<p>
[quote[It’s impractical to try to enjoy Europe on anything close to a timezone that’s 8 or 9 hours difference (west coast to Eu).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, obviously the larger the time difference, the harder it is to accomplish it. However, the OP mentioned that “Both flights are just over seven hours nonstop” … this leads me to believe that the difference would be around 6 hours.</p>
<p>In adjusting your body clock, I happen to believe that waking up at 5am (11am Europe Time) works a lot better than waking up midnight or 1 in the morning. And again, there are no reason why a day that starts “later” cannot be every bit as practical than one that starts when the roosters wake up. Is there anything magical about the early hours of the day? </p>
<p>The key is to minimize the impact of the jet lag; it is impossible to eliminate it entirely.</p>
<p>Again, that is why you want to stay close to your home cycles. It is much easier to fall asleep and enjoy a good night of sleep from 9pm to 4am US times than FORCING your body to sleep at 6pm and wake up just after midnight.</p>
<p>LOL! That is EXACTLY why you want your day to start … later! Europe is a lot more dinner than breakfast. Ever tried to make a reservation at 7PM in a restaurant in Madrid?</p>
<p>I would take the later flight, arrive at a time the hotel will be accessible for a refreshing shower, then stay on your feet until bedtime (cannot doze off when you are standing and walking). Go to bed 10 P.M. or so Paris time and take melatonin and/or Benadryl so you can sleep through the night. THe second day you should be fine. Do not eat the meal on the plane, or anything late afternoon before you go to airport…start eating on Paris times in terms of heaviness of meals a day or two early. Minimize caffeine the day you fly…that will help you sleep on the plane. Take a sleep mask or small dark towel to put over the top of your face. I would avoid alcohol on the flight…you will sleep better. Good luck and have a great time!</p>
<p>I can sleep anywhere. My H and D have trouble. I always adjusted to our flights back to Germany much faster because I was able to get a couple hours sleep on the plane. Take earplugs, neck pillow, eye patch – whatever it takes for you. (All I need is the neck pillow.) My D always stayed awake on the plane, then fell asleep as soon as we got home, then spent the next 2 weeks feeling miserable, trying to get readjusted. But we did try to insist that she not nap the first day there. We tried to not let her go to bed before 7 pm. If we were successful in keeping her awake the first day, she adjusted much sooner. We could usually count on a melt down on about day three, though.</p>
<p>For me, I wouldn’t have any trouble sleeping on either flight. Our planes usually left about 4 p.m. and arrived about 8 a.m. their time (2 a.m. body clock time). We’d get a meal on the plane about 6 p.m., and I’d fall asleep about 8 p.m. and get about 3 hours before they came around with breakfast. A two hour drive from the airport to home. Then a nice walk in daylight to prove to my body that it was daytime, and I was all set.</p>
<p>No matter which flight you take, since it will be an exciting time for you, I think you won’t have any trouble staying awake the first day. It just might make you a bit mentally slow, so make your plans ahead of time so you don’t have to do too much thinking. (By the time you retrieve your luggage, clear customs, get from the airport to your hotel, it will be much later in the morning. I think the hotel would probably be willing to keep your luggage for you, even if you can’t get to your room yet.)</p>
<p>I travel back to the UK at least once a year to visit my Mum and brother (3 times this year because my Mum has been sick). I always used to get the flight that arrived at 7a.m. which is 1a.m. my time. Drawbacks are that I am arriving at 1a.m. my time, I usually get no sleep on the flight, by the time I get through customs etc I am right in the middle of rush hour for traveling to my Mum’s house which is the other side of London so means traveling into London - not fun in the rush hour with luggage.</p>
<p>The last few times I have got the later flight that arrives at @ 10.30 a.m. London time/3.30 my time. I find I do manage to get some sleep. Arriving at 10.30 means I am not travelling into and through London in the middle of rush hour. If you are taking the train and/or underground through London (and I would think Paris) you do not want to to it with luggage in the rush hour. Not fun.</p>
<p>So my preference for when i go home is the later flight. However when I go home i am not sightseeing but sitting around chatting to my Mum an drinking gallons of tea. I usually have to take a nap around mid afternoon because my brain turns fuzzy but I limit it to 1-2 hours and I am usually fine for the rest of the trip.</p>
<p>Check with your hotel - it is likely they will let you leave your cases there until your room is available. They may also be able to arrange a pick up at the airport that may be cheaper than a regular taxi cab. The hotel we stayed at in Paris arranged our transportation to the airport when we were leaving.</p>
<p>I travel to Europe and Asia on business on average once a month and have been doing so for more than a decade - and I can say that it is not a myth - you CAN adjust to any time zone. </p>
<p>My technique is pretty simple. </p>
<p>1) The night before I travel I try to get as little sleep as possible - 3 - 4 hours max.
2) I also make sure to get in a good workout first thing in the morning before I get on the midday flight to wherever - basically I am trying to be as tired as possible.
