Message from SalB

SalB: Have a nice trip and say hello to Arnold for me. I think you will find the Capitol quite warm – and that is without all of Arnold’s political hot air. You can be sure we will behave ourselves while you are gone. Donerail

She’ll be back.

Crc95: Lets party. Donerail

yeah! party while mom’s away!!!

That was some mean partying. Now it’s time to start behaving again. Mom is back!

Rules are: You can argue as much as you want but you can’t call people nasty names . . . deserved or not.

Do we all understand? . . . or do I get out the ruler?

SalB: It wasn’t me or LaVieilleBranche or Dr Eska. It was Amero-franc and Sweird that were partying. We were just working on our Lesson Plans. Donerail

SalB/LaVieilleBranche: In another thread, I saw where this site is subject to the censorship of the Administrator. I always knew they had that ability but I also assumed they would not exercise it. They did, and I feel strongly about that. I believe it was a bigotted post from Sweird. As much as I have disagreed with some of the posters, I feel that their views, statements, and opinions should be allowed. Such is the spirit of the internet. Accordingly, I will not be able to participate here any longer. I have enjoyed the tips and bantering and I wish all you well. Regards, Donerail

Donerail, It wasn’t censored. It was edited. There is a difference. This isn’t a first, it has been done before and is clearly stated in the Terms of Service above that they will do this. It is their web site. All the other travel web sites I frequent edit posts, and far more frequently than France.com who is most generous in allowing divergent opinions and off-topic posts.

I hope you will reconsider but if not, we all wish you happy travels.

SalB: Here’s the situation. I reserved a room at The Lord Byron thru visitfrance.travel for two nights in November. I meant to reserve it for three nights. When I went back to try to change it to three nights "the system" keeps thinking that I am looking for an ADDITIONAL room since one room is already reserved in my name. Am I better off trying to cancel and ro-doing the whole thing? Also, none of this shows up as a trip in "My Trips" area of the site. Donerail

crc95: How long does it take top drive from CDG to Pont-Audermer. (About midway between Caen and Bayeaux.)? Most of it would be on the A13 after a night on Air France. Donerail

Hello Donerail,

The reservation you made was processed by a partner company that has better prices for this particular property. This allows us to offer discounted rates to more properties. Unfortunately it comes with 2 (small) drawbacks:

1. You cannot make changes to these reservations, so you will have to cancel this reservation and make a new one (this s true on most of the other travel sites as I’m sure you are aware.

2. These reservations do not show in the ‘my trips’ area of the site. That is something that we are working on.

It may be a little confusing, but these are good rates.

We are are working on having you have your croissant and eat it too (better rates with possibility of changes) but that’s a hard nut to crack!

Sincerely,

Estelle

donerail, This happened to us once. We simply made an entirely separate reservation for the last night. It was kind of funny because we had to change rooms at the hotel, but the staff kindly moved everything over for us and our last room was even nicer than the first one.

Obviously, you can cancel and reserve all over again for the correct dates.

Mappy has your CDG to Pont-Audermer at one hour 56 minutes. Hopefully, crc95 will give you a "real" version of the time. You drive faster than Mappy!!

SalB: I got "live" help from Estelle of visitfrance.travel to straighten out my reservations. I was impressed with the attention and speed. I did it thru email as the toll free number turned out to be pretty ponderous. I have plotted the CDG to Pont-Audemer on Mappy. It looks a little hairy for the first twenty miles from CDG. But a two hour drive after the AF flight seems pretty reasonable and doable. Donerail

Donerail,

It can’t be two hours ! I guess you’re right, the hardest part would be to get out of the CDG black hole, but once you escape and find yourself on A 13, then I’d say less than an hour.

When are you coming ? What will you be doing ? And remember : you’ll be allowed on the French soil only AFTER you’re done getting rid of the Chimp.

CRC

donerail, Driving after an overnight flight is not fun but you can certainly do it. We drove to Reims one year right after landing. Of course we have a much longer flight than you do!

We drove to Reims, checked in our hotel and drove downtown for sightseeing. Believe me, by 9:00 PM we were ready for sleep . . . big time.

crc95: We are going to spend 4 days in the Normandy area. Not sure where but Pont-Audemer seemed interesting. Then we are going to spend 3 nights in Paris eating, drinking, etc. but mainly to see the ceremony at the Arc d’Triomphe on November 11th. I saw that a few years back and was so moved by it that I want my wife to see it. It is really something else. Plus the museums, shops, etc. of Paris. I bought the plane tickets back in May during an "Air France Special." My ticket cost $505 and my wife’s was an additional $5.05. With taxes we have a pair of r/t tickets for $600. Couldn’t not do it for that price. (Now I am looking for AF to come out with the early Spring specials.)

