Paris 2010 photo album

Chartres and out of France

My hotel in Paris was the Royal Phare. Overall it was a nice value in a good area; small rooms, with an elevator where it was a challenge to fit one person with luggage. It was disappointing that wi-fi wasn't working in my room, but there was free table in the lobby to use it when I wanted to get to the Internet.

Their final help was that they were able to print my Air France boarding pass; my carry-ons weren't going to make the weight limit, so I wanted to have minimum contact with their staff.

I checked out and took the five-minute bus ride, on either line 82 or 92 from across from the hotel, to Gare Montparnasse. I succeeded in using one carnet during my stay, with one ticket having gone to waste where I could have made good use of it. At the station I took the escalator that turned out to go up two levels, when I wanted to get to the left luggage office on the level in between. There was a security check to enter the consigne, then the medium-sized lockers required €7 in coins, which fortunately I had. It was a little before 9, and the track number for my 9.33 train to Chartres wasn't showing. People stood below the big board waiting for their tracks to show; my track finally did.

I followed other people in learning the method of stamping the train ticket, and took the train, getting into the countryside, and it was a little late.

It was clear finding the way to the Cathedral. There was scaffolding in front, including the front interior, which I understand was a new state of things. It being Friday, chairs were cleared to expose the labyrinth on the floor, where many people were taking spiritual walks.

I joined the tour offered at noon by Malcolm Miller. He has written on the cathedral and conducted these tours for 53 years. It called for getting individual headsets so he could speak to the group at a normal voice. He conducts tours differently every time and is known for eccentricities; this tour covered some basics about the stained-glass windows as Bible commentary, in particular on putting the stories of Adam and Eve and the Good Samaritan together.

The tour was done at 1.15; there was a quick decision needed on whether to try to have a sit-down lunch before my train departure at 2.30. I found Tomate et Piment, a chain place I think, which looked like it could handle it. I wound up with a duck dish with teriyaki sauce, not quite the best good-bye to France, and also had time to stop for an ice cream cone.

The return train was full but I got a seat, getting some sleep too. The tickets were not checked in either direction. I picked up my bags from the locker, and found my way to the Air France bus to CDG airport, spotting it before I took the wrong impulse to cross the street. I boarded, paying the €16.50 fare, expecting it to leave on the hour but it left at 3.55. I had doubts about taking it in Friday afternoon traffic, but was told it wasn't such a big deal. Still, it took about 30 minutes to get the short distance to Denfert-Rocherau, then another stop at Gare de Lyon, and overall slow going. I was hoping I'd get to the airport in time to see the second half of the World Cup match; with a radio on my cell phone I could hear reports on it. The bus reached the first airport stop at 5.40, with some rain falling. I took a quick look at the last five minutes of the match at the bar nearest the stop, then went to the Sheraton, where I had planned to see more of it. When the postgame show ended and they hadn't taken my order, I left. If I'd taken the bus and RER, I would have gotten to the airport sooner, at a lower fare, but I could have been standing and uncomfortable, so there were benefits to taking the bus.

I went on to find the pier of Terminal 2F where my flight was departing. I try to understand that airport to be better prepared for it, but it was still chaotic. There was security (at least keeping my shoes on) and a full inspection of one bag. Then there was a crowded pier for that Friday's intra-Europe flights. I took a tall beer can from the bar, for €5.80.

The flight scheduled for 19.35 was delayed to 19.55, then 20.05. They blamed storms in the Paris area in its previous segments. Small sandwiches offered on board, arrival in Rome at 22.00, much darker there than Paris at that time. I thought "Why are we using a B gate, Air France moved to A?" then remembered what I've researched and posted about the airport; B is the concourse, and the terminal now goes by the number 1.

Paris, July 1

As I've talked about having a routine, I'm moving away from it. I'm getting into less of a penny-pinching mood, and feel that I might as well have the French breakfast at the café around the corner on rue Cler, including orange juice for a total of €6.

