Staff Spotlight: Monograms Tour to Paris

​Since I was 7 years old the one place I've wanted to see more than anywhere in the world is Paris, France. After 20 years of waiting, my wish finally came true and my husband and I traveled to Paris with Monograms, which is part of the Globus Family of Brands. It was hands down the most incredible week of my life and it lived up to everything I'd ever dreamed it would be and more.

Why Monograms?
My husband and I consider ourselves more of independent travelers - we like to do what we want, when we want. Monograms gave us the freedom to be the travelers we are while making the trip easier than we could've imagined. 
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When we arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport it was madness. There were so many people everywhere and if it wasn't for the included airport transfer with Monograms we would've been completely lost. A Monograms rep was waiting for us with a "Welcome" sign and they took us straight to our hotel. During the car ride our driver was friendly and provided incredible advice about Paris and what we should do on our trip.

Once we pulled up to our centrally located hotel, Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur, the Monograms Local Host, Julie, greeted us outside and escorted us into the lobby. Julie presented all the information we needed for our exciting week ahead and explained how to use the metro system for the easiest way to get around. Without her assistance we wouldn't have had such ease navigating the city. 

Our hotel room at Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur

Showering without a curtain was quite a challenge!

Our hotel selected by Monograms was just the right size for us. We had a king size bed with a split toilet and shower room, plus a flat screen TV, safe, blow dryer and mini-fridge. Breakfast was included each morning with delectable croissants, fruits, bacon, eggs and more. Almost the entire staff spoke English (even though I still got to put my French language skills to good use) and they were always happy to help. I would absolutely stay here again. 

We loved watching French music videos as we got ready

Monday, August 14, 2017

The day after we arrived in Paris, Monograms provided a half-day city tour where we had a motor coach pick us up from the hotel and drive us around Paris. It felt like a private tour because we only had around 12 people in our group. We had skip the line tickets to the Louvre, went inside Notre Dame Cathedral and stopped for photo-ops at the Eiffel Tower. The guide was extremely knowledgeable and she gave us insight to the history of Paris. Once the tour was over we were free to enjoy the city at our leisure, and if there was anything we needed we always had the Local Host at the hotel for assistance. 

The Louvre

We stopped at the Eiffel Tower after our plane landed and we went back on our guided tour. I just couldn't stay away!

Venus de Milo

Mona Lisa, protected behind bullet-proof glass

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

Outside Notre Dame Cathedral

Shopping down the Champs-Élysées at our leisure

The inside of the Cathedral was breathtaking

Place de la Concorde

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

On our first full day at our leisure we decided to go to the Palace of Versailles. This is an absolute MUST when visiting Paris. This excursion actually turned into one of our favorite days of the whole trip. We purchased skip the line tickets in advance and I'm so glad we did. The wait was over 4 hours long for those who didn't! Our visit was a guided tour filled with the most incredible details you could imagine. The amount of knowledge the guides have is unreal and we learned so much during our tour. 

The Palace is filled with gold, marble, elaborate fabrics, statues, paintings, crystals and everything in between. We couldn't stop taking pictures of every detail we saw - it was all so glamorous and ornate! 
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The entrance of Versailles covered in gold

The Hall of Mirrors

We could've spent a whole day just in the gardens

My favorite part of the garden with all of the fountains

Our necks hurt from looking up at the art on the ceiling!

The fountain near the Grand Basin

There were so many fun pathways to walk around

In the evening we went on a romantic Calife River Dinner Cruise down the Seine River. The food was some of the best food I've ever had in my life and the views were spectacular. I'll never forget sailing past the Eiffel Tower at 10 PM and watching it light up and sparkle. It was quite an emotional experience! 

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Enjoying our complimentary glasses of champagne

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

​My husband and I are huge Disney fans so we naturally had to spend a day at Disneyland Paris! There are two parks - Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney Studios. We only had enough time for Magic Kingdom but if you're able to stay more than one day I highly recommend going to both.
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Disneyland Paris is celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year so the whole park was decorated in blue. For those who have been to a Disney park before you'll hardly notice that many differences, they did a great job keeping everything consistent with the American parks. However, this is still in France so it was pretty fun to hear the French language worked in to some of the rides and songs! 
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By far my favorite Disney castle

Joyeux Anniversaire, Disneyland Paris!

Naturally we had to take a picture with Mickey Mouse!

Thursday, August 17, 2017

On this day we went to Giverny to visit the home of Claude Monet. This was one of the more important days on our trip due to the significance of Monet in my life. In first grade we did a year-long class project over France, where we studied French culture and art. I fell in love with Claude Monet and each student wrote a book about his life. After all these years I kept my book and I took it with me to his home. 
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Standing on the Japanese bridge with my book

My stab at Impressionism at 7 years old

The gardens and his home were absolutely stunning. As we walked around I couldn't believe how large the garden was and just how many plants and flowers were on Monet's property. We only had two hours in Giverny but we could've spent an entire day there exploring. I would go back in a heartbeat. 
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In front of Monet's charming house

Original pieces of art by Monet

Standing in front of Big Ben Tower before it went silent

Friday, August 18, 2017

Unfortunately all good things have to come to an end so we decided to finish our dream trip with a bang by doing a day trip to London! The best word to describe this part is "WHEW!". I only recommend doing a day trip if you have tons of energy and can walk quickly because this definitely wasn't any easy day. However, I don't regret it in the slightest. 

We took the Eurostar train to London (a two hour trip each way) which gave us about 9 hours to explore. Both of us like to cram in as many experiences as possible when we travel and London gave us a run for our money. After arriving at St. Pancras we took the "Big Bus London" to Trafalgar Square where we walked around and headed to Buckingham Palace. The Palace is only open for about two months of the year and we were lucky enough to be there when it was open. We toured the Queen's Gallery, the Royal Mews and a few of the Staterooms. In total this was about a 5 hour tour.

Buckingham Palace

Such a gorgeous carriage!

Here comes King and Queen Wilson!

​After the tour of the Palace we ran into "Bag O' Nails Pub" for a quick pint and fish and chips (when in Rome, right?) to energize and we then headed to Big Ben. We were very lucky to be some of the last people hear the tower ring as it's now silent for the next four years for refurbishment. After a quick visit we did some shopping for souvenirs on Oxford Street and then left for King's Cross Station. My husband and I also love Harry Potter so it was important to us to see where Harry and the gang entered the Wizarding World. 
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A must-do photo op in London!

Surprisingly, these taxis are pretty large on the inside.

See you later everyone, I'm off to the Wizarding World on Platform 9 3/4!

My week trip to Paris and London was the best week of my life and I wish I could've had time for more. Now that I've had a taste of Europe I can't wait to go back and see it all! I highly recommend this trip to everyone and traveling with Monograms is the way to do it.

Call one of our expert Travel Consultants to book your package with Monograms at 314-439-5700!