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My childhood dream to visit France, Paris came true. At school, I studied French, we were so driven around the history and sights of France that all this was already almost before my eyes. I had the opportunity not only to visit France, but also to see Germany and the Benelux countries relatively inexpensively in 10 days. Our tour was organized by "Turtrans-Voyage", for which many thanks to him for the organization and the absence of failures with the settlement, moving, a complete set of all necessary information, guides, maps, brochures. Our tour began with an air flight at 12-30 from Sheremetyevo (D) to Dusseldorf, after passing through all customs formalities, we moved to the Cologne hotel "Mercure 3 *" - very nice and spacious. Having put ourselves in order, taking a breath, we went on a survey of Cologne with a guide, later dinner at a restaurant (for slaughter) for 22 euros with Kelsh beer. I really liked Cologne, calm, music is playing, the Germans are relaxing in cafes, tourists and locals are walking along the Rhine embankment. The next morning we moved on a comfortable bus (with Poles drivers) to the German city of Trier. An ancient city, Karl Marx lived in this city, there is his house-museum. The cities of Germany are all clean, well-groomed, the sidewalks are washed with detergents, there are flowers all around. People are polite and cultured. After lunch we moved to Luxembourg. Distances are small, by Russian standards laughter. We walked around almost the whole of Luxembourg in 2 hours, enjoyed the warmth and local beauties, ate on our own in a summer cafe for 10 euros without wine. In the evening we left for Paris. The road to Paris took about 5 hours, with a stop at a gas station for a snack, a smoke break and rest. At about 22-00 pm we settled in the hotel "IBIS 2 *" near the metro station "Porte d'Orleans". I wrote a review about this hotel before. The rooms are spacious enough, the hotel is new, the breakfast is good. Minus that there was no safe and passport, the money was locked in luggage with a key, on the advice of a guide, because of the terrible theft in transport and on the streets of Paris. And to be left without a passport in a foreign country is a disaster. . Five days in Paris passed with pleasant fatigue, visited the Louvre, Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, rode a boat on the Seine, walking tours of the Latin Quarter with Notre Dame, the Luxeburg Gardens, Montmantre, the central part of Paris, visited the Montparnasse Tower, the Dé fense district, Elysian fields. These attractions are definitely worth a visit. I didn’t go to the Loire Valley, I left a whole free day in Paris for independent cultural walks and shopping. The main thing is to deal with the metro and city map and everything is easy. You just have to be very careful with black thieves on the subway. Guides, as usual, took us to the Fragonard perfume factory, we bought perfumes, creams, not bad, in a duty-free perfume. store "KAM'S". Other obligatory dinners and cabarets, many of us refused. My new friends and I sometimes dined in the city, sometimes in our hotel in a restaurant for 10-14 euros, and not 40 as our guide rented out for a candlelit dinner. The audience in car tours is diverse, from all over Russia, but 60% were intelligent people, not for the first time abroad. If some tourists were less clinging to our sleeves, my friend and I would have looked and bought more, and so there was irritation from the stupidity of some comrades. They go abroad and simply do not read the tourist memo, they do not know a single letter of a single foreign language, they do not even know the word "EXIT" - and these are urban residents with higher education. I was shocked. And I generally keep silent about the culture of behavior. In France, all shops and museums are open until 19-00. On Sunday, nothing works at all, even grocery stores, only restaurants. Therefore, after the persuasion of her friend, she agreed to a trip with part of the group for 65 euros to Normandy, with a visit to Rouen, Deauville, Honfleur and a boat ride on the English Channel. They froze and did not learn anything special for themselves. I would rather have stayed the last day in Paris, just for a walk. The next day we left for Belgium, Brussels. The city is beautiful, but after Paris it fades. We had lunch with local cuisine with seafood, very tasty and for 11 euros, we tried Brussels waffles, chocolate. Bought some home. In the evening we left for Holland and stayed in the town of Breda at the Campanile 3 * hotel. The rooms have a kettle, coffee, tea, sugar for free, the room itself is large, the bathroom is almost the same as the room. I was even surprised. In the morning we left for Amsterdam, were at the diamond factory, many of them didn’t need it, but we don’t know the city, they dropped it off and took us away. Ride along the canals of Amsterdam, freely walked around the city. Were in the Red Light District, it would be better not to go. There they looked at our group with a guide as idiots who interfere with work. The girls stand in the windows in beautiful lingerie, many of them are very pretty, ages 16-40. If busy, the curtain is drawn. Around sex shops, coffee shops with drugs. Clouds of obkurinyh people obscene species. In general, we wanted to quickly get out of there and wash our hands. On the advice of a local guide, we found a restaurant where you can have a normal dinner without morejuana. The city is unique and so are the customs. Late in the evening we left for the hotel "Novotel 4*" in Dü sseldorf - super. There is a description on the site. The next day in the afternoon, having made the last shopping in the KAUKOF center, flew to Moscow. My advice, do not give in to the persuasion of your friends on the tour, guides, do as your heart, finances and interests tell you, then there will be less disappointment. Happy travels.
