Tom Elam <thomas.e.elam@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 9/7/2024 9:13 AM, -hh wrote:
>> On 9/6/24 1:07 PM, -hh wrote:
>>> On 9/6/24 11:12 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>> On 9/1/2024 10:27 AM, -hh wrote:
>>>>> On 8/31/24 5:13 PM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>> On 8/30/2024 9:38 AM, -hh wrote:
>>>>>>> On 8/30/24 9:15 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>>> To sum it up, fun but not as much as we thought it might be.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> That happens.  On our own last trans-Atlantic outing, we both
>>>>>>> caught some sort of not-CoVid bug around ten days in, which was
>>>>>>> unpleasant.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Arriving Paris on time we elected to take a taxi to the hotel.
>>>>>>>> Given it was 4 of us the taxi was not that much more than the
>>>>>>>> train/Metro and a lot less hassle. The hotel transfer was on us
>>>>>>>> as we arrived several days before the Viking tour started.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Price break on four makes it worth doing AFAIC, even before
>>>>>>> considering your later comment about your travel companion's lower
>>>>>>> physical shape.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Took our friends to see some museums, the tower level 3, other
>>>>>>>> spots, and had some incredible meals. However, the friends are
>>>>>>>> not in the best physical shape and that limited our options. We
>>>>>>>> traveled by Metro, Uber, taxi and RATP. They were fascinated by
>>>>>>>> the Notre Dame crypt, Montmarte and Musee D'Orsay.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I've really enjoyed the Orsay; its also a nice place to plan
>>>>>>> taking a lunch break, in the cafe that's "inside" of the clock face.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The tower experience was slightly compromised by rain and poor
>>>>>>>> visibility, but at that point we had no other options for another
>>>>>>>> day. The just-concluded Olympic games had a few streets closed
>>>>>>>> and the Champ de Mars still occupied by venues and blocked off.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Leaving Paris by Viking bus via the Luxembourg American cemetery
>>>>>>>> we arrived the Viking ship at Trier. Spent a week+ on board,
>>>>>>>> visited some Moselle/Rhine River towns in Germany and France. A
>>>>>>>> WWII buff, I was amazed the the Allies ever made it across the
>>>>>>>> part of Moselle valley we saw.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I learned awhile back that my father did one of those Mosel
>>>>>>> crossings, somewhat proximate to the town of Zell, if I recall
>>>>>>> correctly.  I understand that the river looks somewhat different
>>>>>>> today, as the dam system for ship navigation has changed over the
>>>>>>> decades (less current; possibly slightly higher average water
>>>>>>> levels too).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Viking's U.S. marketing portrays the company's river cruises as
>>>>>>>> exceptional. In our experience with prior European river cruises
>>>>>>>> they are not. The ship needed some cosmetic refurb, on day 1 a
>>>>>>>> "technical issue" delay caused us to miss our first stop, and the
>>>>>>>> food and crew service was very good, but not great. We also had a
>>>>>>>> few tour guides that did not speak great English. My wife had to
>>>>>>>> assist one with translating the excellent French of a local
>>>>>>>> vineyard owner.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I don't recall the details why we skipped using Viking in EU, but
>>>>>>> we've had good success with Uniworld and AMA Waterways.  One
>>>>>>> trade- off for comparing these two is that Uniworld had free DIY
>>>>>>> laundry onboard (helps lighten the bags) but AMA had better wines
>>>>>>> & wine stewards at dinner.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On the other hand we had a medical emergency that led to an
>>>>>>>> unplanned stop. It was handled well and did not cause any issues
>>>>>>>> for the schedule.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Arriving Basel we did the ship's included city tour that was very
>>>>>>>> well done. That afternoon we departed for Zurich, toured that
>>>>>>>> city center for a day and a half by tram with a lake boat ride
>>>>>>>> thrown in, and had a great meal on the last evening. Jolly good fun.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> There's a traditional swiss restaurant that I'd like to get back
>>>>>>> to in Zurich, IIRC, not far from the Fraümunster: a good spot for
>>>>>>> Rösti.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Had a bit of a tram experience. The hotel was a few miles west of
>>>>>>>> the lake and city center. Departing the hotel on line 4 for our
>>>>>>>> dinner the tram stopped after about 10 minutes and it was
>>>>>>>> announced that there had been an accident ahead involving a tram
>>>>>>>> and car. Line 4 was being delayed and diverted. Almost all the
>>>>>>>> passengers left the tram. Two young locals offered to show us how
>>>>>>>> to get to our destination. We followed their instructions and
>>>>>>>> arrived via a different route with minimal delay. Could have
>>>>>>>> figured that out ourselves but their assistance was very helpful.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Things like that happen.  Fortunately, you weren't time-stressed
>>>>>>> such as heading to the airport for a departure flight.  Have had
>>>>>>> that happen with a train issue in Belgium.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Flights back through Philly were both on time. Got to experience
>>>>>>>> the 787 for the first time too.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> IIRC, the 787's Polaris is a bit more roomy than on their 757
>>>>>>> version.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Next year? I'm voting for 2 weeks in southern/western France via
