While in Belgium, you may also consider staying in Veurne, which is very convenient to all of those places. It has a lovely town square and impressive town hall. I love Brugge, but as far as establishing a base, Veurne is less congested and touristy. I stayed at the Hotel-Restaurant Croonhof which can be found at http://www.culibel.be/Croonhof.htm. The hotel has a fine restaurant and there are several great places on the town square which serve more provincial grub. If you are an afficionado of Belgian beer, you will be very pleased! :-) Brugge is very beautiful as is Ghent and I realize you are also squeezing Amsterdam into this trip, but to go to Belgium and to miss the Ardennes is truly sad. It is so beautiful. If you, by chance, make it out that way, La Roche in Ardennes is a wonderful stop.

Perhaps I'm a sadist, but I just love the planning phase! My advice is Michelin, Michelin, Michelin! Both the red and green guides are helpful beyond measure. You can research attractions, restaurants and hotels and there are maps as well. I've never driven much in and around Paris, but generally, Belgium and France are very easy to navigate by car. Three out of the four times that I traveled to Europe, I flew into the Brussels airport and found it to be a very friendly and easy place to begin and end my trips. I traveled mostly by car with a few scattered day trips by train. This has always worked well for me. Upgrading to first class sounds great to me! It sounds like you and SWMBO are going to have a great trip!

Laura in Indianapolis