Long Post Warning
May 27/28-Day 1 Calgary to Mestre-Venice via Amsterdam
My sister Karen invited me to celebrate her sixtieth birthday with her by going on a biking trip in Italy, going to the town in Italy where my Grandpa Pavan was born and raised, and reconnecting with long lost cousins in France. It's always is an adventure when my sister and I travel together!
So, lets start....
When we got to the airport I was informed that I wouldn't be able to fly with my passport. It expired at the beginning of August and the rule is, it can't expire within 3 months of your departure date. The KML supervisor suggested I go downtown and try and get a new one. It was around 1230 and she said we needed to be back by 200 pm in order to make our flight.
Never ones to pass up a challenge we took off literally running. We hopped in a cab and the driver became our new best friend. I'm sure he thought we were crazy old ladies. I asked him, "Can you drive really fast? Do you promise me you know where the Harry Hays building is?" We felt like we were on an episode of Amazing Race.
When we got to the Passport office Karen waited in the cab while I took off running. I had to get new pictures taken. I called two references to make sure they were home, thanks Ashlynn Smith and Kim Ridley. I had to go through one line up and ask about ten people if I could go ahead of them only to be told by the passport agent that I would never be able to get one on time.
Never tell a Bergman never!
I had to ask another person if I could take his turn to actually get my paperwork processed that meant he would have to wait longer until they called my number. Thankfully he agreed.
I finally had everything taken care of and just had to wait for the new passport to print.
At 2:05 we were back in our waiting cab and driving in a downpour back to the airport. Luckily we had the supervisors phone number and we could keep her updated. When we called to tell her we were on our way back she said she would have them wait for us.
Our amazing cab driver got us back to the airport at 2:25. We ran in, got checked in, ran to security and then to our gate.
Best part, our flight was delayed!
I love my sister and I'm glad we could laugh about the situation both while going through it and especially after.
The best line from the day happened as I was sitting in the passport office waiting for my turn. I was frantically looking on my phone to find proof of my flight (the only way they would process my passport). All of a sudden Karen walks up and is clearly upset and barks at me, "Sandra, you've got to look up." We laughed so hard and it became the theme of our trip. We would say it to each other multiple times everyday; if we were frustrated with each other, if we needed a laugh, if we missed a turn, most any occurrence required the comment, "You've got to look up!"
So, lets start....
When we got to the airport I was informed that I wouldn't be able to fly with my passport. It expired at the beginning of August and the rule is, it can't expire within 3 months of your departure date. The KML supervisor suggested I go downtown and try and get a new one. It was around 1230 and she said we needed to be back by 200 pm in order to make our flight.
Never ones to pass up a challenge we took off literally running. We hopped in a cab and the driver became our new best friend. I'm sure he thought we were crazy old ladies. I asked him, "Can you drive really fast? Do you promise me you know where the Harry Hays building is?" We felt like we were on an episode of Amazing Race.
When we got to the Passport office Karen waited in the cab while I took off running. I had to get new pictures taken. I called two references to make sure they were home, thanks Ashlynn Smith and Kim Ridley. I had to go through one line up and ask about ten people if I could go ahead of them only to be told by the passport agent that I would never be able to get one on time.
Never tell a Bergman never!
I had to ask another person if I could take his turn to actually get my paperwork processed that meant he would have to wait longer until they called my number. Thankfully he agreed.
I finally had everything taken care of and just had to wait for the new passport to print.
At 2:05 we were back in our waiting cab and driving in a downpour back to the airport. Luckily we had the supervisors phone number and we could keep her updated. When we called to tell her we were on our way back she said she would have them wait for us.
Our amazing cab driver got us back to the airport at 2:25. We ran in, got checked in, ran to security and then to our gate.
Best part, our flight was delayed!
I love my sister and I'm glad we could laugh about the situation both while going through it and especially after.
The best line from the day happened as I was sitting in the passport office waiting for my turn. I was frantically looking on my phone to find proof of my flight (the only way they would process my passport). All of a sudden Karen walks up and is clearly upset and barks at me, "Sandra, you've got to look up." We laughed so hard and it became the theme of our trip. We would say it to each other multiple times everyday; if we were frustrated with each other, if we needed a laugh, if we missed a turn, most any occurrence required the comment, "You've got to look up!"