I'm missing some important museums, and visiting some less-known ones. I've had in mind for a long time to see the Musée Nissim de Camondo. I went there, and it's an interesting mansion set up by a man in the early 20th century with an 18th-century style, and a life marked by family tragedy.

Afterwards, after a bit of a walk around the Parc Monceau, I got to the Gare St-Lazare and took metro line 14, the newest line, for most of its length, to the Bibliothèque Mitterrand. This is in a newly developed area, with university buildings. I found a fast-food set-up place to have a meal of crepes in the main and dessert dishes. I wanted to find wi-fi in a park to get checked in for my flight 36 hours in advance, when it opened. As I understand, people who book directly on Air France (AF) generally are checked in automatically, but since I was booked through Delta (originally Northwest), I should check in early to avoid being stuck in a middle seat. On the iPod Touch, I entered the AF confirmation code that showed on the original NW booking (not on Delta), which had shown when I'd asked to see the itineraries previously, but now it wasn't working. I called AF from the cell phone I wasn't expecting to use (and used about half the SIM card value), and they got it straightened out, e-mailing me the boarding pass. In turns out that in fact they were using my Delta confirmation code.

My plan next was to visit this main national library. It consists of four buildings, perhaps representing open books, on a barren raised plaza. I only looked at a lobby area and didn't take a tour.

On this hot day, I crossed the river to the Parc de Bercy, and got to the museum of cinema. It had a regular and special exhibition with pictures, posters, and film scene screenings. I went through quickly, with thoughts of seeing an obscure old Italian film that they were showing, but it turned out to need a separate ticket. I opted not to go, and took the long ride back on metro line 6, in large part elevated. I had some café time, and got back to my room.

For dinner, I went to Le P'tit Troquet, a small place that gets many tourists, and I had a good fish meal.

For Friday, I'll be going to Chartres, then to the airport to catch my evening flight to Rome. I don't think I'll pay the high price for Internet access, so I don't know when I'll be back online. Thinking generally about Paris, it's been very nice but hot.

Paris, June 30

I slept well, and happened to turn on the TV news at 8 a.m., where they talked about fees and fares going up July 1, including for the TER train that I was planning to take to Chartres Friday. Since it's an unreserved train, I was thinking I'd buy tickets just before taking the train; now, even though the price difference would probably be small, I looked up and found an SNCF ticket office in my area, on rue St-Dominique. There was a self-service ticket machine, which I expected not to work with my credit card; otherwise it was a matter of taking a number and I had fast service, buying tickets in person with my credit card.

My first stop, by walking, was to the Musée Guimet, of Asian art. It has an impressive collection, and not much of a crowd; I think best of the Cambodian and Indian art. Back across the river, I was next going to the Musée d'Orsay. I wanted to see about the right café lunch first; I found a small cafeteria-style setup where I had a croque-monsieur with salad.

I like the Musée d'Orsay; the building drew my attention since it was an abandoned train station, and it's been impressively made as a museum of 19th-century art, including impressionists. Some areas are being restored and have been moved; one gallery has been put together about relations between Gauguin and van Gogh. Overall, it's very nice to visit, and the crowd was of a manageable size.

I hadn't made it a definite plan, but I went ahead towards the Centre Pompidou. In my Internet research before my trip, I had seen mention of a show of photographs of Les Halles, but I couldn't remember where it was. As I walked by the Palais Royal, I saw a poster: it was there, at the Louvre des Antiquaires, an upscale mall of antique dealers. I went there, and saw the photos in one room. The market of Les Halles in central Paris was there in my childhood, but I had no memory of it; as I made repeated visits in the 1970s, it was a hole in the ground, eventually to be replaced with a park and shopping mall.

At that point I was more interested in stopping at a café rather than going to the Centre Pompidou; I overindulged in a kir royal, and thought maybe the modern arts center can fit in tomorrow. To take the metro back, I took a ticket that had gotten folded; the turnstile took it with a green light, but wouldn't open; other attempts failed, and I needed to use another ticket.

