on me. Of course, another possibility is that I fell asleep during the movie.

[Bo Diddley]

What time of year are you headed over?

[Pelado]

What time of year are you headed over?

April-May. I'm concerned it may be a bit overly cold and rainy. But, whatever.

[Bo Diddley]

April-May. I'm concerned it may be a bit overly cold and rainy. But, whatever.

I've been there that time of year when the weather was great.

We like to stay in hotels with a short walking distance to the tube station. I think the only hotel we've stayed in more than once was the Hilton next to the Victoria station. I have status with Hilton, and the free breakfasts are decent.

When you figure out what you want to see there, that might help decide where to stay. I've posted about some of my trips there. We could talk over the phone if you have a bunch of questions.

[Moliere]

April-May. I'm concerned it may be a bit overly cold and rainy. But, whatever.

Early may is my favorite time in Normandy. You'll love it. Just bring a couple layers and an umbrella. The spring rain tends to come for one very short period of the day. So it'll rain like crazy for 15 minutes and the rest of the day will be nice. If you have the time, I'd recommend a full day tour wiht Overlord tours. We've used them several times and have recommended them to others and everyone has had a great experience. Also, if you can, take a day and drive to the mont saint michel. I promise you it'll be worth it. We actually stayed in a hotel on the island, which was fun since they kick everyone else out after a certain time.

[BigFatMeanie]

Pelado, your creative flight itinerary and use of rewards points is commendable. The airlines really screw you on the points required for the domestic legs of an international business class trip so I've often resorted to similar tactics. Based on my experience, your assumption that you will have to retrieve and recheck baggage for every separately booked flight is correct. My only critique is that you should have checked SFO, LAX, and SEA - those are all a short flight from Boise and all offer non-stop routes to LON with Seattle being the fastest at 9.5 hours. SFO is a United hub and United has 3 non-stops a day out of SFO so you may have been able to use your United miles more efficiently through there. Maybe you checked all those and just didn't note it?

Another trick I often use going is Air Canada flying either out of Vancouver or Toronto. Depending on the destination, they fly non-stop up over the top of globe so Vancouver to, say, Delhi is a great non-stop flight. Ttheir business class is just fine (basically the same as Delta One and United Polaris), their prices are pretty good, and they are Star Alliance so you can earn/redeem United miles.

I can handle any flight in the continental US in Economy class but I'm too tall, too fat, too old, and too grumpy to fly across an ocean without going Business class.