Play Baseball in
Paris & London
July 8-18, 2010
A Great Way to Travel and see France!!
Links Books Maps
Now Taking Reservations
If you are interested in playing in England and France next year,
please send me an email and tell me about yourself.

(This web page is best viewed with a Mozilla based browser such as Netscape, Sea Monkey, or Firefox, even Safari but not AOL or Internet Explorer)
This trip is in the planning phase at this time.  Dates have been established, costs and itinerary will be established over the next several months.  If you are interested in joining this trip, please fill out the application and send in the deposit. 
Come and see London and Paris!!

This is not my wife or girlfriend.
In London you won't need a translator for this leg of the trip but you will need some good baseball skills and need to be ready for some international competition.  This will be a truly international experience as we'll be playing teams from places such as Portugal, England, Scotland, France, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.  The tournament is sponsored by the British Baseball Federation and will be based in Croydon, a suburb just south of London.  After a day of decompression and full day of touring we'll have a couple of rigorous days of baseball.  After sweeping the tournament we'll take the a cool train ride through the Chunnel and the French countryside to Paris for more adventures. 

Parlez vous Frances?  You won't need to speak French on this trip, but it may help.  We'll be on our own for much of this leg of the trip but will have some language help for key situations.  We'll start this leg of the trip with a few days of being tourists including participating in Bastille Day and then playing teams of the French Federation of Baseball in areas around Paris.   We'll be based in the City of Lights so it'll be easy to experience the culture of this famous city, surrounding areas and of course some baseball with local teams. 

This is not me
Like many European countries, both England and France have been playing baseball for many years and have amateur baseball teams of all ages.  This is a rare opportunity for you to combine both baseball and travel.  Imagine playing in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower, the Palace at Versailles or the London Tower.  We won't be quite that close but in the vicinity.  We'll spend over a week in these historic lands playing at least 6-7 games with lot's of tours to see the sites and surrounding areas.   You'll have a chance to see historic monuments, castles, gardens, country sides, and experience the treasures of these historic cities.  Not to mention some great food.  This is the first and only trip like this so far.
Baseball
Transportation
Hotels
Food
Entertainment
Sightseeing
Outline of Trip
Dates
Requirements
Costs
What's Included
What's Not Included
Contact Us for Information
Sign Up
Roster


Eiffel Tower
This is a custom designed trip for baseball players.  It's the only one of it's kind so far to provide a baseball vacation in London and Paris.   In addition, you'll have many opportunities to interact with local players. Baseball is a common medium between our cultures, even if you don't speak the language you'll be able to interact with the locals because they will speak baseball.  We'll eat at some great restaurants, be entertained by a full time agenda, see some great sights and Play Baseball, Euro style. 

Trip is open to any adult person who plays baseball.  The average age of our teams is usually in the mid 40's-50's.  The trip is scheduled for July of 2010.  Players, family members and tourists are all welcome.  We'll be limiting ourselves to a maximum of 14-15 players. We will need 4-5 good pitchers, a couple of catchers and some good position players.  Come as a team or come as a pool player and join the experience.  You will need a valid passport.
The trip is more economical than any travel agent could or would do.   No travel agency could put together a trip like this.  Most have set tour plans and rarely deviate, custom tours are often unheard of.  Second, they don't have the baseball contacts.  Third, they would charge at least $2,000-$4,000 and lead you to places they want you to see and spend money. 

France and England are relatively expensive countries to visit and with the devaluation of the dollar to the Euro and GBP, it's not getting any better.  Since we are traveling as a group, we'll be able to cut costs down somewhat.  Considering the hotels, tours, restaurants and places we'll visit, we'll be going at a reasonable cost that includes first class treatment in every step of the way.   The trip will include all lodging, ground transportation to scheduled events, all baseball, all scheduled tours, lots of sightseeing, shopping sprees, translator when needed and several meals.  Our trip is customized with us in mind at a reasonable price not including airfare. 

