In this post I'll write about what was great and what was not so great. Regrets. What we enjoyed and what we could have skipped. Things that we didn't get to do that I had planned for us to do. Food-good and not so good. Souvenirs I bought.
SPAIN. It was so hot. I wish I had known that the unhealthy air quality index would trigger my husband's chronic bronchitis and make him sick. I regret not asking his pulmonary specialist for an antibiotic medication to take with us just in case. I could kick myself for not knowing where the Alcazar was in Toledo and thereby causing us to wander/walk all that unnecessary distance in the sweltering heat trying to find it. I wish the food in Toledo and Madrid had been more to our liking. Restaurant in Toledo that we liked was El Trebol and we had also had dinner there back in 2018. Our hotel in Toledo was nice and the pool was nice but it was so far from the center of town and that was a negative. In Toledo the Cathedral was lovely but we had spent considerable time visiting it back in 2028. In hindsight we could have skipped our 2 nights in Toledo and added them to Spain. Most of what we enjoyed during our time in Toledo we had already covered with our trip of 2 nights there back in 2018
Places for dinner that we liked in Madrid were Botin and OVEN. Glad we did the guided tour of the Royal Palace in Madrid. While Avila and Segovia were nice we could have skipped them both or chose just one-we would have done Segovia. I was good with my souvenir shopping especially finding my Spain Pandora charm and have no regrets about what I bought. But I do wish I had bought a Madrid hat even though my husband didn't want one. I was happy with our hotel in Madrid and loved the pool and the hotel's location. In Madrid I hadn't realized how hard it would be to explore Retiro Park. We never got to Crystal Palace or the small lake. I regret not having time to do more exploring. Things like the Las Letras neighborhood, Plaza Mayor, Plaza de Espana. I enjoyed Prado and the Royal Palace. I liked the food better in Madrid than in Toledo. We spent 2 nights in Toledo and 5 nights in Madrid.
FRANCE. Weather was cold. I hadn't packed clothes suitable for this weather. Should have packed some long shirts for Richard and more long pants for both of us. I was glad I had scheduled our nights in Bayeux and the D Day Normandy tour. The tour operator I chose was great but the weather the day of our D Day tour was awful. Cold, windy, rainy. And Richard was just not feeling well enough to fully enjoy this tour. I loved all the D Day souvenirs I bought. We were glad we got to see the famous Bayeux tapestry. Was not happy with Fred 'Au where we wanted to have pizza. Our hotel tried calling to get us a reservation with no luck. No one there picked up and when we decided to go there anyway just on the chance we could get in we were met with incredibly rude staff. We were happy with both the food and the excellent service at restaurants Le Pommier and La Normandie. Our hotel in Bayeux was nice but not walkable for us to fully explore the town especially with Richard not feeling well. So the location was not ideal for us.
On to Paris. Highlights were dinner at Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower, our dinner cruise with Le Calife on the Seine. In reality all the food in Paris was top notch and there were so many fabulous restaurants. I don't think we had a bad dinner anywhere. Breakfast was another story. We had no luck finding a place for a terrific breakfast. We ended up doing a lot of breakfasts at the apartment. Our apartment that we had booked was in the Marais. Terrific location. Steps away from a pharmacy, a boulangerie, a Franprix grocery store. Good thing I had trip/travel insurance as we needed it for Richard. We were lucky that we found a good doctor who was able to see and treat my husband to help him recover. I regret that we never had the chance to use the metro. With Richard being so sick we relied on Uber. Because Richard was so sick I ended up doing a lot of sightseeing on my own. I found that I am capable of doing that. Downside was I had booked and paid for things for the both of us that Richard couldn't do so there was money lost. I regret that Richard wasn't able to enjoy Paris as I was. I just loved, loved all the outstanding museums-the Louvre, Orsay, Marmottan. Notre Dame was high on my list but I didn't feel as emotional as I thought I would. It's a very nice cathedral but.......... And I was so glad I booked an overnight for our time in Chartres. Our hotel was walkable to everything. The cathedral was amazing and the evening light show blew us away. It was mesmerizing, spectacular. Things I had hoped/planned to see/do but never had the time for them mainly due to my husband's medical issues were lengthy. Never got to walk on bridges on my list-Pont Neuf, Pont Alexander III. Other misses: Cluny Museum, Pantheon, Montparnasse Tower, Luxembourg Gardens, Invalides, Rodin Museum, St. Sulpice, Pompidou Center, Moulin Rouge, Palais Garnier, Galeries Lafayette, day cruise of the Seine, walking down the Champs Elysees, Royal Palace, Tuileries, Place de Concorde, Place de Bastille. Never got to the Ritz Bar or Harry's NY Bar for drinks. There was a lot! Didn't realize how much until I started writing it down here. If my husband hadn't gotten so sick we would have done so much more. Maybe not everything on my list as I'm now thinking I may have been too over zealous in how much we would be able to accomplish each day. The only think I might not have done was our visit Concierge. While investing it was not a "must see" for me or my husband. Others may disagree with this opinion. While I regret not being able to use the metro I'm glad we were in a position to use the services of Uber. If we had been healthier and younger we would have used the metro and our feet. I think the best way to appreciate Paris would be to walk, walk, walk. Souvenirs-wish I had had more will power. I just wanted to buy so much! Too much to mention here. Not a single regret shopping. We spent 3 nights in Bayeux and 11 nights in Paris.
