On 9/10/2024 10:18 PM, -hh wrote:
> 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
>
>
>
Must be bad karma. I have logged over 2000 commercial flight legs. Never
had baggage stolen or even lost. Damage? Yes. Delayed? Yes. Confiscated
by TSA? Yes. (A small Swiss knife and a few oversize toiletry items.)
Anything stolen from a bag? No.