Most every day we'll tour a different area and see the local attractions.  Some evenings may have group outings or dinners.  Occasionally there may be joint meals or outings with the local  teams that will allow the locals and USA players to get together, exchange ideas and make new friends.  You'll find baseball enthusiasts of a variety of age groups and levels as many of their players are American players.  They are eager to meet and play ball with you.

Don't be just a tourist, be an International Baseball Ambassador, get to know the people not just the postcards.

Baseball
Baseball dates back beyond WWII in Europe.  Over the decades, it has expanded to participating in the European national leagues and has developed local and national baseball leagues for youths and adults. Though there are no professional stadiums in France and England, there are however a number of quality fields, much like what we are used to playing in at our local leagues, parks and schools.  The local Baseball Federations will be our hosts and provide the teams, fields, umpires etc.

We'll be starting our baseball experience by participating in an international 2 day tournament that will include 12-16 teams, mostly from Great Britain.  In the past teams have also come from Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and all over England.  We may be the first and only team from the USA in this tournament so they will probably expect a lot from us as it is an American sport.  The tournament will include probably at least 4 games and 5 games when we play the championship game.  It should all be very competitive baseball.  

After sweeping the tournament we'll take our awards and travel off to Paris for more sightseeing and baseball.  Our French baseball experience will be to play 2 games in or near the city of Paris.  These teams will be made up of amateur adult players from France who will be just about ending their season about the time we are there.  We may also be playing some of the same teams we saw in London.  They have a number of nice fields and ball parks that we will be sharing.  We will probably have some sort of after game beverages or party with the local teams. 

Our team will be made up of US players from various leagues and organizations.  The average age of our teams is usually in the mid-40's-50's.  We generally have players in their 30's through the 60's.  We'll be playing at least 6-7 games against local French and European teams. They are not sticklers about uniforms so we don't have matching uniforms so you are free to bring what ever uniforms you want.  We will be using metal bats. 

Transportation
You'll need to make your own airline reservations to and from Europe and all transfers to and from the airport.  We'll all meet up at the team hotel a couple of days before the first game in London.  We'll be making arrangements for a team bus occasionally to some venus but mostly we will be using the local metro system when applicable around London and Paris.  We'll be using the Chunnel to get from London to Paris.  Once in Paris we will also be using local transportation for various outings.  We will have a bus to take us to the games and maybe some tours.  Upon departure you'll be making your own transportation arrangements to the airport. 


Food
Breakfasts may be included with the rooms at the hotels in London.  These are usually a glorified continental breakfast in Europe, not like American breakfasts.  In Paris, at this point, I am planning that we would do our own breakfasts.  Reason being is that Paris is full of delightful bakeries everywhere.  One of my favorite things last year was to go to the local bakery every morning to sample their many scrumpious creations.

Lunches and dinners will be at your own expense at this point.  As the program develops more, some meals may be included at various events.  There may also be some dinner get together with the local teams.  Restaurants are generally in our hotels or within easy walking distance. 

The British are not known for their great food.  Their traditional meals consist of a lot of meat with a variety of vegetables and breads.  What they do have in Britain though is a lot of foreign restaurants, French, Indian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese etc. so we'll have plenty of choices.  We may also have an afternoon tea.
French Cuisine is famous the world round for it's excellent foods.  Each region has its own distinctive specialties.  In Paris and surrounding areas they are famous for lots of sauces using butter and cream.  Wine and cheese are an integral part of French cuisine.  For French people, cooking is a part of culture and they consider it a way of life.  That being said, when I was there last year there were more restaurants serving Italian food than French food.  You can't beat the French pastries though. 

There are four kinds of restaurants in Paris: gastronomic temples, brassieres, bistros and cafes de the.... Gastronomic temples are the starred restaurants, those rated by the Michelin Guides as being superior. These usually offer classic French cuisine, are very elegant and quite costly. 		 
 Brassieres are much more casual, usually open until late at night for the after theater crowd, serve numerous kinds of seafood, especially fresh oysters, and beer.

