Boston to New York on BoltBus

I'm writing this post from a bus - a BoltBus to be specific. Boltbus provides express city-to-city connections with some pretty cool amenities, like wireless internet and outlets to plug your electronics into (not all seats have these, though, so choose your seat carefully). True, the wireless isn't perfect - it's having some trouble streaming Netflix, for example - but anything that will get me from my friends in Boston to my boyfriend in New York in under five hours while providing internet of any kind is good by me. The price tag is what makes it especially appealing - my ticket was only $15 one way. Compare that with the $158 I paid for the Amtrak Acela (also has wireless) to get me from New York to Boston ahead of the post-Christmas storm (I was one of the last trains out before they shut the station down) and BoltBus is the clear winner.

BoltBus connects a variety of locations in New York, Washington DC, Boston, and Philadelphia. The further in advance you buy your tickets, the cheaper they are, and BoltBus offers a rewards system if you use their service frequently. So far my trip has gone smoothly and has included a single, ten-minute stop at McDonald's for a food and restroom break. It's a relief to be able to work, write, and watch chunks of my favorite tv shows as the wireless struggles with Netflix. Outside, the East Coast scenery is also still pretty with its heavy frosting of snow, so watching the cities go by has its charm, too.

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

A Great Place to Shop in Paris (That You Can Afford!)

The entrance to Extrovert, a great boutique in the Quartier Latin

Everyone knows that Paris is a great place to shop. Unfortunately, to enjoy much of that shopping either you or someone you love needs to be independently wealthy. Being a penniless blogger myself, I've been on the lookout for good stores that I can actually afford, and I did find one that provides edgy European fashion for prices that didn't make me gasp. It's called Extrovert.

Extrovert (apologies to non French speakers, but the website doesn't have an English option) is located at 47 Rue St-Andre des Arts in the heart of Paris's lively and historic Quartier Latin. Rue St-Andre des Arts is a good place in general to find boutiques that won't break the bank, but Extrovert struck me as having a particularly exciting array of clothing and accessories - definitely stuff that will get you noticed back in the states - while still being affordable. The staff was friendly and spoke English and the styles ranged from clean and contemporary to vintage inspired to urban chic. Extrovert has both men's and women's sections and the guys' clothes were every bit as distinctively Parisian as the girls' (the white leather jacket in the window is a great example).

If you find your shopping trip exhausting, Rue St-Andre des Arts is also full of bistros and bars where you can have un verre de vin and talk over your plans to wear your new purchases to the nightclubs which you'll also find nearby.

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

Quick Tip: The Best Way to See Paris

No matter how long you're going to be in Paris, the best way to see everything on your list is with the Paris Museum Pass. Available in 2, 4, or 6-day increments, the Paris Museum Pass lets you skip the lines at over 60 museums and monuments, including the biggies: the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Centre Pompidou, even Versailles. Costing only 32, 48, or 64 euros depending on how many days you want, it saves you money as well as time.

I found that having the museum pass also made me feel more relaxed about my trip. Knowing that I wouldn't have to wait in lines meant not getting up at the crack of dawn to try to be first into the Louvre. I could take a walk along the Seine between museum visits or have a long lunch without worrying about making it to the next museum in time.

My only caution to the museum visitor is to try to time your visits so that you don't have to eat in the museum cafes. They aren't terrible, but they certainly aren't worth their high prices!

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

Getting to Paris

I came to Paris from Florence by a slightly round-about path. The Florence airport is very small and there are no direct flights from FLR to either of the Paris airports. Instead, I had to get a little creative.

I finally found a cheap flight from Pisa (PSA) to Paris Orly (ORY) on EasyJet. The flight left at 9:00 am, however, which left me with the problem of getting from Florence to the Pisa airport early in the morning. I probably could have done it by train, but instead I opted for the Terravision bus. Terravision provides cheap and reliable airport shuttle service to and from a variety of major European airports and is a handy service that budget travelers should know about. Tickets can be booked online and printed in advance, so all you have to worry about is being at the pick-up location on time. My bus picked me up at Florence's main train station, Stazione Santa Maria Novella, at 5:50 am on the dot and took me directly to the Pisa airport, where I arrived shortly after 7:00 am, in plenty of time to catch my flight.

Getting into the city from the airport was easy, too. I took the Orlybus, which leaves the airport roughly every 20 minutes, to Place Denfert-Rochereau, a major landmark in the south of the city. Tickets for the Orlybus are 6.40 euros and can be bought on the platform.

Finally, I found my Paris accommodations - a comfortable loft on the charming Rue Daguerre - on Airbnb, a website I found out about through an article on the travel site I used to write for, Students In Europe. Airbnb is extremely easy to use and the apartment I ended up renting is far more comfortable and far cheaper than getting a hotel (it's not much more expensive than a hostel would be, either). I'm sitting on my couch right now, enjoying the quiet and a glass of Cote du Rhone and agreeing with Airbnb's assessment of itself: "Travel like a human" is the company's motto.

Yep.

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding