Watch your mail our written itinerary is on the way

We are mailing written itineraries to every group member.

In the meantime we have posted it online at the following link.


Click here to view the ISO Paris trip itinerary.

Here is a link to our hotel in Paris

Received confirmation from our hotel in Paris over the weekend.

It is the Hotel de Casiglione, a contemporary Paris Hotel on the Right Bank. Located on the Faubourg St-Honoré--known for its clothing boutiques, embassies, and art galleries--this Paris hotel is two blocks from the Avenue des Champs-Elysées and the Place de la Concorde.




Click here for information about our hotel in Paris.


Read what other travelers have to say about Hotel de Castiglione

D Day Battle Tours Confirmation

Please regard this as confirmation of your tour with D-Day Battle Tours –

Contact name	Don Feuner
Date of tour:	2nd October 2009
Number of people:	8
I will meet you at Carentan Rail Station 09.30
Duration of tour:	8.5 hours approx
The tour is to be conducted in my minibus
The fee will be:	600 euros to be paid in euros cash at the end of the tour
Museum visits (important but optional) extra at approx €6 per person per museum	1
We can arrange a discounted packed lunch at €6 per person from the C-45 Café.
To secure your tour please forward your choice of deposit – see covering letter for options. Please be aware your tour is not reserved until receipt of your deposit.
Please forward a mobile or contact phone number in case of emergencies
In the unlikely event that for any reason outside of our control circumstances prevent us from undertaking your tour on the agreed date we cannot be held responsible – please see website for full terms and conditions

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further questions.

I look forward to giving you the military history experience of you life.

Best regards

Ellwood von Seibold

August 1, 2009 ISO Paris Trip Update

With final payment date for our group trip now here, it is a good time to consider purchasing travel insurance. If some reason you have to cancel your trip between now and September 30 you will forefit close to all of the money you paid for your Paris trip. This is not a good thing and this is why we suggest you purchase travel insurance.


Here is a link to the travel insurance company we prefer, CSA Travel Protection.


CSA is non- AIG owned travel insurane company. They offer simple, straight forward insurance products. We have offered this travel insurance to our clients, for the last ten years and had to even file a claim on behalf of ourselves. We have had little or no problems with their claims department and they have even paid claims to clients that we thought shouldn't have.

Here is a tip. You don't have to purchase the trip cancellation or trip interruption insurance. Remember your health insurance probably doesn't work in Europe. So you need to supplement it.

Just enter zero -0- for trip cost and by our figuring you will save a significant amount of money. For example we priced travel insurance with CSA for a 53 year old couple taking the ISO Paris trip with and without the trip cancellation and interruption coverage. With coverage the premium is $272. Without coverage the premium is $60.

So if you are absolutely sure you traveling with us. Consider this option.

July 23, 2009 Illinois Symphony Paris Trip Update

We have tentatively made reservations for eight members of our group to take the Ellwood von Seibold D-Day Battle Tours on October 2, 2009. I say tentatively because Mr. Von Seibold is currently attending the War and Peace show in the UK until July 28. Before he left he emailed me indicating that he had availability on that date only. This tour is highly recommended by Rick Steves.

It appears the cost for group will be 500 Euros (approximately $110.00) for the one day trip split amongst the eight members. He only accepts cash. We will gladly research round trip transportation from Paris to Carantan Normandy if you wish.

Here is a link to Ellwood's web site for more details.

Here is a link to Rick Steve's web site with suggestions about touring the D-Day Beaches.

July 16, 2009 Illinois Symphony Trip Update

Thank you for supporting the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.

Today tour leader Stephanie Moore-Chipman and I met at the office to catch up on what is going on with our Paris Trip. Both of us had to do some traveling for work the last two weeks. We are both now rested and back at it. We did have some catching up to do.

We are proud to say that we are now 19 strong and have room for just seven more travelers. If you know anyone that is interested in traveling with us, please have them call the office at 217-241-0180. Several potential group members called this week and asked about some flexibility in our trip. One person inquired about the possibility of joining us after they pick up a new car in Sweden. Another asked about extending their stay for several days in order visit some relatives in France. In each case we believe we will be able to accommodate them. And that is a very good thing. Remember July 31, 2009 is our cut off for taking reservations. We also suggest that you target that date for purchasing travel insurance....the final payment date. We will send you a link for our recommended insurance company....CSA Travel Protection, that weekend.

