WHAT YOU WILL SEE:

Paris, France
Paris assaults the senses, demanding to be seen, heard, touched, tasted and smelled. Gaze rapturously at its breezy boulevards, impressive monuments, and great works of art and magic lights. Savor its gourmet pastiche of cheese, chocolate, wine and seafood. Paris is a city of vast, noble perspectives and intimate, ramshackle streets, of formal espaces verts (green open spaces) and of quiet squares. This combination of the pompous and the private is one of the secrets of its perennial pull. Another is its size. Paris is relatively small as capitals go, with distances between many of its major sights and museums invariably walkable. You'll still find classic sights like the Tour Eiffel, Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Sacré-Coeur, and all those atmospheric cafes, as well as trendy new projects like the Grande Arche de La Défense, the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, the Cité de la Musique, and the Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand. And don't forget the parks, gardens, and squares; the Champs-Elysées and other grand boulevards; the river Seine and its quays. Paris's beauty is still overwhelming, especially at night, when it truly is the City of Light.

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Easygoing, liberal Amsterdam has never entirely shed its reputation as a hippie haven, even with an economy that has moved far beyond this cliché. Prosperity has settled like a North Sea mist around the graceful cityscape of canals and 17th-century town houses. But Amsterdam is still "different." Its citizens, bubbling along happily in their multiracial melting pot, are not so easily poured into the restrictive molds of trade and industry. Not only do free thinking and anything goes still have their place; they are the watchwords by which Amsterdam lives its collective life. Still, all is far from lost: You can smoke hash all day if that's what you want. More important, you can enjoy Amsterdam, its culture, history, and beauty, without stretching the limits of your credit cards. Few skyscrapers mar the clarity of the sky and the populace mostly walks or bikes from place to place. The historic center recalls Amsterdam's Golden Age as the command post of a vast trading network and colonial empire, when wealthy merchants constructed gabled residences along neatly laid-out canals. A delicious irony is that the placid old structures also host brothels; smoke shops, and some extravagant nightlife. The city's inhabitants, proud of their pragmatic, live-and-let-live attitude, have decided to control what they cannot effectively outlaw. They permit licensed prostitution in the Red Light District--as much a tourist attraction as the Rijksmuseum or the Stedelijk Museum--and the sale of hashish and marijuana in designated "coffeeshops."

The Thalys
Thalys is also known as the "red train" high speed train. You will be traveling at a speed of up to 300 kph (180 mph).

Types of Train Services
First Class:
Interiors feature orange-red seats arranged 2+1. They recline electrically with a touch of the control. The finish is gray, with gray carpeting. A meal is included with any 1st class ticket, and served at your seat every day (except on June 15th). Free newspapers now available. All passengers holding a 1st class ticket and arriving at Paris Gare du Nord or Brussels Midi can book a taxi from the bar car (fee applies). Bookings must be done at least 30 minutes prior to arrival. Upon arrival, a chauffeur will meet the passenger at the Thalys meeting point.

Second Class:
Second class is decorated similarly, even with gray carpeting and the narrower seats are arranged 2+2. Two phones at both ends on the train (accept major credit cards). The bar-buffet is open on all Thalys stretches except between Oostende-Brussels and Antwerpen/Berchem-Brussels on the trains that have Antwerpen/Berchem as origin or final destination.

Car seating and trains features:
The trains carry eight cars offering 377 seats (754 when two trains coupled).
1st class: 2 cars - Non-Smoking; 2nd class: 4 cars - Non-Smoking; 1 Buffet-Car in the middle of the train.