For dinner I went to a fish restaurant, one of a chain, Vin et Marée. I had good crustaceans. Seated outside, they had me move so they could put other tables together, and offered me a glass of champagne for it, nice until the table tipped and most of it spilled. Anyway, a full day, feeling good.

Paris, June 29

It rained during the night, and I didn't get much sleep. It was clear when I got up, but I still did my first Internet stuff in the hotel lobby rather than the park. Since breakfast isn't included at the hotel, I've developed a routine of getting a croissant from the bakery across the street, and having it in my room with apple juice that I got from the supermarket right downstairs. Somewhat exhausted, I looked at the calendar on my iPod to see what I'd planned for the day: the Musée Rodin and the Musée du Quai Branly, in the same general area where I'm staying. I rested a little more and took off, making a stop for a café au lait where I was encouraged to sit at a table inside, and it cost €3.80.

I don't think I'd been to the Musée Rodin since the 1960s, but my mother has done some research there. The main building is a nice manageable size, with important sculpture collections, and there are many sculptures around the gardens. At the end I answered a survey about the visit that a young woman conducted in French, although we could have switched to English.

It was a long walk along the river to the Musée du Quai Branly. I had lunch at their café, the formule (set offering) of chicken prepared an African way with rice, and a glass of South African wine. The museum is new and devoted First Nations/non-Western art. It's an interesting set-up with ramps and low lighting, an important place.

I had dinner at the place I was looking for last night but didn't have the full address, Les Cocottes. Most customers sit at the counter. I took the special, said verbally, which I didn't quite catch; it was another chicken dish, and fine.

Many people are out, the mood is good, and there's still some daylight close to 11 p.m. I'm posting this the next morning, after a good night's sleep.

Paris, June 28

I went to the Champ de Mars for my morning Internet connection. For Shannon and others who are wondering about this free wi-fi in parks, there's a Google map with all the locations, also information from the Paris Mairie (city government); the wi-fi is also in libraries and some other places. For large parks like the Champ de Mars, they show what part of the park has wi-fi; there are also some signs in the park. My e-mail had an invitation from another Slow Traveler designated as a Hero, Americana in Parigi, inviting me to get together for coffee "tomorrow morning." I thought o.k., Tuesday, fine. A bit later I realized that the e-mail was dated Sunday, and she meant this morning. In the moment's thought I agreed to it, and on the iPod Touch I took a snapshot of the part of her message with her phone numbers. I also programmed walking directions into Google Maps, my experience saying that they would show even when I was out of wi-fi.

I made my first use of my new international cell phone to try to call her and confirm that I was doing this, but I had trouble getting through. I started walking, as it was my first decision to do, but as I got away from my starting point, the map showed the shape of my walking route, but not the streets. I saw that I didn't have the address of our meeting point. When I turned the phone off and back on, my attempts to call got a little further, but still didn't get through. I saw that time was passing; the part of the message that I saved at least had one metro stop. I'd gotten to Champs-Elysees-Clemenceau, and decided to take the metro to one stop she suggested, and see if I could remember the meeting place from the Plan de Quartier (neighborhood map) in the station.

Yes, it took some looking, but the Passage des Panoramas, an arcade off the street, was right, and I got there 20 minutes late. It was great to meet her, but I was so harried that I may have been especially not interesting.

From there I went to the Sainte Chapelle by walking. It is in the middle of the Palais de Justice or Court House, and requires a security check. AinP had mentioned that could take the entrance for court visitors and get through security faster; in fact there was a special line for museum pass holders, and people with court business could cut in front of the tourists. It was a case where all wallets and belts needed to be removed; mine went together and it took some time. I don't think I'd been to the Sainte Chapelle since I was seven; it was there that I first learned church visiting etiquette. The chapel is important for its stained-glass windows.

I had thoughts of getting a crepe from a stand, but I was enticed to have one sitting down at a cafe. I ordered a flaming one, and it all took time from sitting down, getting the waiter's attention, to getting the bill and paying it; one should generally allow time for a leisurely lunch.

