Take a Vacation

[bluegoose]

Those of you most familiar with Paris - know of any issues with Hotel Prince de Conde or the area it's in? I guess the same question applies for those of you less familiar with Paris but still knowledgeable in that particular. Thanks.

That's a great area that you'll be staying in Paris. Close to a ton of cool spots. Really short walk to the Ile de la cite. One of our favorite family memories was watching the sunset from a bench on Pont Neuf. The point of the Ile is crazy popular and crowded at sunset, but we found the benches on the bridge were always available and just as cool to hang out at.

Two of our favorite breakfast spots are really close to there. Cafe de Flore is on Bd Saint Germaine just a few blocks from there, and Brasserie Les Deux Palais is on the Ile right across the street from Saint Chappelle.

Pro-tip - gotta catch the Eiffel Tower at night when the lights turn on. You can see it from the Louvre and the Tuileries, but it pretty underwhelming from that far away. Classic spot to watch is from across the river at the Trocodero, but there is some pre-Olympics construction happening over there, so the views may be impaired. But that may be done by the time you get there. The best view of the Tower at sunset and at night, imo, is a couple of hundred yards down river on the Pont de l'Alma (Shoutout BoM). Cool footbridge, relatively light crowds, and an incredible view.

[Northwestcoug]

Yet another change. United had a one-stop flight open up from Boise to London (coach from Boise to Chicago, business class from Chicago to London), so I switched to that one. Of course, it was four days later than our original itinerary, so I had to shift/modify/cancel some of our stays:

• Boise - Chicago - London Heathrow on United
• Rental car from Heathrow
• 2 nights in B&B in Benson
• 2 nights at the Greenway Hotel & Spa in Shurdington (western edge of the Cotswolds) - part of Hyatt's SLH collection, was able to reserve on the cheap with Hyatt points
• 3 nights in a B&B in Llysworney, Wales
• 2 nights in flat near the coast in Portsmouth
• Return rental car
• 5 nights in London at a Hyatt (points again)
• Eurostar to Paris
• 5 nights in Paris - first four at Hotel Prince de Conde in the 6th arrondissement - looks to be within walking distance of the Louvre and Île de la Cité. Last night at the Hyatt (just 3,500 points!) by CDG airport for the early morning flight home.
• Paris - Zurich - Chicago on United and then Chicago - Denver - Boise on Southwest

This keeps us out of London before, during, and well after the coronation. Hoping that there are no issues in Paris/France by the time we're scheduled to go there. Otherwise, the same contingencies still apply. And I'll keep my eye on the Paris - Boise route home. Hoping better business class award pricing opens up so we don't have to switch to Southwest on the return trip.

Those of you most familiar with Paris - know of any issues with Hotel Prince de Conde or the area it's in? I guess the same question applies for those of you less familiar with Paris but still knowledgeable in that particular. Thanks.

You're kind of all over the place with planning aren't you?

Not your question, but I remembered where we traveled in the Cotswolds. Stow on the Wold is a cool village. It has ancient yew trees next to a church door, very lord of the rings-esque. Burton on the Water is really pretty. Touristy but as you can guess there's a stream that runs through it. Upper Slaughter is another village to think about. It has an old mill right on the water. Very picturesque.

[Bo Diddley]

You're kind of all over the place with planning aren't you?

Not your question, but I remembered where we traveled in the Cotswolds. Stow on the Wold is a cool village. It has ancient yew trees next to a church door, very lord of the rings-esque. Burton on the Water is really pretty. Touristy but as you can guess there's a stream that runs through it. Upper Slaughter is another village to think about. It has an old mill right on the water. Very picturesque.

We stopped in here last year. Not nearly as cool as Castle Combe.

[Northwestcoug]

We stopped in here last year. Not nearly as cool as Castle Combe.

Wow that does look nice.

[Bo Diddley]

Wow that does look nice.

We had a nice lunch there and spent some time at the old church. But the walk down to the water was so picturesque.

[Pelado]

That's a great area that you'll be staying in Paris. Close to a ton of cool spots. Really short walk to the Ile de la cite. One of our favorite family memories was watching the sunset from a bench on Pont Neuf. The point of the Ile is crazy popular and crowded at sunset, but we found the benches on the bridge were always available and just as cool to hang out at.

Two of our favorite breakfast spots are really close to there. Cafe de Flore is on Bd Saint Germaine just a few blocks from there, and Brasserie Les Deux Palais is on the Ile right across the street from Saint Chappelle.

Pro-tip - gotta catch the Eiffel Tower at night when the lights turn on. You can see it from the Louvre and the Tuileries, but it pretty underwhelming from that far away. Classic spot to watch is from across the river at the Trocodero, but there is some pre-Olympics construction happening over there, so the views may be impaired. But that may be done by the time you get there. The best view of the Tower at sunset and at night, imo, is a couple of hundred yards down river on the Pont de l'Alma (Shoutout BoM). Cool footbridge, relatively light crowds, and an incredible view.