SalB: I really wanted to take the train to Caen or Bayeux or Rouen but the first one to leave was at 5pm which would mean hanging around there for about 8 hours. If you and crc95 are reasonably correct, I should be able to drive 2 hours to the vacinity of Pont-Audemer. Unless either the wife or I kill each other. I was looking at the detailed Mappy maps of the itenerary and the first 20 miles of so does look a little bizarre. And that comes from a Bostonian. We don’t use our brakes if the horn or finger can get us thru traffic. I behave myself over in LaFrance and just go with the flow.

Donerail

I wonder if you can rent a Harley in France

I wonder what Mrs. donerail looks like perched on the back of a Harley . . . or perhaps she drives!

Harley-Davidsons are quite popular in France. Do you know the Bardot – Gainsbourg song, Je ne crains plus personne en Harley-Davidson ? Nice one. My uncle had several Harleys and still loves them. But then, he grew up.

CRC

I’m so glad it was you who said that.

I could never get away with it.

So there I was, asking some simple travel questions and the hens start up again. I have see a Harley occasionally in LaFrance but they seem to relatively rare. I went to the dealership that is located up in the 18er or 19th. It was a very small place with only 3 or 4 bikes in the showroom. It is a "Harley thing" to buy a dealership Harley tee shirt when visiting a dealership. I bought one there for 48 euros. Mrs. Donerail was somewhat taken aback by that. I have been afraid to wear the t-shirt around my bretheren. Most Harley t-shirts have eagles, flames, lightning bolts, pigs, etc on them. This one from Paris has the Eiffel Tower and an eagle that looks more like a pidgeon. Oh well…Mrs. Donerail does not ride as…Well, its best just to say that she "is not into the Harley experience." crc95: I think if Bush gave Chirac a Road King, the French Forces would be firmly in Iraq by now. What happened to your uncle? Did he really grow up or was he arrested? I would love to ride my beloved Harley in France but I think the country already has enough class. I still remember last April seeing a Rice Crotch Rocket doing a wheelie past a Parisian traffic cop. A Harley rider would never have done that. Liveshot Kerry, by the way traded in his Italian bike for The American Dream. I can sense that SalB and LVB are getting excited over this. Donerail

Donerail, I think you should ride a Harley in France, this would have a lot of cachet. Believe me, ride a Harley wearing one of these cool ‘Viet Nam Vet’ leather jacket, and success with the ladies guaranteed …

My uncle had to get rid of his simply because money is tight for him right now, with 3 kids to raise. Harleys here cost more than in the US, especially when you start having to get spare parts. But he’s still thinking about it, and I’m pretty sure he’ll get another one some day. He likes the Fat Boy, the one the Governor of CA is riding in Terminator 2.

I’m surprised you didn’t find a dealer big enough in Paris. Maybe it’s just too expensive to afford a large showroom in downtown Paris. The one in Lyon is quite big, maybe you should see it some day. Also, I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Les Gorges du Verdon in northern Provence, for some reason it’s a big bikers rendez-vous spot.

CRC

crc95: Thanks for that info. I’m not sure how much cachet my vests would have. All of them have the USA flag and an assortment of patches – including the 1st Cavalry Division (Gold shield with the black knight chess piece and black slash.) I was actually wondering if there was a dealership in Lyon. We’ve been to Lyon the last two Aprils and we may do it again in 2005. Where in Lyon is it? I haven’t heard of the place in Provence either, but that is now on the list. There is just something neat about 800 pounds of heavy metal underneith you and the wind blowing on by. Donerail

the store is located at 131, avenue du Maréchal de Saxe, 3è arrt.(métro ligne D ou B, station Saxe-Gambetta). You can’t miss it, there are so many bikes dealers there, along with bikes accessories boutiques, bikers’ insurance companies, etc.

CRC

P.S.: 48 euros for a Tshirt ??? Hellooo RIP OFF !

crc95: Not only was it 48 euros, but the European sizing codes are apparently different from the US. The damn thing doesn’t fit. Or maybe it shrunk in the closet. Donerail

European sizes are what US sizes were twenty years ago. I’ve gained weight since high school (haven’t we all) but I actually wear a smaller size than I did then because in the US they keep making sizes larger and larger. I think the clothing manufactureres are trying to keep the great American weight gain a secret from the clothes-buying public. LOL

At any rate, its’ a good idea to try things on in Europe until you figure out what size you wear. I have a rather pudgy friend who used to ask me to get clothes for her in Europe and they didn’t even sell her size . . . although I noticed on our last trip that they are starting to sell larger sizes. I don’t know if it’s for tourists or if Europeans are getting chubby too. Perhaps they should boycott MacDonalds!

I heard of Sacramento Kings will have a match with Houston Rockets in
October this year in Shanghai,China.
welcome to China.welcome to my hometown-Yichang,which three gorges project locates in.

kobe, Thank you. Why are the Sacramento Kings playing a match with Houston Rockets in Shanghai,China? It seems like a very long way to go to play a ball game.