Next I went to the Louvre. One might generally think that many people devote their day to it and enter in the morning, and it may not be so crowded in the afternoon. Entering at 3 p.m., it was still very crowded. I did a basic look at the Italian and French galleries. With the Museum Pass, I can go back without it being such a big deal. I thought I'd heard of an alternate entrance for pass holders. There were none in evidence on the south wing, so I entered through the main pyramid entrance. At the end, I exited through the Porte des Lions, at the very far end of the south, past the Pont du Carrousel. That entrance also sells tickts.

I walked back to my hotel. I made an ATM withdrawal, learning that the card is entered with the start of the number in, the Visa logo out. For dinner, as sometimes happens, I started towards one place and wound up in another, the Bistrot Saint-Dominique. I had fried mozzarella and a steak. I saw the Palais de Chaillot viewing of Brazil-Chile.

Rain during the night; I think it's cleared but I'm posting this in the morning from the hotel lobby.

Arrival in Paris

I'm in Paris; I'll go over the details of my flight and arrival.
My Delta flight from Kansas City to Minneapolis, scheduled for 12.17, posted a delay until 12.40, which was revised to 12.25 when the inbound made up much of the delay. Still, the door finally closed at 12.35 and it took off at 12.40. My seatmate was a man also going to Paris. Only water was served. The flight made up much of its delay, arriving at 1.53, scheduled time 1.45.

At MSP, I needed to get from the C to G concourse, and I had a pass to the SkyClub to use. I went there, took a glass of wine, and watched what I could of the U.S.-Ghana World Cup match. At 3 p.m., with a 1-1 tie, they called boarding for my flight. I'd had word that I really shouldn't try to push the time; with a 3.45 departure, even with regulation time expected to end around 3.20, by that time the door would be closed and no-shows bumped.

So I took my seat; the pilot made one announcement that the last he heard, the U.S. was leading 2-1, which turned out to be incorrect; it was Ghana that got that score in overtime and won. I took chicken rather than pasta for the dinner choice; wine is free on Delta transatlantic flights. I settled in with eyeshades on, but didn't really get to sleep much if at all. There was breakfast of a hot egg muffin and banana.

There were favorable winds, and the scheduled landing of 7.25 happened at 6.45. The plane stopped at a remote stand; we needed to go down the stairway and onto buses. That's a possibility that needs to be considered in the tight connections sometimes offered at Roissy-CDG airport. The bus circled to our terminal entrance, and we went through passageways to passport control and baggage claim. I was in the arrivals hall at the flight arrival time of 7.25.

Next were a couple of stops in the Galerie from Terminal 2E to 2F. I had wondered about buying a Paris Museum Pass with the least wait, and found that, at this early hour, I could do so right away at the airport tourist office. Next was the RoissyBus into Paris. I had learned to go to Galerie 5; the ticket machine was one of those that only takes coins and credit cards with chips (not most U.S. cards). I went out to what appeared to be the main bay for buses to stop, facing north as I could tell from the sun, but only a bus to Disneyland stopped there; the RoissyBus that I wanted stopped around the corner to the east. When that bus arrived I ran and tried to wave it down, but it didn't wait. Another 15 minutes to wait, but it was early and I wasn't in a hurry. At the next bus, I had my choreographed move to pay the driver with €20.10 and get €11 in change. The signs said to expect an hour drive, but with light Sunday morning traffic, it took 40 minutes to Opera. Most of the trip was a drab highway approach; in Paris it got interesting to see what types of storefronts remain the same, and what was new.

At Opera it was time to take the metro, and I'd been having trouble finding an answer to whether I could buy a carnet if I didn't have €11.60 in coins. There was a machine that took bills, but there was nothing on the screen, so I didn't want to chance it. There was, fortunately, a staffed booth, where the man took time to explain the route to Disneyland to a family ahead of me, but I could buy a carnet with a banknote. My fascination with the metro dates back to my year living in Paris when I was seven; here I saw new signage and a focus on line numbers rather than directions.