3) I always get a window seat - that way no one is waking me up to get out to go to the bathroom - and people walking by on the aisle don’t bump me. If travelling with others then I try to find a 2 5 2 seating configuration (e.g. a 777) and then grab the 2 seats together.
4) I tell my seat partner and the flight attendant not to wake me for meals. I bring snacks and my own water bottle so that I can eat and drink when I want to.
5) I then try to get to sleep as fast as possible - and stay asleep as long as possible.
6) Upon arriving, I try to spend as much time outside as possible so as to get the sunlight and begin adjusting. Coffee during the day is a help.
7) I don’t ever take that nap - I find that is the worst thing I can do.
8) Dinner at 730-8:00 PM and then bed not earlier than 10PM.
9) I then will sleep again as long as possible - and will not get out of bed, turn on the tv, or turn on a light and read if I wake before 7AM. Just laying there bored will put me back to sleep.</p>
<p>The next day I am usually fully adjusted - but I make a point of never going to bed before 10 or after midnight so I stay on that time zone.</p>
<p>I always take the flight that arrives first thing in the morning. I find that eating three meals on the local clock helps with the adjustment - as does the full day outside.</p>
<p>If you are traveling out of high season see if you can get a seat with empty seats next to you. Some airlines let you go online and look at seating and you can see what is available and pick your seats. I have managed a row to myself a few times and being able to lie down to sleep is helpful to me.</p>
<p>I think a lot of this just depends on the person. I flew to London in March, and that is the only time I’ve ever not taken a nap at some point after arriving. I had a miserable day. I was extremely nauseated all day long. I had a headache and felt very “foggy.” I couldn’t really eat and just felt awful. </p>
<p>For me, the nap works (and as UCLA Dad observed, it’s not a four hour nap, usually about 1-1/2 hours). It may not be the best solution for anyone else.</p>
<p>So many opinions and so much good advice! Now we’re leaning toward the early flight to get in more time in Paris. I think we’re just going to have to accept the fact that we are going to be jet lagged any way we look at it. </p>
<p>There just seems to be so much to do (see my other thread) that I don’t know if we want to give up half a day.</p>
<p>I’ll agree with the people who say that it depends on how well you sleep on planes. I don’t sleep well on planes… Too busy making sure we stay in the air–if I stop worrying, I can’t be responsible for what might happen!</p>
<p>Anyway, I like to get in early, have a nice breakfast, go for a walk, then have a nap and another walk before dinner. The complete lack of sleep means this works well and shifts me about three time zones in one night. After that, I find I do about two time zones a night going east and one a night going west.</p>
<p>So my answer would be: it depends. Do you like to stay up late? Or get up early? Are you an owl or a lark? What do you want to do in Paris? Do you want fancy meals (take the later flight) or museums (take the earlier flight)?</p>
<p>I live in Europe and have for the past 6 years, it doesn’t matter what I do, I never sleep well on planes. I have found that taking a shower and resting for no more than 20-30 minutes is better than taking a long nap, that really messes me up. I think either way you go you will be a bit Zombie-fied that first day so if you arrive later you have less time to go till bedtime that night where you can get a good nights sleep and enjoy the rest of your vacation well rested. Enjoy your trip.</p>
<p>I’m always up the whole time when I fly and I don’t feel time zone differences anymore. I try to fly as close to a redeye as possible so that I’d be flying when I’m supposed to be sleeping and then be ready to go when I arrive. Go with the early flight-it’ll give you more time. If you desperately need to sleep, then take a benedryl before the flight. Take a nice hot relaxing shower when you arrive at the hotel and then go out for a pain au chocolat and a nice mug of coffee at a local caf</p>
<p>Futurenyustudent: Oh to be young again. For those of us who are a little older navigating across “14-17 time zones overnight” (? was that a typo?) Would certainly set some of us back—for at least a day!!!</p>
<p>No, that’s not a typo. GMT-5 to GMT+8 and I was up and running the minute I got off the plane. One time, GMT+8 to GMT-8 and again, up and running when I got off the plane. I find that people have more difficulty with going forward than backwards. :D</p>
<p>since I haven’t seen it suggested, you may want to contact your doctor and get a prescription for sleeping pills to take while in Paris (and when you return home). To me the hardest part of the time change is falling asleep; I’m tired during the day, then at nite can’t fall asleep because its daytime back home.</p>
<p>Personally I’d go for the later flight. If you take the earlier flight you’ll have trouble falling asleep on the plane at 6pm, you’ll be sleepy when you arrive in Paris at 7:30am (which is 1:30am back at home). And you can’t take a sleeping pill on the plane; a 7 hour flight isn’t really long enough and you would probably still be groggy when you arrive.</p>
<p>Well, we booked the earlier flight … one piece of advice that we got elsewhere was that if there are delays we could lose an entire day with the later flight. I’ll hope for the best and will let you know after the fact if we do take that nap!</p>
<p>There are 4 hour sleeping pills (brand name “Sonata”), for those who go to sleep but wake up in the middle of the night, but need more sleep. Those work well for a flight, too, but maybe not if you are trying to sleep so early (on your US body clock time) on the flight. </p>