We had an eight hour flight to Amsterdam, a few hours in the Amsterdam airport then an hour and a half flight to Mestre.
It took us about 45 minutes to figure out how to turn the lights and electricity on in our hotel room. You have to put you door key card in this slot thing in your room.
We rested for a bit in our room and then made our way over to Venezia. It took a while to figure out the trains but then we became pros.
We had a delicious Italian supper in Venezia and spent the rest of the evening walking.
We rested for a bit in our room and then made our way over to Venezia. It took a while to figure out the trains but then we became pros.
We had a delicious Italian supper in Venezia and spent the rest of the evening walking.
Sunday May 29-Day 2 Venice
We got caught up on our sleep today so had a late start. Once we got going we spent the day poking around Venice. We had some rain today but not for long. We did a lot of walking today and tried out the vaporetto-water bus. We went to Piazza San Marco, St. Marks Basilica, the bridge of Sighs.
There are street performers everywhere. Not your average performers either, concert worthy performances.
We didn't go in any of the big touristy stops. The line ups were huge and we didn't have tons of time. I went in a couple smaller churches though and wow, was the architecture amazing.
There are street performers everywhere. Not your average performers either, concert worthy performances.
We didn't go in any of the big touristy stops. The line ups were huge and we didn't have tons of time. I went in a couple smaller churches though and wow, was the architecture amazing.
Monday May 30-Day 3 Mestre to Chioggia
Our bike trip begins.
It took us awhile to get on the road. Getting the bikes, booking train tickets for later in our trip. It was a challenge to figure out how to get out of Mestre and over to the island of Venezia. At one point we had to go on a narrow bridge with cars flying by and a train line on it. We started once, chickened out, asked some old guys who told us, go, you'll be fine and we were .
We had to take a ferry to Lido, bike down the island, take another ferry to Santa Maria Del Mare, cycle down that island then a ferry to Chioggia, our destination. On the islands we were often biking down small roads with houses and businesses on one side and the ocean on the other side. It was definitely not a tourist mecca. Just the way I like it.
Distance 40 km
Time including breaks 5:15 minutes.
It took us awhile to get on the road. Getting the bikes, booking train tickets for later in our trip. It was a challenge to figure out how to get out of Mestre and over to the island of Venezia. At one point we had to go on a narrow bridge with cars flying by and a train line on it. We started once, chickened out, asked some old guys who told us, go, you'll be fine and we were .
We had to take a ferry to Lido, bike down the island, take another ferry to Santa Maria Del Mare, cycle down that island then a ferry to Chioggia, our destination. On the islands we were often biking down small roads with houses and businesses on one side and the ocean on the other side. It was definitely not a tourist mecca. Just the way I like it.
Distance 40 km
Time including breaks 5:15 minutes.
Tuesday May 31-Day 4 Chioggia to Padova
Chioggia to Padova
One reason I like to travel with my sister is that she is happy to go low budget. For breakfast we just grabbed some bread and cheese from the grocery store, sat on the sidewalk and ate. Before I left when people asked about my trip I said one thing I am looking forward to is buying a baguette and cheese and eating that. Little did I know this would be the first of many cheese and baguette purchases.
Before leaving the hotel we asked the owner how to get to the start of the route. He gave very good instructions warning us to not go on a certain road as it was too busy and "In Italy we don't do such things." Meaning a long distance bike trip.
The first lesson we learned today; neither one of us are very good at listening to directions or following a map.
We didn't end up on the busy road the hotel guy was talking about we ended up on the freeway! Luckily there was a shoulder and we were blissfully ignorant that we were going the wrong way.
After about 20km and asking multiple people, none of whom spoke English, we made it to the actual route.
The actual route is a marked bike route. The path was on old narrow side roads. We would come across the odd car but we mostly had the path to ourselves. We traveled through beautiful farm land.
The first thing Karen did when we got to Padova was get a SIM card for her phone so we could use her phone. I downloaded an app with better bike routes and directions as our paper ones were lacking finer details.
Distance approx. 60km and
Time 6.5 hours including stops and getting lost.
One reason I like to travel with my sister is that she is happy to go low budget. For breakfast we just grabbed some bread and cheese from the grocery store, sat on the sidewalk and ate. Before I left when people asked about my trip I said one thing I am looking forward to is buying a baguette and cheese and eating that. Little did I know this would be the first of many cheese and baguette purchases.