Bistros are neighborhood places that serve hearty food. They are unpretentious and tend to be "in" right now. Some three star chefs are opening bistros and although they are not cheap, they are less expensive than these chefs more formal establishments.

Cafes de.. offer another popular form of dining. These casual spots are good for sandwiches and salads at lunchtime or dessert and afternoon tea.

Other places that sell chocolates, teas, coffees, breads, wines, pastries and all forms of upscale food items are everywhere.

Some great foods can also be found in various small street stands, especially crepes.  These are good for breakfast, lunch, snacks or dinners.

Entertainment
While in London we'll spend some time after hours visiting some pubs and local night spots, probably around Picadilly Circus, with the teams and around the neighborhood.

Paris is a vibrant city full of neighborhoods and a whole variety of night life to satisfy any need.  Before we depart, we'll plan some evening activities or cultural events to attend.  There are plenty of restaurants, bars, discos, night clubs and other activities to keep you busy each day, Paris and London both rock!.  Moulin Rouge?
Sightseeing
We'll start the trip the first day you arrive.   After making your way to our hotel for check in, you'll have the afternoon to decompress or see some of the local sites on your own.  That evening we'll have a "get aquatinted" dinner at a local restaurant where you'll have a chance to meet the other team players.  

While in London we'll have a full day of touring that will include most of the must see and do sites.  These will include many, if not all of these: Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Picadilly Circus and a stop outside St. James's Palace, where have opportunity to observe the ceremonial changing of the guard. 

In Paris, we'll see all the major sites including the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre, Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame Cathedral, Palace of Versailles, have a boat cruise on the Sine, and more.  Paris is an easy city to get around in if you use the metro, which we will.  The days will be long as there is still light in the sky to late in the evening so we'll take advantage of it.  We'll also be there for Bastille Day on July 14 which will be an exciting event with lots of celebrations, lights and activities.

After the first couple of days of baseball, a typical day will consist of day time tours, lunches and evening dinners or day time tours with an evening game.  Each day will consist of tours to different places so you'll have lot's of opportunities to see all the major sites and surrounding areas. 




Accommodations
When you travel a long distance to a foreign land, you want a comfortable place to stay.  Hotels are expensive in the downtown area of London or Paris so we may be staying just out of the downtown area.  This will get us the best rooms for a reasonable rate.  We'll be staying in areas close to the metro system so it will be easy to get around to various parts of the cities.  We'll be staying in 3-4 star hotels.  All rooms will have private bathrooms, TV, direct dial phone etc.

Restaurants, bars, laundry facilities will be available at the hotels or very near by.  Keep in mind that European hotel rooms are very small compared to our American standards though not as small as Japanese rooms.  Generally small but adequate, clean with suitable amenities.

Requirements
This trip is for amateur baseball players.  Most our players are members of local amateur baseball leagues.  Ages ranging in the 30's through the 60's.  Wives, family members, kids or other tourists may also attend as this is a family friendly trip.  You will need a valid passport and visa.  We'll get into more detail on this as we get closer. 

All in all, between the baseball and the tours, this will be a very busy schedule that will give you a great experience and a chance to see the major tourist attractions of London and Paris.  We'll also have lots of opportunities for evenings out.  Some nights we'll go out as a group or you are welcome to go on your own.  We'll never have enough time to see and do all the things available around England and France but we will be at all the must see and do places.  I encourage you to consider possibly coming early and/or staying later so that you can take advantage of being there and see more things.  I personally may be spending a few days early traveling through Scotland down to London.  After Paris I may also travel through other parts of Brussels or Germany before returning home.  These are things to be considered as we get closer. 

