London

Paris' Gare de Nord is an incredible space. The Eurostar took two hours and fifteen minutes to go from Paris to London and at St Pancras’ Station there is a one hour the line up for a photo set up at Platform 9-3/4. London’s black cabs now come in every colour, many with ads.  Our hotel is an 1860 townhouse divided like a rabbit warren and the original staircase remains absolutely gorgeous.  I pity the person who has to polish the brass banister! We use the wifi in what might have been a drawing room it has ceilings which are at least 12 ft. The hotel room is twice the size of the one in Parisand the bath is long enough to lie down in!  

Thursday was full of activities. The Paris hotel's version of a continental breakfast was croissants, breads, pastries, ham, cheese, scrambled eggs, fruit and cereals.  The London hotel's version is basically breads and cereal. This morning we walked to a Spanish Cafe where we sat in the sun and dug into grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, egg, toast and tea.  It was so good!  Then we headed off to the Tower of London for a tour by a humorous Beefeater Guard. Never mind the bling of the Crown Jewels; the workmanship on the swords of state and the armor in the White tower is jaw dropping. All of it was done by hand with tools we would regard as primitive.   

After our tour we walked over the Tower Bridge to Shakespeare's Globe and then to Fleet St.  We were so hungry by then we did not do the Globe tour; instead we had lunch at El Vino in Fleet St where I ate my annual treat of cheese.  A fabulous Ploughman’s Lunch of French bread, delicious picked onion, salad, and three different cheeses (an English blue, a French goat cheese and an old cheddar).  El Vino is so far the only bar where the barman has an English accent.  We think Toronto is multilingual and diversified. London is even more so. We rounded out our day with tickets in the top balcony for Les Miz which was very good.

On Friday we walked down Kensington Gardens Road, it is a real embassy row made up of beautiful old stately houses.  No photos allowed and police are set up at both ends as well as the middle. Then we went for a quick tour of Kensington Palace state apts, which were interesting. A display of dresses really brought home how tiny Queen Victoria was and how tall Diana of Wales was.  We had tea in the garden; unfortunately the Orangery was booked for a private function.  It looked like a gorgeous building so that was a shame.  Then we walked through the park watching people lying on the grass, walking babies, and groups of children's birthday parties just like at the Palais Royale gardens in Paris.

Paris

One of our customers has shared their travel experiences in Paris

The evening we arrived we ate our first proper French meal at Vaudeville which is all marble and mirrors. The tables have has to be pulled out then be pushed back in, in order to get to the banquette because they are only an inch apart. My travel companion had steamed cod with potatoes puréed with semi salted butter and I had Norwegian salmon with black rice done in a thin broth. Sublime...absolutely sublime. I have never eaten a meal so slowly and savoured every bite.

Yesterday morning we walked through half empty streets where shops were preparing for Saturday shopping: strawberries from Belgium, French raspberries, the fishmongers was a feast for the eyes and boxes of 5 cheeses were 9 € a box.  People were sitting with their cafe aux lait and croissants.  There was a long line-up at Notre Dame so we went back to St Chapelle, which we had walked straight past.  It is a 13th century chapel...incredibly beautiful, we spent a long time there.  We had a lunch of lukewarm frites and a large sandwich that would have fed me for a week and took forever to eat. The food here is incredible! Last night we went to a tearoom and enjoyed black tea fragrant with rhubarb and wild cherries with lemon cake soaked in lemon syrup. After a long walk and we found the Palais Royal arcades and gardens, a child's birthday party was going on and people were just sitting and reading.

On our third day in Paris it looked like rain so we took the early train to Versailles where we could use our Musee pass to avoid the ticket line up and be inside.  Ha!  The security line is outside.  Every tourist in Paris had the same idea...it looks like rain, let's go to Versailles!  They are doing the original gold coloured trim on the roof.  Unbelievable.  Back in Paris we toured the  the Musee Orangery with its fabulous Monet panels and then walked through  the Tuileries Gardens in the rain. Loved it!

On our last day in Paris we went to the Louvre and spent twenty minutes

in the glass pyramid and then to the Sully Gallery. Many of the walls in the museum are covered with coloured marble and the ceilings are beautiful. We checked out the shops in the afternoon. 

Cancellation Insurance

Clients have the option of purchasing several types of travel insurance. Cancellation coverage is frequently misunderstood by travelers. Personally I seldom purchase the warranty offered with a item however in travel it differs because the amounts risked are far higher than the price paid for your ticket. An illness as minor as an ear infection can ground you from flying and leave you stranded in a foreign country. Most excursion fares are non refundable/non changeable ticket and hold no value for getting home. Many times passengers pay full fare tickets at inflated prices to return.

A cancellation insurance policy can hedge the restrictive terms that a travel contract dictates and provide protection from a variety of unexpected events. 

Travel Tips for The Amalfi Coast, Italy

"The pace of things in the Almalfi Coast is relatively relaxed. Bus services are infrequent but locals are calm about waiting for pickups and drop offs. This might be because the streets are so steep and ascents involve frequent pauses just to catch your breath. Staying in a villa was a good choice for us and we spent a lot of time on our Terrace enjoying the view. Internet service is often available but extremely slow so it was beneficial to pre purchase a data plan."

"Two historic sites that we visited included Pompei (we felt it was worth the extra expense for a personal guide) and Sorrento (which requires two days to explore). It was interesting to see local travelling by scooter with their cats or dogs riding comfortably as passengers."

Tailoring a trip to your interests

Trips compose of more value than just getting on a plane and staying in a hotel room. There is a value to the memories created and the excitement of an adventure to someplace new. Researching the activities available in your destination can greatly enhance the enjoyment of your trip. Most people start with the library but events guides and podcasts as well as downloadable travel applications are great ways to prepare for a journey.

Personally I have pre arranged show tickets, bicycle rentals and running tours prior to arrival and that groundwork has enabled me to explore a destination and meet people who share my interests. 

Touring Rome

We really liked the location of our hotel in Rome; it was located close to Termini Rail Station.even though the hotel was very small the staff were knowledgeable and focused upon enhancing our enjoyment of the city. Occasionally demonstrations occur in Rome that can disrupt traffic to parts of the city. The receptionist at our hotel was very good about advising us which areas of the city should be avoided on a specific day. She also recommended that we carry a photocopy of our passports while walking through Rome: it was conceivable that police might ask us for identification and that we could have to prove that we were tourists rather than demonstrators.  

New York Hotel

A client of mine has just returned from New York

Hi John,
     The staff members at our hotel were fantastic. New Yorkers have a stereotype of being impersonal  however I was travelling with my grandson and every day the doorman greeted him by name as did the concierge. The hotel room had limited storage space but there was an interesting partial wall between the two beds which gave each of us some privacy. Eating at the property was expensive but down the street was a well priced restaurant "Cafe Un, Deux, Trios" which is owned by french Canadians.