Before leaving the hotel we asked the owner how to get to the start of the route. He gave very good instructions warning us to not go on a certain road as it was too busy and "In Italy we don't do such things." Meaning a long distance bike trip.
The first lesson we learned today; neither one of us are very good at listening to directions or following a map.
We didn't end up on the busy road the hotel guy was talking about we ended up on the freeway! Luckily there was a shoulder and we were blissfully ignorant that we were going the wrong way.
After about 20km and asking multiple people, none of whom spoke English, we made it to the actual route.
The actual route is a marked bike route. The path was on old narrow side roads. We would come across the odd car but we mostly had the path to ourselves. We traveled through beautiful farm land.
The first thing Karen did when we got to Padova was get a SIM card for her phone so we could use her phone. I downloaded an app with better bike routes and directions as our paper ones were lacking finer details.
Distance approx. 60km and
Time 6.5 hours including stops and getting lost.
Wednesday June 1-Day 5 Padova to Vincenza
Today was a long hard day. I'm not going to lie, this was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Traffic was interesting in Italy. Cars, pedestrians, motorcycles and bikes coexist nicely and safely on the roads. There are a lot of each. Bikes zip along in the traffic and on the sidewalks. You hardly hear anyone honking but you need to be assertive as a biker or pedestrian, cars won't stop for you if just stand at the the crosswalk, but step out and they stop.
The place we stayed at last night didn't have anywhere safe for us to keep our bikes. We had to ride our bikes about a kilometer away, lock them in a secured yard then walk back to our hotel. In morning we had to walk up there and get them. As we were riding back I hit a small ledge and fell over on my left side hitting my left hip pretty hard. I quickly got up and we rode back to the hotel with my hip throbbing. In the next hour my left hip and butt cheek started to swell beyond belief! I was wearing my compression biking shorts and thought maybe the seams were causing the swelling to stay in one area. I changed into regular shorts, which by this time barely fit over my hip, and the swelling got worse and spread further. Luckily it didn't hurt too much to ride.
We did much better with not getting lost today. We only went about 10km out of our way. When we came to a bridge we saw one of the route markers pointing to the left. We thought, "Oh it must mean, carry your bikes down this narrow, glass littered, steep path under the bridge and then carry on." Five km later and being very frustrated we turned around went back to the sign and realized it meant turn left ON the bridge. Haha lesson learned.
Today was the day to lose things too. I lost one of my yellow pannier covers and Karen left her glasses at a stop and we had to turn around and get them.
The afternoon was a long haul. We were so glad to get to our hostel, have supper and go to bed.
Distance 60km
Time 6 hours 15 minutes
Traffic was interesting in Italy. Cars, pedestrians, motorcycles and bikes coexist nicely and safely on the roads. There are a lot of each. Bikes zip along in the traffic and on the sidewalks. You hardly hear anyone honking but you need to be assertive as a biker or pedestrian, cars won't stop for you if just stand at the the crosswalk, but step out and they stop.
The place we stayed at last night didn't have anywhere safe for us to keep our bikes. We had to ride our bikes about a kilometer away, lock them in a secured yard then walk back to our hotel. In morning we had to walk up there and get them. As we were riding back I hit a small ledge and fell over on my left side hitting my left hip pretty hard. I quickly got up and we rode back to the hotel with my hip throbbing. In the next hour my left hip and butt cheek started to swell beyond belief! I was wearing my compression biking shorts and thought maybe the seams were causing the swelling to stay in one area. I changed into regular shorts, which by this time barely fit over my hip, and the swelling got worse and spread further. Luckily it didn't hurt too much to ride.
We did much better with not getting lost today. We only went about 10km out of our way. When we came to a bridge we saw one of the route markers pointing to the left. We thought, "Oh it must mean, carry your bikes down this narrow, glass littered, steep path under the bridge and then carry on." Five km later and being very frustrated we turned around went back to the sign and realized it meant turn left ON the bridge. Haha lesson learned.
Today was the day to lose things too. I lost one of my yellow pannier covers and Karen left her glasses at a stop and we had to turn around and get them.
The afternoon was a long haul. We were so glad to get to our hostel, have supper and go to bed.
Distance 60km
Time 6 hours 15 minutes
Thursday June 2-Day 6 Vincenza to Bassano Del Grappa
Today was beautiful and warm day until the last hour and then it poured.
