Amsterdam, Paris, Switzerland

Amterdam. Paris, Switzerland
A Travel Journal by K.A. Lim

In the beginning ...
For many years, I have always been keen to visit Europe. One of the main reasons is because the countries are so close to each other that the moment you travel a little bit further you are in another country and can experience a different culture and scenery. I have been to London, Amsterdam and Paris in 1984 while on a business trip. Although I enjoyed my overseas trip for the first time, I missed sharing the experience with my spouse and my children. Thus, this trip was planned so that I could take my wife on a good holiday and as a retirement reward for myself.

This trip took a good 2 years of planning. First, I had to decide the time of the year to travel. The decision was quite easy. As I have lived in a country with hot weather all my life, the desire to experience cool weather was my first criteria. Not too cold as to travel in winter with zero or minus zero temperatures but just cool enough to be enjoyed. Spring or autumn was my choice. Next was to figure out what I wanted to see. This time round, I wanted to reward my spouse to see the tulips of Keukenhof and this can be done only between the months of March to May since the park closes after that period. After some research on the internet, I found out that for the year 2007, Keukenhof would be open from 22nd March to 20th May. Once I have locked in my travel dates, I started to add in the list of countries that I would like to visit. Starting from Amsterdam, Paris would be my next and Switzerland would be my ultimate destination. I had at first included Austria but then I thought joining a guided tour of Eastern Europe would be better. I was also keen to visit Venice after reading much about its beauty, so as soon a local travel agency advertised a promotional offer for an Italy and French Riviera tour, I did not hesitate and immediately took up the early bird offer. The reason I decided to join a guided tour through Italy instead of going there on my own was largely due to a language concern. I figured it would be rather difficult to communicate with the locals in Italy plus the fact that the places of interest were located far apart, so a guided tour would be ideal for this situation. In addition, I would also get some savings on flight since the travel agency could get group prices for flights, making the tours more affordable for their clients. The cost of the guided tour comes to a total of RM11, 958 inclusive of airport tax for two persons to travel 10 days/8 nights around Italy and the French Riviera.

The only drawback of this tour was that the group will have to depart from Milan Malpensa airport and the flight tickets are non-reroute tickets. So even though I will be traveling on my own after the guided tour, I would still have to return to Milan Malpensa airport for my return flight to Kuala Lumpur.

I had decided to go to Amsterdam after the guided tour and found that flying there via a budget airline was very economical. Since I booked early, the flight from Milan to Amsterdam only cost €150 for two adults on Transavia Airline. There are 3 airports in Milan; Malpensa being the international airport, Linate the second airport and Orio al Serio for budget airlines. Orio al Serio airport is situated 45 miles north-east of Milan. As my flight was to depart at 09:15 on the 30th April, I decided to stay closer to the airport in order to avoid the morning rush. I booked a stay at Hotel San Giorgio in Bergamo.

Part 1 of my journey was reported in my earlier post and so this post will report Part 2 of my journey.

28th April 07 Day 1: Milan - Bergamo
After parting with the main tour group at the hotel in Binasco, Milan, we took a posh Mercedes taxi, costing €40 to take us to Milan Centraal Station. The taxi driver offer to take us to Bergamo for €120 but we turned the offer down. Instead, we bought a train ticket at Milan Centraal to Bergamo for only €8.10 for two adults. I am glad that I did my research well and knew the train fare to Bergamo. We validated our tickets at the validating machines placed at strategic spots around the station and boarded the train. At 11:15, the train rolled out of platform 22 and the journey took an hour before arriving at Bergamo.

We walked out from Bergamo Rail Station, headed west from the station exit and arrived at Hotel San Giorgio after 10 minutes. We had no problems checking in as the hotel had our reservation and a room was allocated to us immediately. Unfortunately, the hotel did not have elevators, so we had to carry our luggage up to our room at the 2nd floor of the hotel. The room cost us €60 per night and it has standard furniture such as a queen-sized bed, a cupboard, a TV, a fan and a sink but the bathroom was a shared-facility.

Today was laundry day for us. We walked to a street nearby and did our laundry using a coin-operated automatic washing machine and dryer. While waiting for the laundry to be done, we had kebab at a shop nearby. We took a nap in the afternoon until about 5 pm before taking a casual walk towards the shopping area. After a simple dinner of bread and pizza, we walked back to the hotel, picked up a cup of cappuccino for €0.60 and a bottle of mineral water for €0.60 from the vending machine at the hotel reception and called it a night.

