London
I love London. Sure, it's partly the safety of no language barrier - but it's just such a fun place to explore. There were zillions of places we didn't get to but we hit the hot spots. J. did a Rock 'n Roll bus tour one afternoon and I rode the Hop On/Hop Off bus back towards our hotel - fully expecting to get off and shop at Harrod's or something - but it took absolutely forever to get to/from in heavy traffic so I just chilled and enjoyed relaxing on the bus. I enjoyed the rides a lot - appreciated routes that hit the highlights of touristy areas.
Our hotel was in a really nice area and I enjoyed wandering the neighborhood looking for places to eat. There was a really great Italian restaurant around the corner from our hotel and the food was great! We also easily found a laundromat and J. did laundry one night.
We appreciated the hotel's 'American' buffet breakfast every day. The only complaint was the bacon wasn't traditional bacon - it was 'back bacon' - chunky bits vs. slices. Still, we were grateful to start the day with fresh coffee and plenty of food. We were pretty early risers (considering we were on vacation) and did our best to beat the crowd. The hotel hosted not only a lot of airline staff but also a lot of student groups. It was crazy busy every morning as we gathered for breakfast.
My favorite thing was our visit to the National Gallery where we saw two Sunflower paintings side by side by Vincent Van Gogh. One of the paintings is always on exhibit there and the second was on loan from a museum in Amsterdam. I loved this unexpected treat - I love his work - and it was so neat to see them together.
I was sad to leave but the train ride to Paris was really fun - it was everything Bay Area Rapid Transport (BART) isn't. Clean, quiet, fast and felt like we were riding on air. Even under the channel went buy so quickly, I barely noticed. I ventured out of our car into the refreshment car and had no trouble managing opening and closing doors between trains. It was a lovely ride - only about 30 minutes underground - the rest were beautiful views of English and French countrysides.
Paris
Our stay in Paris was lovely - and it is the first place we plan to return. There was so much to see and do and the 2.5 days we had there wasn't nearly enough. It's a little hard to 'rave' about Paris because of all the places we stayed, our Parisian hotel was our least favorite.
I am a hotel snob. I admit it. I don't do Motel 6 or other 'budget' hotels. I don't require The Ritz - oh, I'd love The Ritz but it's not in our budget. I like clean, well-maintained rooms that I feel comfortable in.
The hotel in Paris was 100's of years old. I'm sure in it's prime, it was a lovely place. The entire time we were there, I pictured the scenes in "Gigi" (which completely coincidentally I had watched from beginning to end one Saturday - first time I'd ever watched it all the way through) - the very Parisian 'parlors'.
Our entire room was covered in Toille. Every surface - windows, headboard (which was really gross. There's no way to clean fabric adequately and one hundred years of grime was on that headboard), light covers - were covered in the same fabric.
This wasn't our room - it's from the hotel website - but it is the fabric. I think every room had the same fabric.
Even J. noticed the place smelled like disinfectant - like every effort was made to eradicate the grime but it really wasn't possible. The tops of the drapes and the liners were all covered in thick dust.
It just wasn't great. As we drifted off to sleep the first night, I said 'I want to move to a new hotel tomorrow'. J. - very smartly - said nothing. And in the morning, it was OK. We had a nice breakfast in the hotel's 'parlor'. (Part of our tour included breakfast at every hotel) - so Eugenie had created a small eating area. Not as extensive as the Holiday Inn of London - but great croissants; yogurt; cheese and meat; cereal; hard boiled eggs; fruit; good coffee; juice.
We were out and about more than not so I realized that while this wasn't a great place to stay, I wasn't hanging around in the room long enough to make it matter...so we stayed. It was fine. The staff wasn't overly warm and welcoming - but they were OK.
We went to Versailles for most of a day and it was beautiful. We want to go back when we have more time to just sit and take it in. We did a very quick walk just outside the back of the castle to get a feel for the gardens but you could spend an entire day wandering around them and still never see it all. We really got a feel for the 'excess' of the times - no wonder they were beheaded during the Revolution 'cuz holy cow, they were living in such incredible excess and luxury. Fascinating and I think both J. and I want to read up on the history before our return and then spend an entire day there.
In Paris, we really learned to use public transportation. We didn't have to do that in London much 'cuz our Hop On/Hop Off bus tour line was very extensive. London had five lines - we traveled on three. Paris' HOHO bus had one. It got you to all the big sites and was a great way to get around - but it didn't come anywhere near our hotel. So we learned to ride the buses. I loved Paris buses. The routes are all on the wall of each bus (like BART) so you know where you are and where you're going. They say what the current stop is on a lighted board and then show the next stop as well. It was very easy to navigate and we became pretty good at making our way where we wanted to go.
The traffic circles in Paris were insane. I've never seen anything like them. They are HUGE - six to eight lanes wide - but get this: there are no lane markings. Maybe I loved the buses so much 'cuz they were huge - and you just had to basically get into the circle and make your way - crossing multiple lanes with cars zooming around. The only 'saving grace' was that the cars all go in the same direction - but there are lanes coming into the circle from every direction. It was madness - and I still don't know how the drivers navigate those things. There must be 'laws' about yielding, etc. - but it sure didn't look like anything other than chaos. And we had to cross at least one circle - and often two - to get anywhere we wanted to go.