The highlights today:
-Seeing an amazing castle.
-We hardly got lost.
-Riding down little back roads.
-Finding a cherry stand on a back road and the lady pilling more and more cherries into our bag.
-Finding a stream and sitting there eating the cherries.
-Sitting at the side of a small country road eating croissants with Nutella, jam and cheese on them. When people ask about the food this is the meal I always tell them about. The croissants were warm and the cheese a bit melted from being in our bags. It was my first intro to nutella and wow what an intro.
-Getting to our hotel, soaking wet and the two ladies greeted us, helped us with our bags and said supper would be ready at 700 or 730 and there would be everything we wanted to eat. (There was)
-Laying in our quaint hotel room that felt more like a bedroom at my grannies and smelling the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.
-Lastly, having a sister that I can laugh with. We are the only two that think we are funny. I love having a sister that basically all our conversations are "insider jokes"
Distance 52km
Time 6 hours
The highlights today:
-Seeing an amazing castle.
-We hardly got lost.
-Riding down little back roads.
-Finding a cherry stand on a back road and the lady pilling more and more cherries into our bag.
-Finding a stream and sitting there eating the cherries.
-Sitting at the side of a small country road eating croissants with Nutella, jam and cheese on them. When people ask about the food this is the meal I always tell them about. The croissants were warm and the cheese a bit melted from being in our bags. It was my first intro to nutella and wow what an intro.
-Getting to our hotel, soaking wet and the two ladies greeted us, helped us with our bags and said supper would be ready at 700 or 730 and there would be everything we wanted to eat. (There was)
-Laying in our quaint hotel room that felt more like a bedroom at my grannies and smelling the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.
-Lastly, having a sister that I can laugh with. We are the only two that think we are funny. I love having a sister that basically all our conversations are "insider jokes"
Distance 52km
Time 6 hours
Friday June 3-Day 7 Bassano Del Grappa to Treviso
Today we arrived in Treviso Italy!
My Grandpa Pavan, my moms dad, was born in a little town outside Treviso called Breda Di Piave. Coming here and going to his hometown was one of the big reasons we did this trip. Many times today Karen and I said, maybe Grandpa walked on this street.
We made a hard but good for us, decision to not ride today. We rode in the luxury of a vehicle to our destination. Not as fun, sweat producing, adrenalin pumping as biking but sure a lot faster and relaxing.
We had to take a quick train trip into Venezia to get our train tickets up to France but mostly had a good rest day.
My Grandpa Pavan, my moms dad, was born in a little town outside Treviso called Breda Di Piave. Coming here and going to his hometown was one of the big reasons we did this trip. Many times today Karen and I said, maybe Grandpa walked on this street.
We made a hard but good for us, decision to not ride today. We rode in the luxury of a vehicle to our destination. Not as fun, sweat producing, adrenalin pumping as biking but sure a lot faster and relaxing.
We had to take a quick train trip into Venezia to get our train tickets up to France but mostly had a good rest day.
Saturday June 4-Day 8 Treviso to Breda Di Piave back to Treviso
Today was the last day on the bikes.
We went to the grocery store and bought muesli and yogurt for our breakfast today plus food for our lunch. This was by far, my favorite way to eat.
Our destination today was to go to the village my grandpa was born and raised in. We set off pretty early and had a beautiful ride through little towns, past a Saturday market, on cobblestone streets and through the country side. We didn't get lost once today!!! Google maps is the best.
It took about 1.5 hours to get to Breda. It's a small, sleepy, rural town. As is common in a small town the people were friendly and for the first time someone approached us to ask what we were doing.
We stopped to talk to two men and told them our story. The older man knew the Pavans (not our grandpa) and pointed out where their property used to be. We asked directions to the cemetery and the old man said, "All the Pavans are either in the bar or dead." That about sums up my family.
On our way to the cemetery we stopped to clarify directions and a nice man on a motorcycle told us to follow him. I did have a moment of panic as we followed a total stranger, who we met on a back street, down small sides streets out into the country. I kept asking myself, "Are we being stupid?" I'm glad to report he was just a friendly gentleman helping out two buff grannies and he took us directly to the cemetery and made sure we locked up our bikes.
