Overseas travel - Europe Travel Review Day 1 (France, Italy)

I want to write it as if it were a monologue diary. I hope that my recent reviews in 2024 will be of some help to your trip.

2024/07/10/Wed Day 1 of Europe Trip

Since it was a morning flight at Incheon Airport, I woke up early in the morning to get ready and checked my luggage once more. My father said he would drive me to Incheon Airport, so my friend and I were able to load our carriers into the trunk and arrive at the airport comfortably.

When I arrived at Incheon Airport, I measured and checked the weight of my carrier first. After that, After that, I checked in and received my printed boarding pass. Before entering the gate, I received my Paris Museum Pass and went to the bank window to receive the money I exchanged. I applied for the exchange using the bank app, paid in advance, and designated the pick-up date as airport pickup. I didn't exchange much money because I thought the card would work well with the Travel Wallet Card. I was also worried about pickpockets if I carried a lot of cash. First, I exchanged about 50,000 won into euros. When I arrived at my accommodation, I also planned to find an ATM nearby with a free fee and withdraw money. There was also an ATM near the subway station that offered free fees. When I applied for a day tour, I had to pay for the receiver fee, food, entrance fee, and activity experience fee in cash, so I wanted to exchange additional euros and withdraw money while I was staying in Paris.

After checking and completing what I had to do outside the gate, I went straight into the gate. After a quick look around the duty-free shop, I went to Starbucks to sit and chat before boarding the plane. Since I was going to be sitting on the plane for more than 12 hours, I packed a neck warmer, eye mask, thin slippers, charger, spare battery, mirror, toiletries, toothbrush, and toothpaste in my carry-on bag in advance. Although I was allowed to bring my carrier on board, it was convenient to put it on top, so it was convenient to put the small items I needed separately in my carry-on bag. It was also convenient to brush my teeth after eating the in-flight meal and wash my face in between. Since I usually improve my eyesight with Dream Lenses while sleeping, I also wore Dream Lenses in between. Since the restroom is crowded right after eating the in-flight meal, it was okay to use it before the in-flight meal or 1-2 hours after eating the in-flight meal. The quality of the in-flight meal was also satisfactory.

The expected arrival time in Paris was around 6 PM, but it was nice to arrive earlier than the expected arrival time. Since I had a lot of luggage, including a carrier and a carry-on bag, and there was also the issue of pickpocketing, I went to my first accommodation in Paris via Uber. There was a designated Uber pickup location within the airport. I almost missed the Uber pickup location in the fairly large airport, but I checked it out step by step and asked around before I found it. I was glad to know that the Uber pickup floor was different from the one I was on. The Uber driver also told me to be careful of pickpockets and mentioned pickpockets again, which made me realize that I was in Europe.

The first accommodation I stayed in Paris was the Avia Hotel Saphir Montparnasse. After arriving at the accommodation safely, I verified my identity with my passport and paid the city tax. When deciding on a place to stay, I mainly considered the 15th arrondissement. Considering the safety, price, and location of the Eiffel Tower and museums, the 15th arrondissement was suitable. It was fun to find out how the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd arrondissements of Paris were located and how safe they were. ( https://maps.app.goo.gl/WWykw1tsWMyfbkj27  Google Maps - Avia Hotel Saphir Montparnasse )

The time I arrived at the accommodation was between 7 and 8 pm. After unpacking and organizing my luggage, I took a short break and looked for a nearby restaurant. I didn’t make a reservation in advance because I was worried that my flight might be delayed, and decided to eat dinner depending on the situation, but since I had some free time, I looked around for a good restaurant here and there. I wanted to try escargot and foie gras, so I looked for a restaurant near the accommodation, and based on the reviews and ratings, I decided on Aux Artistes and headed out. It was an impressive restaurant with a hip interior that had a European feel. ( https://maps.app.goo.gl/P7pvrLEo1m9JsyYG9  Google Map-Aux Artistes Restaurant )

I was confused when I first received the menu, but I kept holding on to it and spent time interpreting it! I also used Papago to take pictures and referred to the translated content, but since the French translation didn’t translate well into Korean, I translated it into English and studied the menu in various ways. I understood the method of ordering a set of starter, main, and dessert, and each of us chose one menu we wanted and ordered two sets. I chose escargot as a starter, beef goulash as a main, spaghetti as a side dish, and lemon sorbet as a dessert. My friend chose foie gras as a starter, grilled steak as a main, mashed potatoes as a side dish, and yogurt with honey as a dessert.

After eating the starter as a course, the main dish was served after it was cleaned up, and after eating the main dish, the dessert was served after it was cleaned up again. As we were eating slowly while talking, it was almost 10 p.m. I was surprised by the large portions and it was a moment when I could understand why French meals take 2 hours! There were quite a few locals who ordered a set alone and ate slowly. The good thing was that it was bright until 9 p.m. and the sun set a little after that, so it felt quite bright until 10 p.m. The day was long, so I could use the time until late at night!

After dinner, I was going to withdraw Euros from a BNP ATM nearby with no fees and buy water from a nearby supermarket before going back to my accommodation, but dinner time passed more quickly than I thought. I felt fine when it was bright outside, but after the sun set, the streets became dark and it was getting late, so I had to hurry.

I exchanged Euros directly from the app using my travel wallet card and withdrew money from the ATM. The BNP ATM was free of fees, so it was useful. I checked the darkened surroundings while withdrawing money, but fortunately, no one was trying to pickpocket me. There was also a supermarket near the ATM, so I went in and bought water and returned to my accommodation safely.

The reason why water was more important than I thought while traveling was that hotels do not provide water and there were no water purifiers. Some hotels have coffee pots, but others do not, so it was important to diligently purchase 1L or 1.5L of water from a nearby supermarket. Since the price of water varies from store to store, I looked for a supermarket with cheap water and used it. If the supermarket is too far away, I bought it as close to my accommodation as possible because the weight of the water is heavy. So I bought one. I also learned that the water unit in Europe is cl. 500ml=50cl. I found a bottle of water that was about 25cl in size and bought it additionally. Since the weather was hot when I was moving, I drank water often, so I bought a small bottle of water and put it in my bag and it was very useful.

I'II come back with a review for Day 2!

(The pink clouds and sunset I saw while eating dinner. It was bright and nice until then.)