I got to the hotel, which I'd rather not name until I check out of it. It was before 9, and as I expected the room wasn't ready. They said it would be ready in half an hour; I took my netbook to the nearby Champ de Mars to try out the free wi-fi in parks. I took no part of someone trying to draw me into a scam of finding a gold ring on the ground. I got the wi-fi, knowing not to select the provider FreeWiFi, but Orange. I strolled some streets, with most shops closed on Sunday but some food markets active. The airline breakfast not having satisfied me, I had a croissant and coffee at a café. I got to my room, a small one, and found wi-fi not working there.
I had lunch at a café at a major intersection near the hotel; although I worried about overpricing, it was fine, a carpaccio. I’m planning to start the four days of the museum pass tomorrow; today I went to the Musée Carnavalet, which was free. I don’t remember being there before; it’s a museum of the history of Paris, and it gets more interesting as it goes along. The first displays were of period furniture; then there were paintings showing how Paris occupied much less area before the 19th century. Then there were displays on the French Revolution.

I walked around the Marais area; it was a hot day, and it was interesting to see how people dressed for it, and to guess at the Parisians doing it with more style. Since I first went around Paris as a small child, I had the habit of thinking a distance over two metro stops was too far to walk. For this trip I have a mind to walk more, and use one carnet this week. Now I decided to take the metro to FDR station (line 1 has interesting developments), and walk to the Palais de Chaillot, where World Cup matches were being shown on a big screen. It was a long walk in the heat, and I decided I didn’t want to stay in the viewing in the sun; I went through the Champ de Mars back to the hotel to see the second half.

Summer Europe trip: Back to thinking about it

It's been some time since I've discussed my summer trip to Europe. There will be healing aspects to it as my parents and I are in Italy together.

So what's developed: the other couple is confirmed as joining us; they will be the main car renters. The Italy part, staying in our house, will work itself out.

As Northwest has become fully merged into Delta, I've gotten occasional e-mails with flight time changes. For a time the outbound gave me 1 hr. 45 at Minneapolis airport before the transatlantic flight; that changed to give me a full two hours. I'd rather have more time, especially as I'm using up a SkyClub pass before the early boarding call for the flight, but it will work out.

Paris, where I'll be alone, needs the most planning: I have my plan charted to take the RoissyBus from the airport, then the metro. I'm hoping I can buy a metro carnet without €11.60 in coins. I have enough museum visits planned that the Paris Museum Pass will be worthwhile. That leaves me planning a trip to Chartres on the day of my evening flight to Rome. I'm thinking of using and acquiring tech tools to make the best use of them.

New year, new developments

I'm back from my year-end holiday trip to my parents' home in Vermont; the Southwest flights went smoothly on the fringes of weather problems. My sibling Flo joined us from Haiti for too short a time, coming from some tragic developments there. News around airline security: well, I don't want to get into my opinions about that here.

Anyway, focusing on my summer trip plans, I transferred some miles to my father's Delta account, so there would be miles for both parents to go to Italy if they could find the trip at a low miles price in one direction and medium in the other. We couldn't find the low miles at the start, but as of Jan. 1 there was low-mile availability to Milan going a little before I get to Paris, and we could use the medium miles to return from Rome at the same time. My father had some hesitation about going for that long, but finally went ahead and booked it. So I'm glad about that, feeling that it's nice that we could work it out while I was with them. Another couple, friends of theirs, may join us, so some details will depend on that.

With the new year, I went ahead and booked my Paris stay. In March I have the Slow Travel gathering in San Diego, with some details to work out there; most of the details about Europe planning can wait until after that.

Waiting it out

A few small things have happened as I wait to get further into planning my Paris-Italy trip. As Delta and Northwest merge their programs, there was for a few days a very generous posting of miles, which was a mistake in my favor, but it got corrected. I also hope the combined airline is learning to correct some high-profile things that happened with them: the plane where the pilots got so involved with their laptops that they overflew MSP, and the plane that landed on the taxiway at ATL.