29th April 07 Day 2: Bergamo (Citta Alta, Citta Bassa)
In the morning, we walked to the Bergamo Rail Station and bought two bus tickets for €2.40 and boarded bus #1 to “Citta Alta”. The ticket allows one to hop on and off within the city zone, as long as it did not exceed the one hour limit. The ticket has to be validated on the bus by inserting it into the machine on the first boarding.

Bergamo is a pretty town nestled in the foothills of the Alps. It consists of two cities: “Citta Alta”, the older upper town with a rich heritage of art and history and “Citta Bassa”, the busy and modern lower town.

A 10-minute bus ride took us to “Citta Alta” and after showing the driver the same bus tickets we had just used, we rode the funicular (a kind of tram) to a small hilltop village. The hilltop offers a spectacular view of “Citta Bassa’ below and the stunning Lombardia countryside. We walked downhill back to “Citta Alta” and entered the old town, down narrow pedestrian streets lined with souvenirs shops and cafes. Reaching the “Piazza Vecchia” which was the main square, we noticed a group of scouts were having their activities at the square. The square has a main fountain and people were seen drinking from it and filling up their water container. Near the square were some churches of great architectural structure - the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Turning back, we visited Museum of Pre-historic animals - the Archaeological Museum.

We returned to “Citta Bassa” by Bus #1 and stopped at the town center near the Duomo. We walked around the area and took photos of the view of “Citta Alta” on the hilltop in the background, the clock tower, fountains and sculptures. Later, we had dinner at one of the pizza shops along the main street.


30th April 07 Day 3: Bergamo – Amsterdam
Early in the morning at 06:00, we walked to the train station and took bus #1A for €1.60 per person to Orio al Serio airport. The bus arrived 20 minutes later at the airport. We waited until 07:15 to check in our luggage and waited further at the lounge for the boarding. The Airbus 737-300 took off exactly at 09:15 and we were on our way to Amsterdam.

We arrived 11:05 at Schilphol airport to a 15 degrees Celsius sunny weather. Going through the Immigration was a breeze. After collecting our luggage, we headed towards the rail ticket counter and bought two tickets at €10.40 to Leiden Centraal. Boarding the train at the lower platform below the airport terminal, we arrived 25 minutes at Leiden Central. From this station, we took a local bus to a home of a HC (Hospitality Club) member.

Hospitality club is an online hospitality exchange organization. The club is supported by volunteers who believe in one idea: bringing travelers in touch with people at the places they visit and giving/receiving free accommodation when traveling to all corners of the world.

Our hosts waited for our arrival and warmly welcomed us into her home. We were shown to a room prepared for our stay. She even handed over a spare set of house keys and gave us free access to her home. We really appreciated her thoughtfulness and trust in us.

Our arrival in Leiden today was a special one. It was the Queen’s birthday and there was a big celebration at Leiden town center. We walked to the town center and saw many people celebrating this happy holiday. The streets were full of people, mostly wearing orange-coloured shirts representing the national colour of the Netherlands. Music was everywhere and there was plenty of food for the hungry and beer for the thirsty. Many boats were plying the canals and the whole families were there at the streets to celebrate. We couldn’t have asked for a better time to witness this happy occasion.

1st May 07 Day 4: Leiden (Keukenhof)
Today was the day to accomplish my plan of visiting the Keukenhof Garden. We took a bus to Leiden Centraal and bought two tickets at €36, consisting of the entrance fee to Keukenhof and a to-and-fro bus ride. Bus #54 departed from the station and arrived at Keukenhof carrying many tourists eager to be charmed by the beautiful tulips in the park.

Keukenhof Garden set in 77 acres of wooded park, is one of the world's most spectacular flower garden. It is a showcase of the Dutch flower industry. For nine weeks every spring, this famous garden draws an estimated 800,000 visitors to see a changing display of more than 7 million flowers including some 1,000 varieties of tulips alone.

Beside the garden, there was also an indoor pavillion that displays large collections of orchids and more beds of flowers. We had a busy time taking photos of the beautiful tulips. We could not believe that all in all, we took close to 500 pictures until the camera battery run out. We had breakfast and lunch in the cafes and fast food outlets located inside the park. We returned to Leiden by bus late in the evening.

