On 9/30/24 5:48 PM, Alan wrote:
> On 2024-09-30 14:19, -hh wrote:
>> 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.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> 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.
>
> On the subject of dessert wines, if you haven't had the opportunity yet,
> go mad and buy a bottle of Chateau D'Yquem some time. I've had the
> chance to enjoy it two or three times in my life and there is a bottle
> in my refrigerator waiting for the right occasion to enjoy it again.
>
> Very sweet, but also amazingly complex.

I've enjoyed a few Sauternes here or there; I'll have to keep an eye out
for Chateau D'Yquem.

Of course, on this subject, there's also fruit infused Belgian Lambic's
too, which functionally are "dessert beers" (unlike traditional "wild"
yeast Lambic's): I've found that the Kriek (cherry) and the Framboise
(raspberry) will pair nicely with cheesecake. In the USA, the main
brand one will find is Lindemans ...figure $15 for a 750ml but I have
found tiny 5oz? fourpacks for sale too, which is a nice size.

FWIW, I'm still on the lookout for a coconut Lambic...but I don't know
if that was a sweettooth or a traditional "wild".

-hh