Karen and I scoured the cemetery looking for family names. There were a few Pavans but not my direct line. We had split up to cover more territory and when I found Karen again she was talking to an old lady in broken Italian and French. The lady had taken Karen right to the Pavan grave site and explained who the people were. Our new friend used to live by the Pavans. She was so cute and kept chattering away to us. She wanted to know about our trip, warned us about thieves, and chided me for not knowing Italian. We think she may have invited us for lunch but we weren't sure and she wasn't too persistent about it.
After finding the gravesite it started to pour so we ate our lunch and suited up in our rain gear for the ride back to Treviso. Just as we were ready to leave it stopped raining and got nice and warm. We had to take off the rain gear and head out.
Back in Breda we stopped at a little cafe/pub to charge my phone. Again, we had to explain our heritage. The waiter also knew the Pavans.
We sat in the cafe for quite along time and enjoyed being right where we were.
The trip back was quick, only stopping for one last Italian gelato.
I love family history and I'm proud of my heritage. I feel satisfied that I could come to my grandpas birth place and perhaps walk where he or my other ancestors did. Unlike my sister I have few, if any memories of my grandpa, only pictures and stories and this will be another story in that book.
I am going to miss my bici and the pace of our travel. I'm going to miss the small quiet towns and seeing a unique view of Italy.
Ciao
Distance 36.6km
We went to the grocery store and bought muesli and yogurt for our breakfast today plus food for our lunch. This was by far, my favorite way to eat.
Our destination today was to go to the village my grandpa was born and raised in. We set off pretty early and had a beautiful ride through little towns, past a Saturday market, on cobblestone streets and through the country side. We didn't get lost once today!!! Google maps is the best.
It took about 1.5 hours to get to Breda. It's a small, sleepy, rural town. As is common in a small town the people were friendly and for the first time someone approached us to ask what we were doing.
We stopped to talk to two men and told them our story. The older man knew the Pavans (not our grandpa) and pointed out where their property used to be. We asked directions to the cemetery and the old man said, "All the Pavans are either in the bar or dead." That about sums up my family.
On our way to the cemetery we stopped to clarify directions and a nice man on a motorcycle told us to follow him. I did have a moment of panic as we followed a total stranger, who we met on a back street, down small sides streets out into the country. I kept asking myself, "Are we being stupid?" I'm glad to report he was just a friendly gentleman helping out two buff grannies and he took us directly to the cemetery and made sure we locked up our bikes.
Karen and I scoured the cemetery looking for family names. There were a few Pavans but not my direct line. We had split up to cover more territory and when I found Karen again she was talking to an old lady in broken Italian and French. The lady had taken Karen right to the Pavan grave site and explained who the people were. Our new friend used to live by the Pavans. She was so cute and kept chattering away to us. She wanted to know about our trip, warned us about thieves, and chided me for not knowing Italian. We think she may have invited us for lunch but we weren't sure and she wasn't too persistent about it.
After finding the gravesite it started to pour so we ate our lunch and suited up in our rain gear for the ride back to Treviso. Just as we were ready to leave it stopped raining and got nice and warm. We had to take off the rain gear and head out.
Back in Breda we stopped at a little cafe/pub to charge my phone. Again, we had to explain our heritage. The waiter also knew the Pavans.
We sat in the cafe for quite along time and enjoyed being right where we were.
The trip back was quick, only stopping for one last Italian gelato.
I love family history and I'm proud of my heritage. I feel satisfied that I could come to my grandpas birth place and perhaps walk where he or my other ancestors did. Unlike my sister I have few, if any memories of my grandpa, only pictures and stories and this will be another story in that book.
I am going to miss my bici and the pace of our travel. I'm going to miss the small quiet towns and seeing a unique view of Italy.
Ciao
Distance 36.6km
Sunday June 5- Day 9 Treviso to Cinque Terre via train
I was looking forward to going to church today. I found a branch that was meeting a 15 minute walk from our hotel. When I got there the gate was locked and no one answered the doorbell. I waited for some time and a man walked up and tried to get in also. We concluded that there were no meetings today. He introduced himself as Sufi from Afghanistan. He was a refugee seeking asylum in Italy. We visited for a long time, learning about each others life.
My walk to and from church was great. Right by the church there was a bike race start/finish line. I seem to run into races when I travel.
In the evening Karen and I had to get the train to Monterosso which is one of the towns in Cinque Terre.
