Literally. I'm in debt to her. She's been in charge of financially arranging the Paris-UK trip and just came back to me on the amount spent per person so far. At present, minus spending money and plane tix, the trip is costing me USD1,679.73 for 10 days.
I don't know if this is cheap or not. We do have some relatively great stuff planned. We purchased the 4-day Paris Pass for about EUR130 and that allows us entry to A LOT of museums as well as free access to the Metro. We're catching a show at the Lido in Paris and two shows at West End (Les Miserables and The Lion King). We have a tour of Anfield on our last day in England. I used to follow Liverpool religiously. Before F1 took over my life that is. But I'm still a Liverpool supporter and so is my dad. Then there's the trip to Bicester Village for some primo shopping. Also the memory lane jaunt to Lancaster. The entertainment portion in itself probably brings the total to between 700-800 dollars. Which I guess is quite cheap, right?
We're doing our own bit of driving in UK so we rented a car for that. And we're taking the Eurostar to Paris and back for about EUR60 if I remember correctly. In Paris we rented an apartment which costs about EUR140 per person for four nights and on the overnight in London we're shacking up at Hilton London Euston. We have a stay in a small farm cottage when we head to Lancaster.
My money is starting to feel inadequate :) My sis and I have been combing the net for great shopping deals and we're both kinda interested in getting in on the vintage train. There's like a whole boulevard of vintage stores in Paris and I've had a look at some of the stuff available and it's amazing. Pricey but gorgeous. This one place has some of the best Chanel 2.55 collection ever. Unfortunately, out of my budget but my sis can totally swing herself one. She's planning on getting a jumbo from the boutique on Rue La Cambon anyways. All I'm wondering is if we would be allowed into Coco Chanel's apartment above the store. I'm guessing it's a negative. I don't believe any Tom, Dick or Harry are allowed up to her quarters :) It'd be super if we did manage to go though.
Half of the time I'm confused about where to focus my money at. Do I bring more Euros or do I bring more pounds? I've been going back and forth on what I want to buy. At this eleventh hour before the trip, I still have no clear idea of my own personal expenses. Which worries me because I seriously do not want to be paying for this trip for the next five months. Two months max but after that I really want to start saving money again. I feel bad about my savings account. The only consolation is I didn't touch one cent from it this year. The dividends should be somewhat plesant because of that.
Anyways, besides worrying about potential fashion faux pas and money for shopping, I'm getting very excited for the trip. I've been brushing up on the 20 most useful French phrases, courtesy of "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Learning French On Your Own", and hope I have no use for it because frankly, even though I think my French sounds good, I'm guessing I'm going to get laughed at a lot if I actually speak :D Comprenez-vous? To which I'd probably get a lot of je ne comprends pas :) But one of my friends who went to Paris in February did say that the French appreciate the effort so maybe I'll throw out the odd easier sentences. The one I know by heart is "Ou sont les toilettes?" cos I don't want to be hopping from one foot to another in the cobbled streets of Paris while trying to hold it in just because no one understands I need to use the ladies stat :D
Whatever the trip brings, it'll be an adventure. Bring on the 28th, I'm so excited!
I don't know if this is cheap or not. We do have some relatively great stuff planned. We purchased the 4-day Paris Pass for about EUR130 and that allows us entry to A LOT of museums as well as free access to the Metro. We're catching a show at the Lido in Paris and two shows at West End (Les Miserables and The Lion King). We have a tour of Anfield on our last day in England. I used to follow Liverpool religiously. Before F1 took over my life that is. But I'm still a Liverpool supporter and so is my dad. Then there's the trip to Bicester Village for some primo shopping. Also the memory lane jaunt to Lancaster. The entertainment portion in itself probably brings the total to between 700-800 dollars. Which I guess is quite cheap, right?
We're doing our own bit of driving in UK so we rented a car for that. And we're taking the Eurostar to Paris and back for about EUR60 if I remember correctly. In Paris we rented an apartment which costs about EUR140 per person for four nights and on the overnight in London we're shacking up at Hilton London Euston. We have a stay in a small farm cottage when we head to Lancaster.
My money is starting to feel inadequate :) My sis and I have been combing the net for great shopping deals and we're both kinda interested in getting in on the vintage train. There's like a whole boulevard of vintage stores in Paris and I've had a look at some of the stuff available and it's amazing. Pricey but gorgeous. This one place has some of the best Chanel 2.55 collection ever. Unfortunately, out of my budget but my sis can totally swing herself one. She's planning on getting a jumbo from the boutique on Rue La Cambon anyways. All I'm wondering is if we would be allowed into Coco Chanel's apartment above the store. I'm guessing it's a negative. I don't believe any Tom, Dick or Harry are allowed up to her quarters :) It'd be super if we did manage to go though.
Half of the time I'm confused about where to focus my money at. Do I bring more Euros or do I bring more pounds? I've been going back and forth on what I want to buy. At this eleventh hour before the trip, I still have no clear idea of my own personal expenses. Which worries me because I seriously do not want to be paying for this trip for the next five months. Two months max but after that I really want to start saving money again. I feel bad about my savings account. The only consolation is I didn't touch one cent from it this year. The dividends should be somewhat plesant because of that.
Anyways, besides worrying about potential fashion faux pas and money for shopping, I'm getting very excited for the trip. I've been brushing up on the 20 most useful French phrases, courtesy of "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Learning French On Your Own", and hope I have no use for it because frankly, even though I think my French sounds good, I'm guessing I'm going to get laughed at a lot if I actually speak :D Comprenez-vous? To which I'd probably get a lot of je ne comprends pas :) But one of my friends who went to Paris in February did say that the French appreciate the effort so maybe I'll throw out the odd easier sentences. The one I know by heart is "Ou sont les toilettes?" cos I don't want to be hopping from one foot to another in the cobbled streets of Paris while trying to hold it in just because no one understands I need to use the ladies stat :D
Whatever the trip brings, it'll be an adventure. Bring on the 28th, I'm so excited!
