Project: 9 European Cities in Two Weeks for only P150,000 All-in! [PART 1]

At first I thought it was a far-off dream for me to be able to tick this off my travel bucket list so soon, but I only had to save up for a year to be able to fund my first Euro-trip. And yes, it's true, I only spent P150K for everything - roundtrip flight, accommodations in 9 cities, food, transportation, and shopping.

The Preparations
 
FLIGHT SELECTION
I went to a number of travel fairs to check if there were cheap all-in packages to Europe. However, I couldn't get the timing and the places I want to go to right. So I decided to just do the trip on my own. The good thing I learned from the fairs though is the information on budget airlines. I found out that the travel agencies employed Malaysia Airlines or Air China. I checked out their sites for the dates I was planning to go. I decided on the last two weeks of October since there were a lot of holidays at this time and I was meeting my friends in Hong Kong for Halloween, which meant my flight back should be to Hong Kong. I checked KLM as well, since it's a trusted airline to Europe, and I was hoping there were still mileage privileges with Delta Airlines. Unfortunately, they don't offer this anymore. I compared the airfares among several sites, and the difference to KLM was actually minimal for my dates. As a frequent Cebu Pacific flier, I checked out the flights to Hong Kong as well. It only costs about P8,000 without check-in baggage going to Hong Kong and no other add-ons. Then I tried combinations of flights to KLM and found that the most affordable would be Hong Kong to Paris then Amsterdam to Hong Kong.

I ended up booking (after I got my visa), Manila to and from Hong Kong via Cebu Pacific for only P8,618 and Hong Kong to Paris, Paris to Amsterdam via KLM P44,189 for a total of P52,807 for my airfare.

VISA APPLICATION
I needed to get a Schengen Tourist Visa since I was planning to go to many places in Europe. The way to choose which embassy to apply to actually depends on which country you're going to stay in the longest, or in the case of equal lengths of stay, the entry point to Europe. Given the choices of the countries I planned to go to, I researched on which embassy in the Philippines had the least hassle in obtaining the visa, and I would just build my itinerary following that. I found that the French Embassy released visas fast and luckily, the embassy in Pacific Star was just three buildings away from my office! I read up on the requirements at their site. It was easy enough to understand. Complete the requirements first:

• 35mm x 45mm photo on white background
• Valid passport
• Cover letter with itinerary - The one below is what I composed. This is not a template, but just make sure you have your itinerary and list of documents attached.

• Hotel Vouchers - I booked hostels via hostelworld and booking.com and simply printed out the booking confirmation. No worries about the expense, since the hostels only require 10% down payment. 
• Roundtrip Flight Booking - I had to book the Cebu Pacific flights already; I was going to Hong Kong anyway. For the KLM flights, we dropped by the KLM office in RCBC to get a booking reservation. They can print out an e-ticket for you without you having to pay anything yet. Then once your visa has been released you can just pay for it online.
• Certificate of Employment and Leave of Absence approved by Employer - I just asked for the COE from our company then printed out the print-screen of my approved VL by my boss from our online HR system.
• ITR
• Bank Certificate - I got certificates for both my savings and payroll accounts, just to prove I had a steady income. Best to have savings of at least P200,000. I spent P200 for this since BPI charged P100 for each certificate.
• Statement of Account - I just printed the last three months statements from BPI's website since both my accounts were from there.
• Photocopy of Birth Certificate
• Travel Insurance - I got from PNB, which cost me P1,526  for a coverage of P3.5M. This was processed by my friend who has a sister that works there.
• Visa fee of P3,500

After completing my requirements, I scheduled for an appointment with the French embassy about a month before my trip. I just called the call center and got an appointment for Sept. 25 10:30 AM. I was there 30 minutes before my appointment. The guard made us form a line and gave us numbers before coming in. We left our mobile phones with him. My number was called about 20 minutes later at Window 2. I just had to show my itinerary and passport. Later I was called again at another window and that is where the short interview took place. It's basically just about knowing what your purpose is for travel, where you're going, etc. I showed my itinerary and since it indicated there that I had a companion, I had to call her in and we did the interview together. We answered the questions smoothly; we proved that we had jobs here and would come back after the trip. Our individual photos were taken then the lady gave us a slip that we would present on October 2 11:30 AM to claim our visas.