Our first stop was back in Venizia! We had a 2.5 hour wait and planned to check our luggage and go walk around. When we got there we saw a train leaving in 10 minutes going to Bologna, our first stop. We stood there and watched it leave remarking, "We sure wish we were on that train." About 30 minutes later I was looking at our itinerary and realized, that was our train! We had been reading our itinerary wrong. After some scrabbling we rebooked our route but ended up getting in really late.
Our discovery today was realizing that the Italian train system is a bit hard to figure out and delays are common.
My walk to and from church was great. Right by the church there was a bike race start/finish line. I seem to run into races when I travel.
In the evening Karen and I had to get the train to Monterosso which is one of the towns in Cinque Terre.
Our first stop was back in Venizia! We had a 2.5 hour wait and planned to check our luggage and go walk around. When we got there we saw a train leaving in 10 minutes going to Bologna, our first stop. We stood there and watched it leave remarking, "We sure wish we were on that train." About 30 minutes later I was looking at our itinerary and realized, that was our train! We had been reading our itinerary wrong. After some scrabbling we rebooked our route but ended up getting in really late.
Our discovery today was realizing that the Italian train system is a bit hard to figure out and delays are common.
Monday June 6- Day 10 Cinque Terre
I got up early to hike between the five cities of cinque terre. Karen needed a rest day so I was on my own. I have never minded doing things on my own but I did miss my big sister. When I went to purchase my trail ticket I was told all the paths were closed.
WHAT???
My only option was to take the train between the towns and walk around in the towns.
We were staying in the most northerly town, and I took the train to the most southerly village, Riomaggiore. I spent several hours walking on a self guided tour I found in my guide book. I had the best lunch here. It was a huge paper cone filled with freshly caught, deep fried seafood. It was amazing.
Next I took the train to Manarola. I poked around looking in some shops and sitting by the ocean.
My guide book detailed a longer, alternate hike to the next village, Corniglia, that wouldn't be closed. I was pretty happy that I would be able to get in a long hike. The trail went way up into the vineyards making the trail all steps up and then down. There were cute old Nonas working in their vineyards. The views were breathtaking. I snapped so many pictures but they don't capture how beautiful it was. On the trail I started talking to people and found out that actual trail wasn't technically closed. People were hiking it and it was safe. I was super excited and I was able to hike between the rest of the villages, Vernazza and Monterosso.
As I was descending back into Monterosso there was a man selling freshly pressed lemon juice. Lemons are an abundant crop in this area. I was so hot the juice was amazing! He was quite the character.
This was a highlight day for me.
I want to bring Jody back here. He would have loved today.
distance 29.6km
Time: 5:49 hours
WHAT???
My only option was to take the train between the towns and walk around in the towns.
We were staying in the most northerly town, and I took the train to the most southerly village, Riomaggiore. I spent several hours walking on a self guided tour I found in my guide book. I had the best lunch here. It was a huge paper cone filled with freshly caught, deep fried seafood. It was amazing.
Next I took the train to Manarola. I poked around looking in some shops and sitting by the ocean.
My guide book detailed a longer, alternate hike to the next village, Corniglia, that wouldn't be closed. I was pretty happy that I would be able to get in a long hike. The trail went way up into the vineyards making the trail all steps up and then down. There were cute old Nonas working in their vineyards. The views were breathtaking. I snapped so many pictures but they don't capture how beautiful it was. On the trail I started talking to people and found out that actual trail wasn't technically closed. People were hiking it and it was safe. I was super excited and I was able to hike between the rest of the villages, Vernazza and Monterosso.
As I was descending back into Monterosso there was a man selling freshly pressed lemon juice. Lemons are an abundant crop in this area. I was so hot the juice was amazing! He was quite the character.
This was a highlight day for me.
I want to bring Jody back here. He would have loved today.
distance 29.6km
Time: 5:49 hours
Tuesday June 7- Friday June 10 France
On Tuesday we took the train to Strasbourg France to visit our cousins. They were such gracious hosts. We visited the Black Forest, Strasbourg, several Alsacienne villages and ate way too much food.
Saturday June 11- Monday June 13 Paris and home
We took the fast train to Paris adn spent one and a half days there. I was able to visit the Louvre, Champ Elysees,the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. It was a whirlwind tour for sure.