I spent a little bit of time today looking at travel possibilities — got my passport photos (cripes, they look terrible) and visited a bit with a travel agent and some websites.
The prices crept up even as I looked at hotels.com and expedia.com, over the course of an hour the costs went up $300 or so. I’d better act fast, eh?
I guess you have to pick and choose what you must have: for me, it’s a decent 3-star hotel that’s not run down or dirty as well as a non-stop flight — I can’t stand the thought of 11 hours in the air in a tiny seat along with who knows how many hours in airports.
I just can’t decide what the itinerary should be. I’ve pretty much got my heart set on London for at least 6 days, but I can’t decide if I truly want to go to Paris as well, or for how long. At this point I’m looking at London from May 18-24, then Paris from the 24th through the 27th, then home. Adding Paris to the mix really doesn’t seem to make a big difference in price, it’s only a couple hundred more.
What I wonder is how comfortable I’ll feel in Paris, where Americans are probably not in demand and where I won’t speak the language.
After reading Helene Hanff’s charming portrait of London in The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, I’ve got my heart set on the Russell Hotel in Bloomsbury, close to the British Museum. But as for Paris, I’ve got no idea. I know nothing about that city nor where a good spot to stay might be.
Have you been to London and Paris? What do you think?
Gene, I’ve never been to London or Paris– but I’ll tell you a wonderful place to go:
Ireland! Have you ever gone there? I fell in love with this ancestral home of mine. I went in 1995, and long to go back to the green, green hills, with the mist rolling down and the sheep grazing. It’s very idyllic there, and the people cannot be beat. If you stay in the southern part of Ireland (the Republic), you’ll have the time of your life. Everyone goes to Dublin; instead of northern Ireland, why don’t you think about going to Waterford and driving the Ring of Kerry and going to Galway City and Killarney and Sneem And Gort and I can go onandonandon……..
You can have your travel agent arrange a bed and breakfast self-drive vacation. But remember that the driving is on the left side of the road and the steering wheels are on the right side of the car.
Just a suggestion.
Really, I’ve never been to Paris and have only one reason to go: to see the famous painting by David of Napoleon crowning Josephine.