Preliminary Outline of Schedule for 10-day tour, 9 nights
 
Day 1 
Wednesday
July 7

 Depart US
Lose a day
Day 2 
Thursday
July 8
Arrival at London - Heathrow International Airport
Transfer to Hotel on your own for decompression
Afternoon on your own
Evening Group Welcome Dinner with trip members
Hotel London
Day 3 
Friday
July 9
Breakfast at the Hotel
Morning Tours of London
Lunch on our own
Afternoon Tours of London
Dinner on our own
Hotel London
Day 4
Saturday
July 10
Breakfast at the Hotel
Transfer to ballpark for Game #1 & #2
Lunch at or near the fields on your own
Dinner at fields w/local teams or dinner on our own.
Transfer to Hotel
Hotel London
Day 5
Sunday
July 11
Breakfast at the Hotel
Transfer to ballpark for Game #3 & #4
Lunch at or near the fields on your own
Championship Game #5?
Transfer to Hotel
Dinner on our own
Hotel London
Day 6
Monday
July 12
Breakfast at the Hotel
Transfer to train station
Train to Paris
Transfer to Hotel
Lunch on our own
Afternoon Tours of Paris and the Eiffel Tower
Dinner on our own
Hotel Paris
Day 7
Tuesday
July 13		 Breakfast on our own
Morning tours of the Louvre Museum,
Lunch at local restaurant on your own
Afternoon tours of Paris, Notre Dame
Afternoon tours of Arch de Triumph
Champs de L'Essay
Dinner on our own
Evening Boat Ride on the Seine
Return to hotel
Hotel Paris
Day 8 
Wednesday
July 14
Bastille Day
Breakfast on your own
Free Day-Transfer to Champs de L'Essay
Bastille Day Celebrations
Lunch at local restaurant on your own
Afternoon tours of Paris and Celebrations on your own
Return to Hotel
Dinner on our own
Hotel Paris
Day 9
Thursday
July 15
Breakfast at the Hotel
Day trip to Versailles
Lunch at local restaurant on your own
 Return to Hotel
Dinner and Evening on the town on your own
Hotel Paris
Day 10
Friday
July 16
Breakfast at the Hotel
Morning tours of Paris
Lunch at local restaurant on your own
Afternoon tours of Paris
Return to hotel
 Transfer to ballpark for Game #5
Dinner and drinks with local team maybe
Transfer to hotel
Hotel Paris
Day 11
Saturday
July 17
Breakfast at the Hotel
Transfer to ballpark for Game #6
Lunch at local restaurant on your own
Return to Hotel
Afternoon on your own
Return to hotel
Group farewell dinner
Hotel Paris
Day 12
Sunday
July 18		 Breakfast at the Hotel
Transfer to airport on your own
Return back to US same day

Dates
July 8-18, 2010. 
We'll start the trip when you arrive on a Thrusday.  Most flights will arrive morning or early afternoon.  You will have the afternoon off for decompression and getting settle in as London is 6-9 hours ahead of the US.  In the evening, we'll have a welcoming dinner at the hotel or close by restaurant.  Official departure will also be on Sunday a week later.  You are, of course, welcome and encouraged to come earlier or stay later on your own.  I usually come a few days early or stay an extra day or so.  If you do, you'll be responsible for your own transportation,  accommodations, etc. during those times.

Cost
We need at least 14 players for this trip to happen, plus any additional non players making at total of at least 20 participants.  Costs will be worked out as we get closer to the trip.  Look for something in the $2000-$2500 range.  I don't know exactly what meals will be included as I am still working on this.  These costs will be based on staying at 3-4 star hotels in double occupancy.  If you want a room to yourself, add around $400-$500.

Airfare to and from Europe is not included.  Current prices from San Francisco are about $1100-$1600.  From New York about $600-$1300.  There are always deals around for those who look and things will change as we get closer.