>>>>>>>> rental car. The wife has veto power but there is a still lot we
>>>>>>>> have not seen. And Hugh, I checked with National. My age is not
>>>>>>>> an issue for them.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Been meaning to get around to a "drive around" in FR as well:
>>>>>>> several different directions though (Normandy, Mont-Saint-Miche,
>>>>>>> Bordeaux, Chateaus, etc).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Plus one probably unknown to Americans sight is the city of
>>>>>>> Bourges, as there's a huge cathedral there that gets compared to
>>>>>>> Notre Dame (but without crowds), plus an evening walk through its
>>>>>>> old timbered houses section is nice: tastefully lit.  A single
>>>>>>> overnight is adequate; figure it as 3.5+hrs (175mi) drive due
>>>>>>> south of Paris.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> And on the rental car, the important thing here is that the risk
>>>>>>> of age restrictions is now on your checklist to verify in advance,
>>>>>>> instead of getting blindsided at the last minute by it.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -hh
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We ate in that same D'Orsey restaurant. Much nicer than the small
>>>>>> snack bar on the ground floor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I think the onboard AMA experience is every bit as good as Viking.
>>>>>> But their excursions are better and the cabins a bit larger. My
>>>>>> take is that Viking has become so big that with multiple ships in a
>>>>>> port as seemed to happen frequently they have issues with smaller
>>>>>> places some of the AMA excursions we liked. Example - the small
>>>>>> music museum at Rudesheim. I also remember that the guides were
>>>>>> better and we had more free time in port.
>>>>>
>>>>> FWIW, some of this also depends on which river you're on, as the
>>>>> ships on the Rhine have grown in size which limits where they can dock.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> I just today watched a YouTube on touring France that may change my
>>>>>> mind a bit about next year.
>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RdNGT1jz8
>>>>>
>>>>> [rearraging]
>>>>>
>>>>>> We have done 2 weeks in Normandy/Brittany and about the same in
>>>>> Paris
>>>>>> plus 2 trips that took us to the south coast. Time to branch out.
>>>>>> Massif Central, Loire Valley and Alsace are high on my list.
>>>>>
>>>>> Yes, there's a huge number of regions in France that US tourists are
>>>>> utterly unaware of.  There's some pretty wild scenery/canyons
>>>>> someplace that I can't recall at the moment.  I think I could easily
>>>>> do 5-6 trips, not too much unlike we've already done in Germany.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Taking the TGV to a city then renting the car if you need it could
>>>>>> be a lot of fun, even if a bit more expensive. Thoughts?
>>>>>
>>>>> We used the TGV to go from Paris (Gare de l’Est) to
>>>>> Colmar/Strasbourg (near the Rhine) in 2022:  it was straightforward,
>>>>> pretty easy, and quite fast city to city:  Strasbourg's just 1:45.
>>>>> I've also used the Brussels to Paris "Thales" express too; IIRC, its
>>>>> just ~90 minutes or so as well.
>>>>>
>>>>> For Colmar, the train station's not super-central, so it was an easy
>>>>> 4-5 block walk pulling our bags.  Once there, there was one day
>>>>> where it would have been good to have had a car, but it was also
>>>>> good to not have to worry about parking a car the rest of the time.
>>>>> The 'car day' was a trip out of Colmar to an outlying village of
>>>>> Eguisheim, which is known for the Church of Saint Peter and Saint
>>>>> Paul (a 13C chapel) and several Alsatian wine producers, as the
>>>>> shuttlebus the city offered was over capacity & ran too
>>>>> infrequently.  But it is just as well though, as many of the
>>>>> Eguisheim visitors were loading up their cars with cases of wines to
>>>>> drive home; carting away a lot isn't really an option when flying.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -hh
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> You should have gone to this gem too: https://riquewihr.fr/fr/ or
>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riquewihr
>>>>
>>>> Just 7 miles east of Colmar. Very small and great wines. I just
>>>> ordered a case of Riesling from a small winery we know there.
>>>> Shipping was a lot more than the wine!
>>>
>>> Riquewihr is similar and was the either/or choice, as we also visited
>>> Srasbourg too.
>>>
>>> There's a lot of such small towns w/wineries in the Alsace region; I
>>> think we have a Karen Brown guidebook which has a couple of
>>> self-driving routes that's on the "to do" list .. my basic conclusion
>>> is that if one wants to get to such small villages, it is better done
>>> with a rental car than by mass transit as we had done.
>>
>>
>> Forgot to mention that I've looked into the "ship some home" too.
>>
>> The problem I ran into are that State regulations on shipping of alcohol
>> vary, and NJ is a "nope!" state.
>>
>> For hand-carrying, the last time that I can recall packing some 750ml
>> wine bottles into checked baggage was from Budapest, and their security
>> folk (at least I hope it was them!) either didn't have TSA keys, or
>> didn't care:  they just cut all the locks off.
>>
>>
>> -hh
>>
>>
>>
> Indiana is OK since about 5 years back. We carry wine home in checked
> bags from Europe every trip, never had an issue. The record is 7 bottles
> spread across 3 check bags. We do not lock our bags. You just reminded
> me why. Those are flimsy locks that do no real good.

I view such locks simply as tamper detection devices. We’ve had our bags
ruffled & damaged a few times by probable thieves…think the last one was
outbound to Scandinavia?

Also had a vendor some years back get his big aluminum case broken into
while in domestic commercial airline transport , which triggered an FBI
investigation, for it was transferring a Caliber .50 machine gun.

-hh