France and Italy
 |
| Reims |
We had a very nice trip
recently, to France and Italy. We went in the middle of winter because our
grandson is in Reims and that time was convenient for him as well as for us to
visit. At the Hotel Le Lion d'Or,
Bayeux, Normandy, we had a very nice, large room with a sitting area, in the
Annex, about 50 yards from the main building which is old and charming. The sink
and shower were in a tiled room on one side of a small hallway near the door,
and the toilet was in a small tiled room on the other side of the hallway, but
for us, it wasn't inconvenient. We were on the 2nd floor of the building, no
elevator. Very quiet, private. The dining room in the hotel was very attractive,
great breakfast (included), and a good selection for dinner and the food was
very good. We ate there both nights because the food was good and it was
convenient.
The Hotel DelMoro in Florence: is a
former mansion, a small hotel of 11 rooms very near the center of the city on a
side street. Our room was colossal size, beautiful objets, antiques, fabrics, a
raised Jacuzzi in a separate compartment and a large two-sink bathroom of marble
with a large glassed-in shower. Breakfast (included) was in a small room with
French doors that led to an enclosed garden outside. Needless to say, the doors
weren't open in February but the view was lovely. Ceilings were about 16' high,
chandeliers, sconces, draperies, chair coverings, headboard covering, all very
nice. We were there 4 nights and wished we could stay longer. Tea in our room
after our tours was a great treat, with fruit and cookies, too. Arnold and Alita
took care of everything we needed, wanted. Hotel does not have a restaurant, but
every block has at least 3 good ones on each street. That week, we were the only
people in the hotel, aside from one couple who stayed a night.
Of course, we went to
the usual museums and such, and we also went to the Ferragamo Shoe Museum about 2
bridges away from the Ponte Vecchio on the city side of the river. I loved that.
The shoes are fabulous and the exhibit space is very well done.
In Rome, we stayed at
the Hotel
Barocco at the Bernini Plaza. The location is great, the 40 rooms are small,
(ours was called a suite, but it was a stretch to call it that). The bathroom
was huge and modern, breakfast is terrific, the help is very nice and
accommodating. There's a small bar and small lounge on the first floor and a
couple of offerings are available in the food dept. in the afternoon. The
footprint of the hotel is small, also. There is no restaurant for evening dining
but there are restaurants in the neighborhood.
It snowed in Rome on
the first day we were there, the first snow in 26 years, and many places were
closed as a result...even though it snowed about 1 inch.
Our daughter and
daughter-in-law made all the arrangements for us. We told them what we wanted:
Small hotels, convenient locations for sightseeing, walking and shopping, and
breakfast every day. Our daughter has a friend who writes Travel articles for
Conde Nast and she steered them to: Howard E. Lewis // Protravel International Inc // 9171 Wilshire Blvd. Ste 428 // Beverly Hills CA 90210 // Specialist to
France // Virtuoso Member // He set us up with driver services, got our train
tickets and seat assignments, plane tickets from Paris to Florence and even gave
us the weather forecast for the cities, sent diagrams of the stations (although
the drivers took us directly from the train or plane to our next destination).
While Howard Lewis was
our specialist for France, Andrea Grisdale of ICBellagio.com was our special planner
for Italy. Julie O'Donnell, who works for her, was our Ambassador or contact
person who was available at any
time of any day for any question we had. For us, having pre-arranged drivers
for specific times and destinations
was a tremendous bonus especially, as it turned out, because the weather at that
time was so
unusual for Italy.
Howard's network of
services also got our guides for Normandy and Florence.
Our Normandy Guide was Mathias Leclere (a Frenchman who speaks perfect English) and our Florence guide was Jennifer Cowden, an American who's married to an Italian and has been living in Italy for 10 years or so). They were both very professional and very personable. We had lunch with them each day, after lunch we probably looked at one more item and then we went back to our hotel for a rest. We were on the go all the time. And it was Sooo cold all the time we were there. They called it Siberian Air and it certainly felt like it was.
Our Normandy Guide was Mathias Leclere (a Frenchman who speaks perfect English) and our Florence guide was Jennifer Cowden, an American who's married to an Italian and has been living in Italy for 10 years or so). They were both very professional and very personable. We had lunch with them each day, after lunch we probably looked at one more item and then we went back to our hotel for a rest. We were on the go all the time. And it was Sooo cold all the time we were there. They called it Siberian Air and it certainly felt like it was.