SalB: I am fine. I have started to expand my France travel guide collection. I need to study up on Acquitaine, and Provence. Speaking of missing persons, where’s ikorellim. I bet she re-enlisted. Donerail
April 27, 2004 at 10:18 pm
Quel relief! I was afraid you had caught something in an airport someplace. I’m not fond of airports!
What travel guides did you get? My hands down favorites are the Michelin Green Guides. I’m told they are for old fuddy duddies and I guess that’s somewhat descriptive (of me, not the guides). I like the history in them and they often have really nice drives that are a bit off the wall. We took one of their Brittany drives a couple years ago and didn’t see another American all day. That’s not a particular goal of ours, but it’s fun to feel like you are out of the country when you are, in fact, out of the country.
Despite my age, I like the Lonely Planet guides too. We like to get out into the boonies and even occasionally camp. One of our favorite Provence pensiones was discovered in Lonely Planet years ago.
Haven’t heard from ikorellim either but did you notice France.com took one of her questions and turned it into a neat new section? Have you ever eaten at a McDonalds in France? We were driving from Reims to Strasbourg once and I swear we did not pass one restaurant for hours. We stopped at a truck stop looking place and it wasn’t open. It was getting close to the witching hour of 2 PM when all restaurants in France close and we spotted a McDonalds. I admit it; we ate there. It was pretty much what we expected except I think there may have been wine on the menu. We never felt drawn to eat there again. Not unexpectedly, we immediately passed several really nice restaurants that were still open. Ah . . .
At any rate, good to hear from you again.
April 28, 2004 at 5:25 pm
SalB: The guides that we like are the Michilin Green, Insight, and Lonely Planet. There is also a wealth of info available from the various Department tourist offices. (I always opt for the free postage option versus paying the $4 – the stuff all arrives at the same time anyway.) With regard to McDonalds – yes we have seen them in Paris, Lyon, Dijon, and even in Annecy. Oddly, the McD’s over there look a little more shabby than the ones over here. I have never tried the French version. I haven’t been to an American one since I got sick on one about ten years ago. Donerail
April 28, 2004 at 7:16 pm
We’ve never tried Insight. I’ll have to check it.
We did take Access Paris last November. It’s very detailed and somewhat useful. However, their hotel recommendations leave a bit to be desired. We followed one and got there to discover it was basically a dive. We looked in the window, decided we wouldn’t eat in a place that looked that dirty and headed down the street to a restaurant that wasn’t in the guide. Perhaps it was an anomaly but we didn’t use their restaurant suggestions after that.
If I could only take one guidebook, it would be the Michelin Green Guide.
4 Comments On donerail, where are you?
SalB: I am fine. I have started to expand my France travel guide collection. I need to study up on Acquitaine, and Provence. Speaking of missing persons, where’s ikorellim. I bet she re-enlisted. Donerail
Quel relief! I was afraid you had caught something in an airport someplace. I’m not fond of airports!
What travel guides did you get? My hands down favorites are the Michelin Green Guides. I’m told they are for old fuddy duddies and I guess that’s somewhat descriptive (of me, not the guides). I like the history in them and they often have really nice drives that are a bit off the wall. We took one of their Brittany drives a couple years ago and didn’t see another American all day. That’s not a particular goal of ours, but it’s fun to feel like you are out of the country when you are, in fact, out of the country.
Despite my age, I like the Lonely Planet guides too. We like to get out into the boonies and even occasionally camp. One of our favorite Provence pensiones was discovered in Lonely Planet years ago.
Haven’t heard from ikorellim either but did you notice France.com took one of her questions and turned it into a neat new section? Have you ever eaten at a McDonalds in France? We were driving from Reims to Strasbourg once and I swear we did not pass one restaurant for hours. We stopped at a truck stop looking place and it wasn’t open. It was getting close to the witching hour of 2 PM when all restaurants in France close and we spotted a McDonalds. I admit it; we ate there. It was pretty much what we expected except I think there may have been wine on the menu. We never felt drawn to eat there again. Not unexpectedly, we immediately passed several really nice restaurants that were still open. Ah . . .
At any rate, good to hear from you again.
SalB: The guides that we like are the Michilin Green, Insight, and Lonely Planet. There is also a wealth of info available from the various Department tourist offices. (I always opt for the free postage option versus paying the $4 – the stuff all arrives at the same time anyway.) With regard to McDonalds – yes we have seen them in Paris, Lyon, Dijon, and even in Annecy. Oddly, the McD’s over there look a little more shabby than the ones over here. I have never tried the French version. I haven’t been to an American one since I got sick on one about ten years ago. Donerail
We’ve never tried Insight. I’ll have to check it.
We did take Access Paris last November. It’s very detailed and somewhat useful. However, their hotel recommendations leave a bit to be desired. We followed one and got there to discover it was basically a dive. We looked in the window, decided we wouldn’t eat in a place that looked that dirty and headed down the street to a restaurant that wasn’t in the guide. Perhaps it was an anomaly but we didn’t use their restaurant suggestions after that.
If I could only take one guidebook, it would be the Michelin Green Guide.