Airline/Hotel Loyalty Programs

[Pelado]

Skip Tuscany. There are NO places to rent there.

That may have been the case for New Yorkers in the 90s. I'm hoping it's not true anymore.

[Northwestcoug]

That place looks great.

I had been thinking of either staying a couple nights in Florence and then switching to an agriturismo location in the countryside, or going directly to an agriturismo and doing day trips to everything - including Florence. Staying for at least a couple days in Florence makes it easier to see everything in Florence. Staying in the countryside reduces the time and effort dedicated to switching locations. So many decisions!

How many days did you go into Florence on each trip?

I believe the first time we drove in 2 days. It’s 20 miles south of Florence. There was a parking area just across a river that we parked at. A little annoying, but I don’t recall it being too long of a walk. The second time we stayed in both the villa and Florence. That time Florence was 3 days since I was attending a conference.

oh yeah one more thing to see in Florence: Ponte Vecchio. Cool medieval bridge that survived WWII bombing.

[Jeff Lebowski]

You only need to spend 1/2 day in Pisa. You can take a train from Florence.

You should both the Academia an Uffizi museums. You can do the Academia in hour or so, but the Uffizi takes longer. If you go to Florence you have to see the David.

[Green Monstah]

I’m biased towards France, obviously, but I’d highly recommend it. I’d also highly recommend spending two days in Normandy if you have any interest at all in WW2 history, and I mean any interest at all.

You could spend a month in Paris and not see everything. But you can also see the highlights in two full days, three days if you add in a day in Versailles.

Mount Ste-Michel is near Normandy and is worth a day trip, IMO.

[Pelado]

Mount Ste-Michel is near in Normandy and is worth a day trip, IMO.

Fify

[Bo Diddley]

Fify

It might even be worth an overnight!

[Pelado]

It might even be worth an overnight!

Thinking to make that happen.

[Green Monstah]

Fify

Cool. I wasn’t sure, because the border with the neighboring region is within a stone’s throw.

[Pelado]

Cool. I wasn’t sure, because the border with the neighboring region is within a stone’s throw.

Yeah, I wouldn't have had any idea except for having watched the Rick Steves episode covering Normandy and Mont Saint-Michel. He mentioned that the river that forms the boundary between Normandy and Brittany has shifted, resulting in Mont Saint-Michel being (just barely) part of Normandy. The river used to flow on the other side of the island, putting it in Brittany.

Edit: here's the relevant segment:

[Moliere]

Yeah, I wouldn't have had any idea except for having watched the Rick Steves episode covering Normandy and Mont Saint-Michel. He mentioned that the river that forms the boundary between Normandy and Brittany has shifted, resulting in Mont Saint-Michel being (just barely) part of Normandy. The river used to flow on the other side of the island, putting it in Brittany.

Edit: here's the relevant segment:

I knew all of that without seeing the Rick Steve’s video

[Pelado]

I knew all of that without seeing the Rick Steve’s video

Figures.

When you visit Normandy, where do you typically stay?

What about for Paris? Any places to avoid?

[Green Monstah]

Figures.

When you visit Normandy, where do you typically stay?

What about for Paris? Any places to avoid?

I’ve had good luck with AIRBNB’s in Paris. You’re close to the Metro wherever you’re at. But if you’re there in the summer, I’d probably try for a hotel with climate control.

[Moliere]

I’ve had good luck with AIRBNB’s in Paris. You’re close to the Metro wherever you’re at. But if you’re there in the summer, I’d probably try for a hotel with climate control.

Same, I've had good luck wiht AirBNB's in France but I always rent ones that have a very high rating and a lot of reviews.

In Normandy, we usually stay in Bayeux. There are plenty of good Airbnb's in town and the town is small enough that you can rent a home or apartment within easy walking distance of a boulangerie. I've also stayed in Etretat and Rouen. I've stayed on the Mont Saint MIchel several times and it's fun to be there at night when the crowds aren't around. You can walk along the ramparts of the old town and watch the tide come in.

In Paris, my advice is stay close to the majority of things you want to see, however, the nice thing about Paris is you can pretty much get anywhere within 30 minutes by using hte metro. If you are doing mostly touristy stuff, I'd stay somewhere close to Metro Line 1 (the line that runs up and down the Champs Elysees) since you have a lot of stuff along that line plus it connects with a lot of other lines. I always prefer to find a spot reasonably close to an actual metro stop. Last summer we stayed across the street from the TUilerie gardens and right across from a metro stop. I'd say definitely stay within Arrondissements 1-8 (towards the center of the city).

[Pelado]

Same, I've had good luck wiht AirBNB's in France but I always rent ones that have a very high rating and a lot of reviews.

In Normandy, we usually stay in Bayeux. There are plenty of good Airbnb's in town and the town is small enough that you can rent a home or apartment within easy walking distance of a boulangerie. I've also stayed in Etretat and Rouen. I've stayed on the Mont Saint MIchel several times and it's fun to be there at night when the crowds aren't around. You can walk along the ramparts of the old town and watch the tide come in.

In Paris, my advice is stay close to the majority of things you want to see, however, the nice thing about Paris is you can pretty much get anywhere within 30 minutes by using hte metro. If you are doing mostly touristy stuff, I'd stay somewhere close to Metro Line 1 (the line that runs up and down the Champs Elysees) since you have a lot of stuff along that line plus it connects with a lot of other lines. I always prefer to find a spot reasonably close to an actual metro stop. Last summer we stayed across the street from the TUilerie gardens and right across from a metro stop. I'd say definitely stay within Arrondissements 1-8 (towards the center of the city).

Muchas gracias.

[Pelado]

Getting back to the theme of the thread, I noticed something - by accident - about using airline miles to book flights. While going through the many iterations of my seach for flights, on one attempt I didn't notice that the travel dates in the system had reverted back to the current day (rather than April-May). There were suddenly a lot more opportunities for business class travel - including directly from Boise - for close to the minimum charge of 60k miles per person each way. Those deals seemed to extend out for about three weeks.

I considered just waiting to book until 2-3 weeks out but decided I didn't want to risk not getting flights at all. So my plan is to reevaluate the flights as I get within that three-week window of time. There's no fee for changing flights, so if I see a good deal that flies from and/or into Boise, I'll make the change. That could save me from having to fetch and re-check luggage in Chicago each way. And, if I can fly from and back to Boise on United for the same price as from and into Chicago, I can save my Southwest miles for another day.