When I was in college, waaaay back in the ’80s, studying abroad was not nearly as popular as it is right now. These days, it seems nearly every college student takes the opportunity to spend a semester in another country  — and why wouldn’t they!! — which means that I get the opportunity to help parents/siblings go visit them 🙂  I know what an amazing time I had visiting my own daughter when she was studying in Buenos Aires, and I absolutely LOVE helping other parents have that experience. In that vein, here’s a trip report I just received from Sue, after a fabulous visit with her daughter in France (with a quick stop in London first!)

Hi Ann,

I am still getting back to reality but wanted to let you know about our trip.  As mentioned we had a fabulous time and appreciate your planning for us! 

The St. Ermins was a lovely hotel and the staff extremely helpful.  Our room and bathroom were incredibly small though.  There was no room for both of our large suitcases and we were literally tripping over each other.  We were going to ask for a larger room but since they got us in earlier than check-in and it was only two nights, we didn’t bother.  Someone also told us that rooms in London hotels were smaller than we’re used to in the US. The location of the hotel was perfect to walk to lots of sites and we found some great pubs nearby! 

The Eurostar train was fun and we enjoyed that trip to Paris. We absolutely loved the Eduard 7 Hotel!  Our room was very nice and it had a balcony overlooking the main street.  We spent a lot of time out there admiring the view with a glass of wine.  Again, great location for us as we became experts on taking the metro back and forth to Nicole’s place. 

The Versailles tour was great and the guide was very friendly and knowledgeable.  We enjoyed the Normandy tour as well, and had a fantastic guide.  We even got an extra stop at Omaha beach on the way home.  It was a very long day but well worth it.  

The train to and from Nice was also fun and we enjoyed the scenery.  The AC Marriott was very modern and not really our style but our suite was huge, we had a great view of the sea and the location was unbeatable to walk along the water.  We also enjoyed the roof top bar! 

St. Tropez was was absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed exploring it.  We didn’t realize how far it was from Nice but traffic wasn’t bad since it was a Saturday.  Our guide was great and even took us for a tour to the top of Nice when we returned as we had some time left.  The other tour was fun as well – it turned out just to be the three of us and we really loved walking around Eze. 

The Opera Cadet hotel was a perfect location near Nicole for that last night.  The room was small but clean and comfortable. 

Thanks again for doing such a great job with our trip!  We hope to get to Italy in a couple years with our kids after they graduate from college and will let you know when we’re ready for that trip :).

 

Sue