There have been more minor changes in my itinerary: most notable is that my Paris-Rome flight has been moved still later, which could mean more complications depending what World Cup match is being played. Editing to add a key point: I learned of the renaming and re-assignment of the Rome FCO airport terminals, so my Air France flight will arrive at Terminal 1, the Alitalia and partners terminal, formerly Domestic Terminal A.

Frequent flyer adventures, part 2

Updating on my planned trip to Paris and Italy reported in my post of Sept. 12: I asked SlowTrav about whether to consider an apartment in Paris. There are some good points for families to stay in an apartment: to have more room and have some meals in. Going by myself, I'm used to spending five nights in a small room, and I'll mostly just be sleeping there. I'd certainly rather enjoy the cuisine of Paris than what I might put together; I'd probably just have one big meal a day, and make good use of crêpe stands. So I'm inclined to stay in the hotel that my parents recommended.

I got my first e-mail of a substantial change in my award reservation. Now the Northwest World Perks frequent flyer program has gone away, absorbed by Delta SkyMiles, but the NW airline and Web site are still around for a few months. The flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to Paris has been moved to a couple of hours earlier, and my flight connecting to it was changed a little, giving me 1 hr. 16 to connect to the transatlantic flight, less time than I'd like. That would probably work out, being June and early enough in the day to hope that not too many delays have accumulated, but I'd still be worrying, and I was wanting a long layover to make use of one of the SkyClub passes that I got with my Amex card.

My first thought was that, since this connecting time was still legal, I'd be charged a $100 change fee to change to an earlier flight out of Kansas City. I started looking at Delta's standby policy, in hopes of just getting on an earlier flight by asking that day; it seems that they've replaced standby with Same-Day Confirmed travel, where for $50 you can be confirmed on another flight starting three hours ahead of that flight. The problem with that is that they don't allow it, even on a domestic segment, if part of the itinerary is intercontinental.

I started going through the motions of changing the booking online, to see that I would indeed be charged the change fee. The result was that I would get that charge, but the miles price was given as (15,000), meaning the trip was now priced at 60K miles, and they would put 15K back into my account. I thought about it for a couple of hours, and went ahead and made the change to a first flight that gives me a 3+-hour layover. A mile valued at 1.5 cents is fair in the current market, and getting these miles back gives me some reason to add to the miles in the recently emptied account, for instance by continuing to take advantage of the free year of my Amex card which otherwise has a $95 fee.

After completing the change, I saw a message on the confirmation saying something like "Because of our schedule change, you may be able to change your flights without a fee." I watch for details, but did I miss this before I made my change? I later got some advice that this was a type of change to make by phone, and they might have waived the change fee. I much prefer making bookings online, but I made a phone call to see if I could get the fee waived. The first agent thought there couldn't be retroactive changes, even within 24 hours, but forwarded me to WorldPerks. As I'd often found with NW, that line gave me a message that they were too busy and ended the call rather than put me on hold. I started another call, where another agent advised me to make e-mail contact. I got a reply that started "If the change to the reservations were 1 hour or less there would be a charge to change the flights." I puzzled over that, and I guess that means (had some clarification in a follow-up) that since the time that their schedule change imposed out of Kansas City was less than an hour after what I initially booked, it doesn't allow a free change. I got an explanation of "Schedule change" options on the Web site, getting to be moot as the NW site goes away. Never mind that I got a short connecting time that I wanted to avoid, and the transatlantic flight time, from Midwest mid-afternoon to Paris at 7 a.m., is less favorable for sleeping and for finding a hotel room ready on arrival. It also occurred to me that I should have tried to change my Paris-Rome flight, but I'm of two minds about that.

So I guess that's how it stands. I fear more schedule changes as NW is fully absorbed into Delta, and I hope that doesn't make me pay another change fee or negate what I got for this. I haven't minded this fee too much, since I've gotten the better end of several deals with NW over the years.