Come October 2, it was easy enough. We lined up again and deposited our mobile phones. Our names were called at Window 5 and we got our passports with our Schengen Visa!

 

PACKING
I used to be a girl scout, which makes me an unbelievably good bag packer. Basically, I list down all the stuff I need first. I check the weather on the days of my trip to make sure I'm prepared for the cold. Then about two weeks before my flight I lay out all the clothes, a towel, my toiletry kit, slippers, an extra pair of flat shoes. I check if there are stuff I'm missing and list them down to buy them in the grocery within the week. The weekend before my flight is my final packing time. At this point, I've completed all my stuff, and it's basically just fitting them into my backpack. The rest of the stuff I need on-hand like my passport, wallet, tickets, hotel booking confirmation, my tab and other necessities go into my messenger bag. My knit sweater is also not packed into my backpack to save some space and to use as my extra blanket during the flight.

The Trip

We arrived in Paris CDG Airport at 5PM and it took some time to get our bearings so we reached our hostel in Bastille at around 7 PM. We stayed at Sully Hotel, which is just a narrow door from the outside along Rue Saint Antoine. Inside is as narrow as the outside, with just a spiral staircase leading to the rooms. So a heavy trolley would be quite a feat to bring along. We got the Standard Double Bed Room with ensuite bathroom for 85 euros, which is P2,361 per person.

That night we decided to just go to one spot – Basilique du Sacre-Couer since it was still open at night. In fact, when we got there, there were many people hanging out at the steps, and even drinking in front of the church. I  was a little disappointed since it seemed like such a majestic structure to just be a “tambayan”. We went up the church via cable car for 10 euros.  

It was a bustling place, with artists sketching tourists for a fee, lots of restaurants and people milling about.

We got hungry so we decided to go back to Bastille and eat at one of the bistros still open there. We chanced upon Le Preau, where we ordered the cheese platter and two glasses of French wine for 27.80 euros.

The next day, we woke up early to experience breakfast at one of the cute little French coffee shops in Rue Saint Antoine. We bought croissants and cappuccino for my friend and cafe crème for me.

After breakfast, we basically aimed to soak up Paris on foot. We walked towards Isle St. Louis, which had cute coffee shops and was near the bridge that had the love-locks. This is one of the most romantic places in Paris and I definitely saw why. 

 

From there the Notre Dame Cathedral was nearby. So we headed towards the church and took some photos. 

From Notre Dame, we walked towards the Louvre, passing Palais de Justice. My companion had already been to Paris so we decided to separate while she went to visit her friend.  I lined up at the entrance of the Louvre and it took about an hour before I got inside. 

I toured the Louvre alone for 12 euros. I saw the famous Mona Lisa, which is just a small painting encased in glass, surrounded by cords and railing that you had to wrestle your way to see. 

Of course, the Louvre had a million works displayed, which I didn’t have time to ogle at, so I just chose the ones I did want to see and ended my tour after two hours. 

When I went out of the Louvre, it was drizzling but I didn’t want that to spoil my Paris day tour, so I still trudged on, passing through Jardin des Tuileries, which is huge, by the way. 

I was soaked by the time I got to Champs-Elysees. So I went into a bakery, ordered one of those prolific French baguettes and killed time till the rain stopped. 

It was still drizzling a bit when I decided to continue on with my tour, so I just bought a hat from H&M along Champs-Elysees. 

I walked towards Arc de Triomphe, took a few photos and ducked into the subway going to Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel. 

Funny how it was then, at four o’clock in the afternoon, as I was walking out of the subway, the tip of the tower peeking out among the trees, that the sun came up as well. It was as if the weather finally gave me a chance to see Paris as it is – quaint and lovely. I walked towards the Eiffel tower, following throngs of tourists trying to catch a glimpse. 

I was alone then, and though I felt a bit lonely not being able to share this moment with anyone, I was content enough knowing I deserved this. The hard work I put in to save up for a trip to Europe, the multi-tasking involved in preparing for the trip, and even the rainy day that Paris greeted me with, was all worth it at the end. The Parisian icon towering over me just begged for me to take a selfie. So I did.