On 9/30/24 2:00 PM, Tom Elam wrote:
> On 9/6/2024 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.
>>
>>
>> -hh
>>
>>
>
> The case arrived Saturday. It was shipped by a local wine merchant. I'm
> guessing the vineyard/store owner just put the case together and paid a
> friend who does this more often to send it via FedEx. It was clearly
> labeled as wine, but I did not get an itemized receipt.
>
> That shop's Riesling is incredible. Smooth and with a pleasing mineral
> finish. Great with seafood.
>

There's a lot of quite pleasant Rieslings out there. Because they're
also a young wine, they're rarely expensive (often "close to downright
cheap") until you start to look for Spatlese & Auslese variants.

FYI, for a dessert Riesling, instead an Eiswein, consider trying the
often obscure and slightly less super-sweet Beerenauslese. Some folks
find the Eiswein to be too sweet, so this a good alternative, plus
they're less expensive from the same vintner. Can be hard to find in
the USA, though.

-hh