2nd May 07 Day 4: Leiden – Amsterdam
We woke up early and after saying thanks and goodbye to our HC friend, we took a bus to the Leiden Centraal and bought two tickets to Amsterdam Centraal for €15.20. On arrival, we bought a Strippenkart for €6.80 and rode the tram to Hotel Rembrandt Square where we had made a reservation. This hotel is located at Rembrandtplain and cost €240 for 3 nights stay.A kettle, packets of coffee, tea, sugar and creamer were provided.

After taking a short rest, we walked to Dam Square where the Royal Palace, Dam Monument and Madame Tussaud Museum is located. We also went shopping at the shopping center there. Before walking back to our hotel, we stopped by the booth of a tour excursion company near Amsterdam Centraal and booked a tour for two at €60 for Friday’s tour to Alkmaar Cheese market. We had chinese noodles in a box for dinner. We walked to Amsterdam Centraal and bought two Thalys train ticket to Paris travelling on the 5th of May for €202.

3rd May 07 Day 5: Amsterdam
We had breakfast provided by the hotel at 09:15. We then walked to the flower market along the canal. We also walked to the home of Anne Frank and saw long queues of tourists wanting to enter the museum.

The museum tells the life of a Jewish child named Anne Frank who, together with two families, hid from the German Nazi soldiers during the WWII. They stayed there for about 2 years until someone betrayed them to the Germans in August 1944. They were later transported to the concentration camps and only her father survived the cruelty. He published his daughter's diary after the war, which became world famous.

From here, we decided to take the canal boat and bought two tickets of hop-on and hop-off canal boat ride for €36. We rode the canal boat passing through various point of interest until we hopped off at Rijksmuseum. We took photos outside this museum, which was the largest museum in the Netherlands and continued our canal boat ride to other locations. When the canal boat reached the main stop at the Amsterdam Centraal, we hopped onto another canal boat that serviced a different line and continued our ride. This line travelled passed the floating chinese restaurant, the Neo museum, outer harbour, marine museum, the zoo and the skinny bridge which was where we finally hopped off. We had a delicious €10.50 spare ribs lunch before walking back to the hotel for a rest.

4th May 07 Day 6: Amsterdam – Alkmaar – Amsterdam
We went to Lindbergh Excursion and boarded the tour bus at 09:15 for a 4 ½ hour tour. The first stop was at the town of Alkmaar.

The Alkmaar Cheese Market has a tradition of cheese trading since 1593 and is held in the square from April to September, every Friday from 10:00-12:00. The cheese porters wear the traditional costume: a white suit and a straw hat with a ribbon in the colour of red, yellow, green or blue. They carry the large, round cheese on cradle-like stretcher to and from the weigh-house scales and loaded them onto trucks after a successful trading is made.

The tour bus then took us to another location to see the old water-pumping windmill in the village of Schermerhorn. It is one of the few remaining working windmill in Netherlands. Our final stop was at a cheese making farm. We returned to Amsterdam at 02:30. After taking a short rest, we went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant.

5th May 07 Day 7: Amsterdam – Paris












Today we travelled by Thalys train to Paris at 09:00. Arriving at Paris Gare du Nord, we bought two Paris Visits ticket for €54 for a 5-day travel pass. The Paris Visit Pass provides unlimited rides on the Metro, REC (regional express train), bus and the Montmartre funicular. It is the best way to get around Paris.

We walked below the train station and boarded an underground train to Haussmann St. Lazare and changed to Line 3 to Levallois. We walked out from the Metro at Louise Michel - this station would be our main starting point each day on our travels through Paris using the Metro. Turning right from the metro station, we walked for 10 minutes before reaching Hotel Boissirie located at rue Jean Jaurs. We paid €244 for a 5-night stay, on top of the 10% that was paid when the internet booking was made earlier on. We rested until 19:30 and had dinner at a nearby restaurant.

6th May 07 Day 8: Paris (The Lourves, Arch de Triump, Eiffel Tower)
This morning, we took the Metro from Louis Michel to Opera, changed to a different line and alighted at Palais Royal Musee du Lourve. Since on every first Sunday of the month, entrance to the museum is free, we took the opportunity to enter the Lourve. The entrance fee is usually €9.50. The Louvre 卢浮宫 is the world’s largest palace and museum. The museum is divided into several departments and a number of galleries devoted to Italian painting. We saw many fine paintings which were detailed and very life-like After moving through several sections of the building, we finally found what we came here for: the famous Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of “Mona Lisa” housed in a glass-covered wooden brown frame. The picture was suprisingly small compared to many of the other fine paintings.






