Do you live near the Three Gorges Project? How do people feel about it there? Won’t it flood a most beautiful part of China? Does that make anyone there feel bad or are they happy to have the project?

Just curious. BTW, our daughter is in Sacramento this summer and will be moving there after college graduation next December . . . too late for the Kings game but I’m sure she will be interested. Thank you for sharing that with us.

mostly because of the commercial reason,there will hold such a regular game between Kings and Rockets in Shanghai.
at first I received this news from an American friend,who studies in Penn State University, because he is the king’s faithful fan.
yes,my home is very near to the three gorges dam.that is indeed the case that there often flooded,such as the Special great flood in 1998.
But always more scared than hurt each time.
we are proud of three gorges dam forever. The natural scenery here is very fine also.

SalB/LVB: I was checking out Air France today. Looks like spring r/t from Boston for April/May are opening up at $650. Not bad at all. Donerail

I was trying to get reservations last week and several sites wouldn’t go past May 19. I finally called to see what was going on and the lady told me they can only go 450 days ahead. That, of course, didn’t make any sense at all since that would be more than a year. It didn’t seem wise to discuss it with her since she didn’t know how many days were in a year. I later called our Frequent Flyer program and discovered our miles were not running out and I could wait until later to book the flights.

We’re going to Germany in May and June so the current fares won’t help. Did you check here on France.com or did you go through Air France? I’ve been using France.com even for domestic flights. They seem to go everyplace.

SalB: Yeah, I was using airvisitfrance.travel. The site is a little ponderous but they go out ten months in advance. I will check them and Travelocity over the next number of weeks and see how the trends are stacking up. People in my industry (aviation) tell me that the days of low fares are over. We’ll see. Donerail

I’m not sure low air fares are over. We’ve gone cheaper this past year than we ever have, and it’s been much less expensive than back in the 90s. I think there are still some empty airline seats that are worrying the companies. They have plenty of specials. You just have to be there at the right time to get them. We’ve been on a couple planes with very few other passengers.

SalB: You can say you heard it here first. The days of real cheap flights are over. There will be exceptions and specials but for the most part the cheap season is over. Donerail

That’s not all bad. At least the planes won’t be so crowded. Perhaps it will be a bit more relaxing to fly now.

SalB: Uncrowded planes would be nice. I think the planes will still be packed. Fly Air France though. Donerail

I always fly Air France. They know me there and I always get a free upgrade to business/first class on my cheapo economy ticket, no frequent flyer miles required (it’s nice to gloat).

La vielle Branche: There’s some place that I know where u can, but there’s verry few, and this really not a good bargain!!!

Manu: It might not be a good bargain in some situations, but for me, to pay $450 round trip to Paris from EWR and get a FREE upgrade to first class is a good deal to me

SalB: i have a better one: Imagine what Mrs. donerail actually LOOKS like???

LaVieilleBranche: I can sense that you are deeply into the kir again as your post seems somewhat out of date or disjointed. I can help you though. Mrs Donerail looks…well, lets see. She looks…contented. Very, very contented and supremely happy. I have heard her thanking The Almighty quite frequently for having brought me into her life. She mentions God’s name and my name often in the same sentence. How’s that? Donerail

LVB : weird rate you got. Little bro just emailed me : our round trip CDG-ORD-ATL-CDG is just gonna cost us 175 euros on Air France.

Oh wait : did I mention little bro works with Air France ?

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

lol

CRC

Check the prices on Air France from Los Angeles and you will all feel wonderful!

regarding the good deal, I was talking about renting a Harley-Davidson, not the airfare…!

donerail; naaa, I’m not deep into the kir..I’m on a diet/exercise regime to get skinny again by Thanksgiving Lots of kirs would break that diet

ManuNice: Is there a Harley dealership in Nice? Renting a Harley might be the solution to River123’s transportation problems. Maybe you could inquire for SalB as well. A Harley would be a sure cure for jet lag. Donerail

No Harley for rent that I know in Nice, and again it won’t be a good bargain, Harley are pretty rare and expensive around here…!!! But the stroke that u’re gonna have after reading the bill could be a good cure for the jetlag!!!

This is a GREAT tool that I personally use everyday when u look for a professional activity, shop or renting car company, they even provide the map of the neighbour etc… it our Yellow Pages online:

http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/

And this great site is a link on the Pagesjaunes that I use to check out neighborhoods for hotels, shops, etc. It’s also just plain fun. Pictures of any address you type into the box.

http://photos.pagesjaunes.fr/

SalB: isn’t that a cool site? You can ‘walk" any neighborhood when you get lonely for France. I can "walk" Strasbourg and see my family’s old apartment or "walk" rue Mouffetard and remember all the good times I’ve had there carousing until the wee hours of the night