Preparing for the trip

With the Iceland Air promotion, we could do our stop-over before or after Paris. We decided to go for Iceland first, as the flight lands in the early morning and I read on a blog that you could go straight to the Blue Lagoon for a nice soak, and it wouldn't be as crowded as during the afternoon. Plus the Blue Lagoon is between the KEF airport and Reykjavik, so it made sense to visit it on our way to the city.

As neither of us had a driver's license at that point, we splurged on a 2 day/1 night tour to Jokulsarlon and an ice cave expedition with Extreme Iceland. We prefer a smaller tour group size, and they had excellent reviews. We booked an AirBnB for the full 4 nights in Reykjavik, even if we wouldn't be "home" for 1 night. For Paris, we wanted to be in the city center and I fell in love with an eclectic boutique hotel where each room was decorated and painted in a different theme. More on these on the day-to-day trip report!

When I told my sister about our plans, and showed her the pictures of the ice caves, she burst out laughing because she knows I walk like a grandma when it's slippery outside. I seriously dislike walking on icy and slippery sidewalks, and I think it shows how much I really wanted to see the ice caves!

Clothing and Packing
From my Iceland research, I knew it would be wet/snowy, windy and cold, and waterproof pants and jackets would be essential. We didn't own any, but luckily were able to borrow those, plus backpacks, from friends and family. I didn't have proper hiking boots either, but I could rent it from the tour company, and my regular winter boots would be fine for the city. We did purchase some merino wool underwear to layer.

Paris would be completely different, the temperature would be warmer (10-15C) and we wouldn't need our bulky winter jackets and boots. Plus while our Iceland clothes were definitely cozy and comfortable, for Paris I wanted to dress a bit nicer! It's Paris after all :P Luckily our airfare included a checked bag each, and we managed to pack two different sets of clothing in 1 large suitcase and 1 carry-on. Andrew brought his Canon DLSR with the kit lens and borrowed a fish eye lens from my sister. He even managed to bring his tripod because we were hoping to see the Northern Lights.

Trip Planning
With our ice caves tour booked, I focused next on the Blue Lagoon. You had to buy a ticket in advance, as they can (and often) sell out for the day. They had different packages: the basic package included entry, but no towel! It was an extra charge to rent a towel, or you could purchase the premium package that included the towel and a bath robe. They also offered in-water massages, which included the towel and bath robe. I decided to splurge on the massages and surprise Andrew with it. (I am really good at keeping secrets and surprises!!)

For Paris, we made a list of the museums and sights we wanted to see, and looked into some restaurants. When I read about the Bustronome, a gourmet dinner eaten on a bus while touring Paris, I was sold. Andrew liked the idea as well, and we booked it for our 2nd night.

We didn't want to have a crazy itinerary where every hour is planned, and you're running from place to place. We did our research into attractions we wanted to see (and their entrance fees), any particular food we wanted to eat, and how far / accessible it would be from our accommodations. For each city, we made a list of things to do and picked what we felt like doing that particular day. It's a good compromise for me, I'm not the kind of spontaneous person that could just show up and wing it. I'm always afraid that I somehow miss out on something great (just around the corner), because I didn't do my research and didn't know to go there... Or you show up to a museum on Tuesday, and find out that they're always closed that day!

All this information, and our flight, hotel, tour reservations and budget go into a spreadsheet and a custom-created Google Map. I print out a copy of everything we need and bring it in a plastic folder. We brought some Euros for Paris (the hotel asked to be paid in cash), and used our credit card for Iceland as we read it's widely accepted, even for a cup of coffee.

Next post - departure day!