The other favourites amongst tourists were the armless Venus de Milo and the headless status of Winged Victory. We exited the museum and had more fun taking photos at the inverted pyramid. The inverted pyramid allows sunlight to shine on an underground reception area with a complex of shops and restaurants.





































From the Lourve, we walked through the public park Jardin des Tuileries, reaching the place de la Concorde and continued walking the long stretch of Champs-Elysees 香榭丽舍大街 .























At the end of Champs-Elysees, we crossed the underpass and surfaced at the base of the famous Arch de Triomphe. Arch de Triomphe 凯旋门 is the biggest triumph arch in the world and had a dozen streets radiating from the roundabout in the center. The monument is engraved with the names of hundreds of generals who commanded French troops in Napoleonic victories. At the base of the arch is the site of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in whose honor an eternal flame burns. We took the Metro at Charles de Gaulle back to Louise Michel station where our hotel is located.

7th May 07 Day 9: Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, Invalid, Eiffel Tower
Today we toke the Metro from Louis Michel to Villers, changed line to Anver. Walking out the Metro station, across the road along a street, we saw the majestic Basilica Sacre-Coeur perched on a hill. We thought of using the funicular to save us from having to walk uphill but it was not operating. So we walked up the steps until we reached the top named Montmartre where Basilica Sacre-Coeur is built over-looking the city of Paris. We then walked by the side of the cathedral to a street nearby and saw many artists displaying their works of art.













After spending several hours at these locations, we took the Metro at Anver to Barbes Rochechouart, changed line and alighted at St. Michel station and went to the Notre Dame Cathedral, a stunning piece of architecture and the inspiration for a classic novel and movie: “The hunchback of Notre Dame”. By the side of Notre Dame along Seine River, we bought two Batobus tickets at €28 for a 2-days unlimited river boat ride. This Batobus boat had 8 stops along Seine River and is convenient for hop-on and hop-off at location of interest. We stopped at the famous bridge in Paris: the bridge of Alexandra III. After taking pictures of the bridge, we walked to Invalid further down the road. We continued walking until we reached one of the most recognizable structures in the world, the icon of Paris: The Eiffel Tower埃菲尔铁塔. We bought two tickets at €15.60 and rode up to the 2nd level of the tower. The view was spectacular. The whole panoramic view of the city of Paris was laid before us, as far as our eyes could see. We descended the tower and walked across the bridge to the Trocadero fountains. We saw a different angle of Eiffel Tower from this spot and marveled at its aesthetics as well as its engineering. We took REC train back to hotel.



8th May 07 Day 10: Paris
We took the Metro to Gare de Lyon to buy two TGV train tickets at €156 to Bern, Switzerland travelling on the 10th of May. We then took the Metro to St. Michel station. We had beef noodles for €6 and a seafood noodle for €6 and two cups of coffee for €3 at a shop nearby. We then went searching for the spot I have seen on the internet when I researched on good sites for taking pictures. We found the photo spot and had our photo taken by a tourist who was walking by. We then walked along the Seine river embankment and reached a spot where we had our photo taken with the view of the Notre Dame and the Seine River in the background. We boarded the Batobus and took a brief stop at the wooden bridge. We continued on the boat ride until it reached the Eiffel Tower. We wandered around the base of the Tower and the area for awhile before taking the REC, Metro back to our hotel. We had our dinner for €20 at a Cambodian Restaurant near our hotel.

9th May 07 Day 11: Paris
We woke up at a leisurely hour and went to a laundromat nearby to do our laundry. After that, we traveled to the Paris city center and walked to Gallerie la Fayette superstore. We went up to the 6th floor and had our lunch. We sat by the side of a window and looking out, we could see the Eiffel Tower a distance away. We continued on through the streets of Paris, passing the column and entering Tuileris park by a side gate. We then walked towards the Louvre for more photo taking. We returned to the hotel and repacked our luggage. We had fish and chips and salad for dinner.