Universal Currency #1
Currency Converter #2
Current Exchange Rates

As of 9/22/09:
1 GBP = 1.64 USD,  1 USD = .61 GBP
1 Euro =  1.48 USD, 1 USD = .68 GBP

If you would like more information on playing in London and Paris send an email to Dennis@DennisMc.com

Included is: 
  • Hotel accommodation for each night.
  • All local transport to scheduled activities via tour bus or metro.
  • Train ride from London to Paris
  • Admission to all scheduled tours. 
  • All Breakfasts at London hotel only
  • Some dinners or lunches maybe
  • All baseball costs (umpires, fields, etc.)
  • Translator at various scheduled tours if required
    		•
    		Not included is: 
  • Air fare or other transport costs to and from Paris/London
  • Non-scheduled trips (taxis, buses, trains etc.). 
  • Lunches and most dinners
  • Breakfasts in Paris
  • Each player to bring their own playing gear and uniform.
  • Each player to bring at least 6 baseballs
  • Insurance of any kind
  •  Visa, international travel, import or other similar costs
    		•

    Contact
    Dennis McCroskey, Baseball Adventures
    P.O. Box 707
    Mendocino, CA 95460
    707-937-4478
    Email: Dennis@DennisMc.com

    Sign Up
    To sign up for this trip you need to fill out the application form and send a $500 deposit for each participant.  The balance of funds will be due by May 15, 2010.  If for some reason, the trip does not happen, all deposits while still in my hands will be returned in full.  Once funds are paid to the travel agents any refunds are subject to their conditions or requirements.

    This trip is for amateur baseball players.  Wives, girl friends, family members or other tourists may also attend.  You will need a valid passport, a visa is not required.

    Roster
    We need a minimum of 14 players with a maximum of 15. 
    Roster  of Interested Participants
    Player  Oui ou No  Positions Status
    Dennis McCroskey
    Del Phillips
    Steve Fagin
    Mark Fess
    Cobe Haskell
    Rick Cantor
    David Charp
    Paul Perantinides
    Gary Cook
    Doug Yount
    Robert Levine
    Sid Rosenblatt
    Paul Raymond
    Mike Abbadessa
    Evan Haskell

         		Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Maybe
         		P,IF
    1B,OF,P
    2B,OF
    SS
    IF
    IF,OF,P
    IF,P
    IF
    OF
    IF,P
    OF
    2B,OF
    IF,OF
    OF,P
    P

         		Confirmed
    Confirmed
    Non Players
    		 Oui ou No Positions
    Corey Brown
    Ellen Fagin
    Donna Fess
    Sherry Haskell
    Zeejay Cantor
    Kimberly Cantor
    Gail Charp
    Mrs. Cook
    Chris Raymond
    Alex Raymond
    Janet Yount
    Nathan Yount
    Elaine Abundis
    Kathy Abbadessa
    Chad Abbadessa


         		Maybe
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Oui
    Maybe
    Maybe
    Maybe
    Maybe
    Maybe


         		Translator
    Waiting List
    		 Status Positions
    Jeff Breglio
    Lawton Dodd
    Susan Dodd
    Chardon Black
    		 Maybe
    Maybe
    Maybe
    Maybe
         		IF,P
    2B,OF


    Trafalgar Square


    Buckingham Palace


    Picadilly Circus


    Croydon Baseball Field


    Westminster Abby


    Tower Bridge


    Themes River Cruise



    Croydon Baseball FIeld



    Notre Dame Cathedral




    This is not our hotel



    Local Parks in Paris have modern fields



    l

    Many of the parks we'll play in Paris are relatively new  ball fields



    Palace of Versailles



    Arch de Triumph



    Moulin Rouge




    Charters Baseball Field, Paris





    Notre Dame Cathedral at Night








    My name is Bond, James Bond
    and I approve of this trip.










    You missed Italy last year and Cuba this year.  You missed  Panama , Dominican Republic , Tokyo , Costa Rica in the last few years. Planning is underway for 2010 which will include Paris. You are welcome to get on the waiting list for any of our trips. Once space or information becomes available, you'll be notified.  Look for more trips in the future to Scandinavia, South Africa, Singapore,  Korea, Philippines, Germany, or the British Isles. Where else would you like to go?  Hop on the band wagon and see the world.  Read what others say about these trips.

    Home Page | International Baseball | Greece |  Cuba  |  Paris | Australia | Japan | Prague/Vienna | China | Panama  |  Contact Us |
    ©2010 Baseball Adventures