We recently wrapped up our latest adventure, & my birthday, in France. It was a pretty far kick from our typical islands, boats, & tiki bars but now that we own a home in paradise, the call of historical opulence that invariably altered a lot of my favorite small rocks in the Caribbean had to be answered. Wheels up, y’all.
The plan sounded a little complicated but made perfect sense to us. Great hotels, local fare, see the whole region, and do it on points to keep the spend to a minimum. The plot was Home to Paris to Épernay to Versailles to Paris to Home and with a little planning it actually went off without too many hitches, thanks to an abundance of planning ahead of time.
The biggest tip I can give you? Get your QR code taken care of ahead of time.
France, like a lot of the rest of the world, is tracking vaccinations & testing pretty tightly. You can provide qualified vax proof to the French government ahead of time and get your QR before you fly. They’ll ask for it in French customs and flag you right through, after a quick scan. You’ll also need it for basically any indoor activity you’ve got planned. If you’re not vaxed, you can get a test at a local pharmacy when you get there and they’ll issue you a QR for about €40. You’ll just have to do it every few days. I’m not going to start a war of words here, but you get the easier/cheaper route here, I’m sure. Since we were fully vaccinated, the country was ours to explore.
We did the Paris Opera House district for a couple of days, moved on to wine country, then to Versailles for my birthday, and then back to the city for a night with Eiffel Tour views, and then back to the Vendôme area until our flight back, wandering the amazing hotels, museums, churches, & shopping during the last days of Paris Fashion Week. Funny happening… we shared a hotel with Cardy B, so we got the full paparazzi treatment every time we arrived to or left the hotel. Always fun.
Throughout the trip, I pulled my usual geekery and involved my favorite tech gadgets throughout. My Lucyd Lytes provided real time walking directions everywhere with connection to Siri to get us everywhere we wanted to go without being those tourists, walking these historic streets heads-down in a phone. Another great way to infuse tech into your daily wanderings. Check them out here and tell them I sent you.
Oh… and one last tip. Get the Abbot home PCR tests for your trip home. Saves a ton of time and you can do them from your hotel the night before your return flight.