10th May 07 Day 12: Paris – Bern – Interlaken
We checked out of the hotel early in the morning and took the Metro to Gare de Lyon. The TGV train departed from platform I and arrived at Bern at 12:35. We went to the train counter and bought a Swiss Saver Pass for two at CHF626 for 8-days unlimited travel on train, bus and ferries. We boarded the train at Bern and rode to Interlaken. When we reached Interlaken, we went to a bank across the train station and cashed our traveller cheques for Swiss Frank currency. We stayed at Walters B&B. We were received by friendly Mr. Walter who showed us to our room on the 1st floor. This was the cheapest accommodation we have booked throughout our trip. The room was the biggest we have stayed, the bed was comfortable and had a clean comforter and the view from the balcony could not have been better. A wide view of the snow-capped mountains loomed before our eyes – the Schynige Platte. We paid CHF392 for a 7-night stay. After a good rest, we walked to the Interlaken town. At Hoheweg park in front the Grand Hotel Victoria-Jaugfrau, we saw many paragliders circling the open field and landing gracefully.



Later, we walked all the way to the other end of the street where Interlaken West rail station is located. The opposite end is the Interlaken Ost. We took the local bus back to Interlaken Ost and walked back to our room.

11th May 07 Day 13: Zurich
I was not happy having to leave through Milan Malpensa airport as shown on my Thai airways ticket. So I decided to go to Zurich Thai Airway office to request for departure through Zurich airport instead. We boarded the train at Interlaken Ost and the journey took 3 hours before arrived at Zurich. Although the journey may have seemed long but there was never a dull moment as the sceneries were beautiful. Passing by beautiful lakes with snow-cappped mountains in the distance, the time felt short for the ride. Walking out the Zurich Rail Station, we headed straight down the main street facing the station and found the Thai Airways office located on the 5th floor of a building. We made our appeal and the officer faxed a memo to KL requesting approval, and we were told to check with them again on Monday. Later, we walked towards the lakeside and boarded a boat on the Zurich lake using our Swiss Saver Pass. After the pleasant boat ride, we walked back to the railway station and boarded a train back to Interlaken. We had our dinner at a COOP supermarket, opposite Interlaken Ost.

12th May 07 Day 14: Schilthorn

Today the weather was sunny with clear sky, so we took the opportunity to go up Mount Schilthorn. We boarded the train from Interlaken Ost and changed to another at Lauterbrunen station. Upon reaching Murren, we walked a short distance and rode the longest aerial cabelway in the Alps. The cable car ascended to Birg and continued to Schilthorn/Piz Gloria. Piz Gloria is the name of the revolving restaurant at Schilthorn and lies at 2,970 meters/9,750 feet. The makers of the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” discovered the Schilthorn building halfway during its construction, and contributed financially to completion of the restaurant in return for exclusive rights to use the location for three months of filming. The film gave Schilthorn immense worldwide publicity, far greater than would have been possible otherwise. Visitors today still recognise Schilthorn as the 007 film location and are still fascinated by it. We had lunch for CHF57 at the revolving restaurant and had a once-in-a-lifetime 360 degree view of snow-covered mountain peaks.

13th May 07 Day 15: Bern
Fron Interlaken Ost, we took the train to Bern, passing through Spiez and Thun, both lovely towns along the Lake Thun. Bern is the capital of Switzerland. Walking out from Bern train station, we walked towards the main street on the left. We saw the famous old clock and tower and continued down the street, passing by the Bern Town Hall, fountains and the Einstein Museum. At the end of the street, after crossing a bridge over the Aare River, we found the bear pit located towards the right. At Bern, the city mascot is the Bear. There were two bears at that time in the pit, others we believed were kept inside. The bears were cute as they fed on the fruits and nuts tossed down by tourists and locals. The bears each had their own tricks, like one will hold its paws in a praying position and asked for more food and the other would just simply lie on its back in a comfy pose and wave, ready to catch food thrown down straight into its mouth.



14th May 07 Day 16: Lucerne
We had an appointment with our Swiss friend in Lucerne today. We took the train from Interlaken and arrived at 11:05. Waiting for us is our friend who spotted us walking out from the train. We were glad to see him and he wasted no time in taking us on a tour of Lucerne. Equipped with his new Sony 10 megapixel camera, he was ready to be our photographer and tour guide. He took our first photo shot at the Arch of the train station and enlightened us on its history. We walked to the famous Chapel Bridge, built in 1333 and purported to be Europe’s oldest and longest covered wooden bridge, long stood as a city symbol. In 1993 a fire damaged or destroyed much of it and it reopened in 1994 following reconstruction.