UK. Again weather was horrible for most of our stay. Mainly cold. Not having suitable clothes for the weather was problematic. My husband was getting better but a long way from being 100%. Disappointed that our White Cliffs of Dover boat tour got canceled due to bad weather conditions. This was the one thing my husband was really looking forward to doing. If I had known we wouldn't have spent time in Dover. Enjoyed Canterbury and our hotel location was excellent. Since it was on the grounds of the cathedral we had free admission. Everything was walkable. Lovely town to explore. However, I didn't realize that there would be a college graduation happening at the cathedral the 2 days we were here. That was a negative as we had to rush our visit to the cathedral and spread it out over 2 days instead of doing it all one one day as planned. Food was great. Breakfasts at our hotel and places I had reserved for dinner were wonderful.
London. I had arranged 13 nights at an apartment in the area of Earl's Court which was a terrific location for us. The apartment was the best of our entire trip. It was huge with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Minutes away from the tube. Sainsbury grocery store close by. We had most breakfasts at the apartment. Did not go out for breakfast at all. Places I had booked for dinners were for the most part awesome. Favorites for me were Steak & Company and Mayfair Chippy. Best pizza of our trip was at Pizza Union but it was expensive to take Uber there and back. I was however disappointed with Dishoom which has gotten so many rave reviews. I wasn't impressed. Weather was still bad and I was sick a few days so that was a negative. Places we went to that I could have skipped: Tate Modern-I'm not a fan of modern art, Buckingham Palace-didn't wow me. I wish I had taken a guided/verger tour of Westminster Abbey. I am so-so with the time we spent at Greenwich. I think it would have been more of a positive experience if we had known to get a taxi right away to take us to the Observatory and the walk back to the pier would not be so bad. The great thing was the Thames sightseeing cruise we took to get there. Definitely a highlight. Our time was cut short due to the boat race or whatever was going on. That delayed us as the pier in Greenwich was closed to boats coming from Westminster where we started. The one show we decide to attend was great. I really enjoyed Wicked. I wish I had been able to see more shows. But my husband isn't one for sitting in a theater for 2+ hours. I regret not going to Hampton Court. Other places we missed: Covent Garden, St. James Park, Courtauld Gallery, St. Martin in the Fields church, Victoria & Albert Museum, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park. We also didn't see Changing of the Guard or get to have drinks at Dirty Dicks and the Lamb & Flag. Disappointed at the one iconic pub we stopped at for drinks-Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. We left without getting drinks. Afternoon tea at Claridges was a memorable experience but I decided to not do another at the Orangery. Sunday roast at the Ship Tavern was good but not mind glowingly great. Loved being able to take the tube as much as we did. It was so easy and Richard was able to manage. Souvenirs/shopping was fine and if I had had room I would have done more. Loved Harrods but didn't have enough time to check it out. That was a regret. I never expected it to be so huge, so interesting that I would want to spend way more time there! We spent 2 nights in Dover, 2 nights in Canterbury, and 11 nights in London. I wish we could have done more in London and the surrounding areas like Hampton Court, Windsor, Cambridge, Oxford......... Our first visit to London was in 2008 and at that time we had 4 nights and accomplished so much more. Tube and walking. No taxis or uber back then. But it was busy then and it's busy now. But I guess that's the price you pay as London is probably a top destination for many, many people.
Summary. Despite my husband getting so sick and even me not feeling well several days I'm glad we did this trip. As we age it's harder to do these kinds of trips. All the sightseeing is just not for us anymore so this was our last big trip. I think we hit the things that were the absolute "must sees" for me. We could have dropped Spain from the trip as we had been there in 2018. And that's where Richard started to get sick. Paris had always been a dream and for the most part it lived up to my expectations. Eiffel Tower, the Seine, Notre Dame, Louvre, all the museums with paintings by Monet-my favorite artist. I would have added more time to Paris. London was a return visit so it was a bit of a let down for me. I enjoyed the West End show we saw and our afternoon tea at Claridge's but everything else was ......just ok. I really do love Europe. So much history. The architecture, the food, the museums, the cathedrals/churches. And everyone we met along the way was so kind, friendly, helpful.
No comments:
Post a Comment