The highlight of Paris for me was the Van Gogh exhibit we say at the D'Orsay museum. We were so incredibly lucky that this special exhibit opened the day we visited the museum. The exhibit was a story of Van Gogh's life and his madness as told by Atraud - who also spent much time in mental institutions. The premise of the exhibit was that Van Gogh's madness was really impacted by society - by society's failing to embrace his idiosyncrasies and talent. It was fascinating. All of his most well known paintings were there - and after seeing so many amazing works of art that I'd only seen in books up close and in person, I was absolutely floored to turn a corner into another room and see Starry Night. I cried. It was so beautiful. One of the most amazing things about the exhibit was the paintings being so easy to see. Not behind any glass or protection of any kind and we could get close enough to see the texture of the paint on the canvas.
That exhibit and many more were reasons a-plenty I wished we had more time in Paris. OH and we had the absolute greatest meal EVER in Paris - lunch on our last day - and in getting to/from that lunch, we found the quintessential Paris 'district' - cobblestone streets, no cars allowed - with a butcher and a cheese shop; bread shop; bakery. It was wonderful! But it was our very last day.
So we will return there in March, 2015, and celebrate our 25th anniversary by putting a lock on The Lock Bridge. Something we intended to do but ran out of time. And forgot the lock in our luggage. J. offered to buy a lock from a street vendor but we decided 'no, let's wait and we'll do it next year when we come back'.
ROME
When I traveled to Europe at sixteen, Rome was my all time favorite place. I remember being amazed with the mixture of current day life among historical life. We saw that this trip, too - a block of houses and business and suddenly, a huge stone mausoleum from 1000's of years ago. It is an amazing place.
Once again, we used public transportation and felt confident - at least reasonably confident. The Termini was the central bus station so all buses end up there eventually - which provided a fair amount of security in that if you messed up and ended up somewhere you didn't intend to go, you could just stay on the bus and end up at Termini. Which after three days of buses felt safe and familiar. The bus routes weren't marked as well as Paris - no stop signs or placards inside with route info....but we knew to watch for the bus numbers near our hotel and we figured it out pretty well. And we had our trusty HOHO tour as well - though only one route. Things in Rome are pretty spread out but one route got us to most places.
I did end up at the Olympic Village from the 1960 Olympics. The buildings are largely housing now with some libraries and business scattered in. I must have missed stop near our hotel so I kept riding....and then figured 'well, if I end up at Termini, I'll just try again'...but we finally stopped at the stop near our hotel so I made it. I walked a couple blocks in the wrong direction - but figured out where I should have gone. Not too bad....considering no navigation system assistance available.
Our big excursion was to the Vatican museum. Bus got us there and then we had to walk a really, REALLY long way to the museum entrance. We stopped in a little cafe for a bathroom stop (we were warned in our guide books there weren't many bathrooms available) and because I felt guilty, we ordered two Cokes and a palm leaf (pastry). The check was $22 Euros - a ridiculous amount for what we ordered but oh well. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
The walk to the museum almost did me in - somewhat uphill and so, so long. We made it.
I'm just going to toss this out there up front: I was very disappointed in the experience. Maybe my expectations were off - they must have been, right? - but it was just so crowded. Room after room of feeling like a sardine. Not my idea of fun at all. I don't like crowds. I don't mind them when there's space but when it's just like a mosh pit of a concert, I don't like it at all. And that's what it was like. Even the Sistine Chapel was impossible - 100's of people in a packed room all looking up - it was hot, crowded, not at all inspiring.
J. wanted to go to St. Peter's and I really was 'done' at that point - so I took the bus back towards our hotel and he headed to St. Peter's which amazingly wasn't crowded and he said I would have loved...so we'll have to do that next time.
The rest of Rome is a blur to me. I saw everything I wanted to see but I didn't get out and hike with J. everywhere. I just wasn't into it - crowds are just not my thing.
We enjoyed our hotel except for slow-ish Internet. It was lovely and in a nice area and our room (though small) was comfortable. Very IKEA like in furnishings. We discovered wonderful restaurants near our hotel - as well as a wonderful sandwich shop which had partnered with a lovely candy/pastry maker - delicious lunches and treats a block away! They had a display in the window for Easter - lots of bunnies and stuff - which really helped riding buses 'cuz I could get my bearings when I saw that window.
We also finally got H. set up to Skype with us in Rome - we had missed seeing him so much and had to cajole and beg and plead with him to set up Skype on his iPad. We Skyped with B. all the time (and most Sundays, we Skype with him) but couldn't get H. to get connected. We wore him down and he missed us.
OVERALL
We definitely will always try to upgrade to the 'more legroom' seats - well worth the price for the comfort they provide and for early boarding. We were shocked and really pleased to be served true 'hot meals' on all our flights - didn't have to purchase snacks at all. Also beverage services including any liquor free of charge. LOVED Delta (where have you been all my life, you great airline??) and loved KLM also. Appreciated all the 'in seat' entertainment that passed the time - watched plenty of movies and TV and managed to get comfy enough to sleep a bit on the way home.
We had a wonderful time - and we reminded ourselves that we are a good team. My husband is patient and kind - and most importantly he lets me, be me. He didn't begrudge me passing on certain things if I wasn't interested and at the same time, I didn't mind that he did his own thing. We are a good travel team - we compliment each other well.
We can't wait to go back and as soon as April is over and the airlines open up March, 2015, we will be making reservations for 10-12 nights in Paris.
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