Stephanie is working on getting some answers for cell telephone solutions for those who need to check back home when they are gone.

August 6, 2009 is our target date for finishing up the final details for our trip. On that date Stephanie and I plan on completing the group itinerary and should be able to mail it to you within a couple of days after that.

I have not had a chance to get the information together for the Normandy side trip we talked about at the Springfield meeting last month, but will have it for everyone late next week.

I have two insider guides to Paris on the way for group members August 6, 2009. One deals with good value restaurants in Paris, the second is simply a practical guide to Paris with a great point of view. Contrary to popular belief, there are many free/inexpensive things to do and good buys to be had in Paris; this guide will lead you to them!

Information about the Nuit Blanche....'the mother of ‘all-nighters’....has been published on the paris.fr web site. Here is a link to that web site. Be warned though it is written in French. As we get closer the festival I understand that English information will be available. Many attractions and the métro is open all night for free to the public, featuring concerts, film festivals, art, photography and multi-media installations and every other conceivable form of entertainment and culture. This festival is highly publicized in Paris, and free brochures detailing the huge numbers of events are available everywhere.


Talk to you soon.

Don Fuener
Vice President Planet Travel

Paris trip update June 15, 2009

Thank you for supporting the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.

Two more information meetings have been scheduled for the Illinois Symphony Orchestra 2009 for the ISO Paris Trip.

Please join us.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at the Williamsville State Bank

3341 Old Jacksonville Road

Springfield, IL 62711

Click here for a map quest map for this location

The Second meeting is Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at


Jack Lewis Fine Jewelry
1704 Eastland Drive
Bloomington, Illinois 61704
309-663-0538


Click here for a map quest map for this location.

It is your chance to meet the Planet Travel staff and go belly to belly with them. Ask any questions you might. You can sign up for the trip and meet fellow group members, as well as our on site Planet Travel in Paris host, Stephanie Moore Chipman.

Light refreshments will be served.


Our plane tickets have been issued for the first ten members of our group.


Here is the details.... All Flights are on American Airlines

Carrier	Flight Number	Departing		Arriving
		City	Date & Time	City	Time

42

CHICAGO OHARE

WED 30SEP 5:30 PM

PARIS DE GAULLE

8:45 AM

Returning

41

PARIS DE GAULLE

THU 08OCT 12:15 PM

CHICAGO OHARE

2:30 PM

Your passenger name record for our group is IQDZBC.

For information regarding the flight information please click here .

For information regarding American Airlines checked baggage policies, please visit www.aa.com/baggageinfo.


The American Airlines group meeting desk in Florida handles the ticketing and we expect the balance of the tickets to be issued late next week for those group members who have paid in full.

Behind the scenes we are working to make this a memorable visit to Paris.

What is the number one question we hear from our group members?

Where are we staying? Or, the variation why haven't you told us the name of the hotel yet?

We are choosing our accommodation very carefully. Our philosophy is to get the most hotel we can for the buck. And we do not expect you to be disappointed with our selection. Of course we will are required to review our hotel with our Illinois Symphony Orchestra office liasons to make sure we are on the same page.

With that in mind we do expect to announce our hotel in a few weeks. Currently we are negotiating with two Right Bank four star properties, both with ideal locations. Our group size was down sized today with two cancellations, making our hotel bookings somewhat a moving target. Currently the number of booked and fully paid members is 12. Two group members have made a deposit but have not paid the balance due. This is not a problem, perhaps just an over sight.

We have extended the booking window for our group until July 31, 2009. So if you know someone who has been on the fence as to whether they wanted to join us but missed the initial May deadline, there is still time to book our trip.

As we get closer to our departure date we promise to send all group members an email when the latest update to our blog is posted.

Plans are for a group get together a few weeks before our departure in September.

Here is the link to our web site dedicated to the trip. It will be updated next week with more information.

Click here for the ISO Paris Trip web site.


Finally here is a valuable link to Rick Steve's web site with great traveling to Paris tips.

Click here for Rick Steves France destination information.