Merci beaucoup.

You're kind of all over the place with planning aren't you?

Not your question, but I remembered where we traveled in the Cotswolds. Stow on the Wold is a cool village. It has ancient yew trees next to a church door, very lord of the rings-esque. Burton on the Water is really pretty. Touristy but as you can guess there's a stream that runs through it. Upper Slaughter is another village to think about. It has an old mill right on the water. Very picturesque.

All over the place? Yeah, pretty much. Since United opens up additional business class award space the closer you get to the travel dates, I had been checking their flights pretty much daily since I first booked to see if something better would open up. I almost pulled the trigger on a flight that was only one day different, but it was a bit risky. It was also a one-stop itinerary, but the stop was just 45 minutes in Denver and it was connecting to the second of two flights to Heathrow out of Denver. I didn't want to risk missing the connection and being stuck in Denver overnight.

And I'm hoping the itinerary will change at least once more, getting us a more convenient flight home.

As to the Cotswolds, we had planned to visit all of those towns - Upper and Lower Slaughter, Stow on the Wold, Burton on the Water, etc. There's a string of them that were highly regarded, so we were going to visit each of them in succession.

We stopped in here last year. Not nearly as cool as Castle Combe.

That one's a bit further away - I'm not sure if we included it in our plan. But maybe it needs to get added.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Pelado, your mention of the Cotswolds reminded me of a trip highlight and underscores a travel principle we always follow: Driving through a charming Cotswold town, we saw a "Garden Show Today!" banner strung across the main road. Impulsively, I swung into a parking lot just beyond the banner where we learned about the show paid a couple of quid for the entry tickets, and then walked around the town (village, really) visiting with the locals as we admired their gardens (backyards). We were welcomed very warmly. One woman asked what brought us to the UK, and when I replied, "This garden show!", she responded quickly, "Ah, so you're in politics!". We ended the afternoon sipping tea and chatting with the local vicar.

The principle: Plan your trip well, but be on the lookout for the unusual and stay willing to make changes on the fly. Some of our favorite travel experiences were surprises and last-minute adjustments.

[Clark Addison]

Pelado, your mention of the Cotswolds reminded me of a trip highlight and underscores a travel principle we always follow: Driving through a charming Cotswold town, we saw a "Garden Show Today!" banner strung across the main road. Impulsively, I swung into a parking lot just beyond the banner where we learned about the show paid a couple of quid for the entry tickets, and then walked around the town (village, really) visiting with the locals as we admired their gardens (backyards). We were welcomed very warmly. One woman asked what brought us to the UK, and when I replied, "This garden show!", she responded quickly, "Ah, so you're in politics!". We ended the afternoon sipping tea and chatting with the local vicar.

The principle: Plan your trip well, but be on the lookout for the unusual and stay willing to make changes on the fly. Some of our favorite travel experiences were surprises and last-minute adjustments.

Did anyone else chant "The greater good" while reading this?

[Northwestcoug]

Did anyone else chant "The greater good" while reading this?

[Bo Diddley]

That one's a bit further away - I'm not sure if we included it in our plan. But maybe it needs to get added.

Not having visited all of the towns, I can't say it's a must see. There are so many cool places out there to take in. I'd read online descriptions of the places and read some of the recommendations out there. It's down close to Bath, so since we had visited there earlier in the day, that became our next (and best) stop of the day.

[Pelado]

Not having visited all of the towns, I can't say it's a must see. There are so many cool places out there to take in. I'd read online descriptions of the places and read some of the recommendations out there. It's down close to Bath, so since we had visited there earlier in the day, that became our next (and best) stop of the day.

We were previously planning to stay a couple nights in Bath, but that got nixed this go-round.

[Northwestcoug]

We were previously planning to stay a couple nights in Bath, but that got nixed this go-round.

I endorse this. Bath has some cool architecture, but your time is better spent in the Cotswolds IMHO.

[Bo Diddley]

I endorse this. Bath has some cool architecture, but your time is better spent in the Cotswolds IMHO.

We spent the morning at the Roman baths, and that was pretty cool since we've never seen anything like it, but I personally wouldn't spend more than a few hours there.

[Pelado]

I endorse this. Bath has some cool architecture, but your time is better spent in the Cotswolds IMHO.

We spent the morning at the Roman baths, and that was pretty cool since we've never seen anything like it, but I personally wouldn't spend more than a few hours there.

I meant to mention that we're still planning to go through Bath (on our way from Wales to Portsmouth), so my current plan is to stop there for a bit along the way rather than stay there for a couple nights.

[Moliere]

Hotel location in Paris is good. Very close to the Latin quarter which is a good place for restaurants.