Guess who’s going to see Paris, France next year?
I am not much for impulsive decisions, but I just impulsively made a decision last night. Now, I shall work diligently to put that impulsive decision into action.
It all started with CB and I talking about our honeymoon. We are looking at a wedding in April, right before the high season but still close enough to the summer to have nice weather. Unfortunately, with the way that CB’s schedule is shaking out, we will have a period of time from January to mid-February where he can take time off. Then, he wouldn’t be able to take any time off until late-June.
So we will have to go on a very short honeymoon immediately after the wedding, and the delay the longer trip for the summer. We had talked about going to Paris for our honeymoon – not because either of us ever had any burning desire to go, but I know we will enjoy the city, and besides, it is the city of romance, no? It’s also somewhere where neither of us has been before. Hi That’s My Bike is in Paris right now, and writes so beautifully about the city that I couldn’t help but be moved by her enthusiasm. @Single Ma, who has ended her blog, went to Paris and wrote a nice recap of her time there. Fortunately I still have those posts in my Google Reader!
Paris in the February
Back to CB’s schedule – if we were to go to Paris in June, July or August, we’d be crushed by the throng of like-minded tourists. The prices will also skyrocket from merely expensive to almost unaffordable. Besides, I had hoped that we can go to South America or perhaps an African safari during July. So I had a thought - what if we went to Paris in February?
Sure, the songs are about Paris in the Springtime, but Paris in the Winter is a cheap time to go! If we go in February, we can spend Valentine’s Day in Paris, and what can be more romantic than that? We can get a cute hotel and enjoy the city and being with each other. We can take advantage of the shorter lines at museums. It may be rainy and cold, but that’s just another excuse to duck into cafes and order warm mugs of hot cocoa and crepes smeared with Nutella.
So, here’s my new goal. Paris in February. I shall call this a pre-wedding-moon. 
I am not sure what a budget for this trip will look like, but it seems that round-trip airfare, per person, will cost at least $1,100. I have signed up for a British Airways credit card back when it had a 100,000 miles bonus, so I hope that will defray the cost of the airfare somewhat. A hotel room will cost around 115 euros a night, and at the dismal 1.4 dollars to 1 euro exchange rate, six nights will probably cost $1,000. So that is at minimum $3,000+ before food, incidentals, museum passes, etc., are factored in. Budgeting $100 per day (is that too high? too low?), per person, a 7-day trip will be $1,400. In all, I expect to spend $5,000 on this trip. Hopefully we can bring that cost down to $4,000 with the credit card miles.
Now, my focus is to “sell” this trip to CB (a relationship is all about negotiation!). We can use the $5,600 we’ve saved up for the Galapagos trip, or just start pinching pennies for this trip. I need a big goal to get excited about saving money again. Paris in February just might be it.
Photo credit: daphatone from morguefile.com
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I am dying to get back to Europe (haven't been in 10 years), and my husband is right on board….except we have to wait until I am done with my master's. BUT at least I will be able to live vicariously through you. Can you rent an apartment while there? That might cut down on costs, since you'll be able to eat in and all that. Reading Julia Child's "My Life in France" made me want to go back immediately.
Have you seen Julie & Julia? I love all the cooking scenes.
I'm so excited you are going to Paris! I loved it when I was there 2 years ago!
Like Lindsey, I'd suggest renting an apartment. Hotels are really expensive, especially if you want to be anywhere near the city. The food is delicious, and BF and bought a lot of baguettes and cheese and picnic lunches every day by the Seine. It was romantic, simple and cheap
If I were staying in Paris for longer than a week, I may rent an apartment. But I think for my first time I'd rather stick with a cute little hotel. Especially since I've looked at a few prices and the cost is comparable. Besides, I haven't completed my "sell" yet! I think I am more excited about this than CB is.
I have been to Paris about five times and have not seen everything! Paris is one of my favorite cities. It is great to walk in the various districts and definitely see the museums. You may want to learn French, it helps. .
Yikes! I've been to Paris in June and in mid-November and I'd have to say Paris is freezing in November. I can't say I'd recommend it for February…. But you might deal with the cold better than I do
There are several pretty cheap European cities that would be great options for an addition to or instead of a trip to Paris. Poland was my favorite trip, and after I paid for the airfare was ridiculously cheap. Lisbon is also very reasonably priced, the weather was great when I was there in late October and would probably be very temperate in February. Barcelona is another cheap option, but I prefer Lisbon
I thought about going to Lisbon as well… or Barcelona/Madrid. I think they are all possibilities. Where did you go in Poland?
I went to Warsaw, Krakow, and Lublin. Warsaw and Krakow were both awesome and I would love to go back there some day. Lublin was great too, but kind of small and one trip there was enough
I just saw your new blog post that you're planning on doing both Paris and Lisbon – sounds like fun! It's great that you're already starting to do the planning.
My friend said I should make a side-trip to Lisbon… and I thought, why not!
You can also look into getting a private room at a hostel; this will be cheaper (though less nice) than a hotel room. But then, if I were in Paris, I'd spend most of my time outside the hotel, going to cafes and museums and such, so I wouldn't mind the cheaper accomodation … I guess it all depends on what you want.
Considering this trip will be our pseudo-honeymoon AND it will take place in low season, I really want to have a nice cute hotel as our temporary home away from home. I've done the hostel back in college, and I guess my lifestyle has inflated because I don't want to go back to hostels.
I was just in Paris in March and it was GORGEOUS – I loved it. Check out airbnb.com for good deals on places to stay.
While I want to do my US road trip in autumn, I also want to see a white Christmas. I'm thinking we will probably have to do at least two Europe trips, so I plan for one of those to be in the middle of winter
I want to go to New Zealand. Tell me when is the best time to go.
This is so funny – you call making a decision about a vacation that is a good 9 months away impulsive?! Such a planner.
That's my kind of impulsive!
No other opinions, all I saw of Paris was the inside of CDG airport and bits from the window, but it sounds fabulous! You can always wear a coat if it is cold!
Hahha. Well, I decided to go to Paris and then did a ton of research (when I should have been sleeping) in the span of 4 hours… so I guess the decision-making process was very impulsive.
Your trip sounds fabulous! I know that feeling of having a new goal to motivate you – so good! You and CB sound like me and my SO. SO is always day dreaming about traveling and then has to sell me on the deal. Good luck!
it's interesting that your wedding and pre-wedding-moon have similar price tags. Will you add this cost to your "Wedding budget" or do you see it as separate?
Good question. I see it as separate because it's a separate trip not related to the wedding. Just as I wouldn't include my honeymoon into the wedding budget, I wouldn't include this trip either. Part of the reason why we decided to go with a smaller / less expensive affair is so we'd have money for some traveling.