Amsterdam and Paris

Oct 19-25, 2022
AC826 YYZ-AMS, AC827 AMS-YYZ

Although the borders had been open for a while, we were cautious in our return to international travel. While it was challenging to find reasonable business class tickets with points with travel opening slowly, we were able to grab a roundtrip flight to Amsterdam and used it as a base to visit the immediate area and return to Paris.

Oct 20

After our overnight flight to Amsterdam, we took the train into the city, freshened up with a nap at the hotel before heading out to explore the city.

Nice to see the bicycles outside the train station are just as remembered

Nemo Science Museum in the harbour area

Exploring the famous canals of Amsterdam

Some local art

Narrow arm of the canal leading into the habour

Looking up the canal towards St. Nicolas Basilica

A sample of the subtle signage in the red light district

Covered boats navigating Herengracht Canal

Anne Frank statue outside the Anne Frank House

The Rijksmuseum and surrounding grounds

Still jet lagged, we turned in pretty early at the hotel.

Oct 21

With an afternoon train to Paris, we had a good portion of the day to hang around Amsterdam. We found our way on the ferry across the harbour to North Amsterdam.

Catching our ride with all the bicyclists

A'DAM Tower and the Eye Film Museum

The Van Gogh Museum grounds

Royal Concertgebouw

Vondelpark

Last canal view before catching the train

With a late afternoon train to Paris, we arrived fairly late into Paris with just time to get to the hotel and grab a late drink near the hotel.

Oct 22

Staying at the Hyatt on the northern edge of Paris, we decided to explore the nearby La Defense area of the city. La Defense is a newer collection of modern high rises just built around the iconic Grande Arche.

La Grande Arche

Place de la Defense public art

Esplanade de la Defense

The Seine looping north before la Defense

Morning rowers on the Seine

Hotel de Ville

Notre Dame under restoration from the 2019 fire

Arc de Triomphe

Making our way around the Arc

Having completed our city walk, we ended the day with some refreshments at the hotel lounge.

Oct 23

For our last night, we squeezed in a last free stay at the Park Hyatt Vendome before Hyatt made the number of points out of reach. We’ve always enjoyed our stays there, but don’t have enough points for the splurge. After changing hotels, we had another full day in Paris to explore. We didn’t really cover any new territory, but it was great to reconnect and be a tourist in Paris again.

Paris Opera

Eifel Tower, with new fences making it a little harder to get up close without a ticket

Street vendors with their wares on a blanket for a quick exit when the police arrive

A somewhat ineffective sign

St Vincent de Paul Church

Making our way up to Sacre Coeur

The crowds are ready for sunset

After dinner and sunset at Sacre Coeur, we headed back to the hotel.

Oct 24

One of the best features of the Park Hyatt in Paris is its over the top buffet. The selection and quality is amazing, made better by not having to pay for any of it. After breakfast, we had some more time to stretch our legs in Paris before our afternoon train back to Amsterdam.

Iconic Place de la Concorde obelisk

With constant risks of strike and disruption for Paris rail, we were happy to be on a train with only a small delay getting us back to Amsterdam airport and a quick shuttle ride from our hotel.

Oct 25

After breakfast at our airport hotel, we caught a shuttle back to the airport and enjoyed our flight back home to Toronto.