We walked on towards the north of the city center and carved on the side of a sandstone cliff, laid the 30 ft dying figure of a lion known as “Lowendenkmal” meaning “Lion of Lucerne”. Awe-inspiring but mournful, the monument depicts a dying lion lying over a Swiss Shield with a spear still protruding from its flank.

The Danish sculptor Bertel Thorwaldsen was commissioned in the early 1800's to sculpt something to remind the citizens of the true heart and soul of its fallen guard in 1792 during the French Revolution in Paris. Hired to guard King Louis XVI, more than 500 Swiss Guards died defending the Tuileries palace by an invading mob, unaware that the King they were protecting was no longer inside and had in fact fled the palace.

To the right of the Lion Monument is the Glacier Garden. It is difficult to imagine that the glacier was once so close to Lucerne, until we saw the marks left by the glacier.

Just before lunch, our friend took us to a supermart where we could buy authentic Swiss chocolates for a good price. As the end of the day drew close, my friend kindly offered to have the photographs that were taken during the day burned into a CD for me. So we said our goodbyes and parted ways. We were told to pick up the CD from a tourist information centre at the Lucerne train station an hour later, so in the meantime, we went around taking more photos.

15th May 07 Day 17: Zurich, Pilatus, Lucerne
We took a train from Interlaken Ost to Bern and changed train to Zurich. We reached the Thai Airways office and having to pay an addition fee of CHF228, we received our new flight tickets departing from Zurich Airport. We then rode the train to Lucerne and boarded a boat on the lake and alighted at Alpnachstad, from where we took a cogwheel railway for CHF29 (the steepest of its kind in the world at 48 degrees gradient) up Mt Pilatus. About halfway up we hit the snowline. At the top it was snowing, which was really fun, but it was also freezing cold. Getting down was equally interesting as we had to first take a large cabin-style cable car, then transfer to a smaller gondola all the way back into the town of Kriens, a suburb of Lucerne. We then took Bus #1 to Lucerne train station where we boarded the train back to Interlaken.



16th May 07 Day 18: Interlaken (Harder Kulm)
The morning temperature was 9 degrees Celcius. Today was our last day of our trip, so we took it easy and decided only to check out the area in Interlaken. We walked the streets of Interlaken, went to Bucherer – the Rolex Center to collect free souvenirs, which was sets of engraved spoons. We then walked to the station and rode up the mountain – Harder Kulm The fare was CHF50 per person. However we got a 50% discount when we produced our Swiss Pass. Riding to the top by funicular train and walking through the woods, we reached the Harder Kulm Restaurant which was shaped like a pagoda. From this summit, this attractive vantage point offers a panoramic view of Interlaken and the area nesting between Lake Brienz and Lake Thun, as well as the spectacular views of the entire Jungfrau Region.

17th May 07 Day 19: Interlaken – Zurich – Bangkok
We walked to Interlaken Ost with our luggage and boarded a direct train to Zurich airport. At the airport, we had our breakfast and the rest of the time was spent waiting.

18th May 07 Day 20: Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur
We arrived early in the morning at Bangkok airport. At 9:00 we boarded the plane to Kuala Lumpur. The plane touched down at KLIA airport. Walking out the Immigration check point, we boarded the KLIA express train to KL Central. We then took the LRT back to our home, thus completing our Europe travelling trip.

We had an absolutely fabulous time in all the places and it was the best one month of my life. The one thing I would not do is to travel any later than mid-Spring to Italy. The weather is very hot. Overall, the trip went extremely smooth largely due to my early planning and research on the tremendous amount of information on the internet. The place we like best is Switzerland. We found the snow capped mountains beautiful and Swiss train services going between places of interest comfortable, efficient and reliable. To us, being able to travel independently and at our own pace was far better than being on a hectic tour schedule organized by travel agencies. I wish everyone going to Europe to have a great trip.

Best tips and suggestions: Metro in Paris is very easy to figure out. The Paris Visite, Batobus and Swiss Saver Pass are good investments. It is wise to visit the Louvre on the 1st Sunday of the month to gain free entrance as you can see the museum and moved around most parts of the museum for as long as you wish. Travelling in Switzerland by train was just great. The scenery was interesting and beautiful. Very important to travel light – we traveled with 4 luggage bags, the heaviest weighing 14.8 kg, the second 7.5 kg and two light backpacks. To contact me, send your emails to aiklim51@gmail.com.