Frequent flyer adventures

As I've given a lot of attention to practical travel matters, I continue to learn things. I've been able to take overseas award flights most years this decade with very little paid travel. Early in the decade I got several bonuses for changing my long distance phone service when I make little use of the phone; more recently bonuses for getting credit cards have earned me awards. In Northwest's program, I took award trips to Europe in 2007 and 2008, while my only miles-earning trips during that time were a couple of trips to Toronto and one to Savannah for the 2008 Slow Travel gathering. As the merger with Delta came into place, I started getting some small bonuses to revive my near-empty account with them, and the miles could be combined for a new transatlantic award. Here is a report on the trip that didn't happen as this is written in 2009, and the trip that I have booked for 2010.





The trip that didn't happen, Paris-Berlin 2009.





I was continuing to get bonuses on NW, mostly from restaurants on the Rewards Network list. I had dropped NW's Visa card when the annual fee came due in late 2008. NW appeared to consider me still a cardholder when their affiliation with that Visa ended, and they gave me an especially nice offer for the Delta American Express card. I regularly go to Italy in even-numbered years; I thought that if the opportunity came into place I could go elsewhere in Europe this year, and the chance of combining Paris and Berlin looked interesting. I have a history with Paris, having lived there a year as a child, and made frequent visits when I lived in Italy as a teenager. I haven't been to Berlin, and have gotten interested in visiting for several reasons. With the credit card bonus, I could make this trip.





The bonus for getting the credit card came in three sections. There was a warning to expect each to take 8-12 weeks to post, but the first two posted promptly. For the third, I needed to charge a certain amount in the first three months; I reached it by the second billing date in late June and was checking regularly to see if the bonus posted. Although people were saying that the two airlines' low-tier transatlantic award of 60,000 miles was getting nearly impossible to find, I was looking and finding availability for the 3-legged trip (that is, including a Paris-Berlin flight) at that level, leaving from St. Louis where I would be for a Slow Travel get-together on Aug. 30.





Even though NW and Delta are becoming the same airline, and until Aug. 31 miles could be transferred between programs, the two sites were often showing different award availability, and the NW site was easier to search for the 3-legged trip. The search involved some steps for which a lesson may not be that useful since the NW Worldperks program is set to go away in October, but in brief: select Multi-City and WorldPerks award, fill in the three city pairs, and note to change the default dates that they put in. Presumably a list by Lowest Miles for each segment is what would most interest people, but the list doesn't come this way; you need to select a button to have it sort with the Lowest Miles first. If the intra-Europe segment is at 12,500 miles, the whole trip prices at 60K.





On the Delta site, if you select the Multi-City option it doesn't show the price in miles of each segment. The way around this is to to search each segment first as a round trip and see which flights are in the low-miles bucket. A curiosity there is that for intra-Europe trips Delta's "taxes and fees" for an award trip were often more than the fare at which the trip could be booked for money on the Air France site. Both NW and Delta's sites were flaky about showing good availability once, then shortly afterwards not showing that flight available even at the high miles level. In particular NW's site was on and off about showing Air France flights.





I was trying not to search too often before I had the miles, but I kept doing it. Availability out of St. Louis went away, but I found it out of Chicago, where the transatlantic flight would be on Air France, which I'd prefer. As a contingency for this, I booked a (cancellable, funds could be used for later travel) St. Louis-Chicago flight on Southwest for $30, and I'd need to get from Midway to O'Hare airport. Another remaining alternative was to return home and fly out of Kansas City the next day; that itinerary would require changing Washington, D.C., airports. Those options went away and I was looking at leaving a week later, the latest option before there would be bigger problems in being away from work.





Usually the Paris-Berlin availability only showed for connections through Amsterdam; in fact, even though Air France was a partner and these airlines fly from their hubs to Paris, I was looking at all three legs connecting through AMS. Some options showed a long enough layover there after the overnight flight that I'd have considered a few hours at the Yotel in the terminal. Often the only non-stop Paris-Berlin flight with availability was at 7 a.m.; I first thought I'd rather connect through AMS than try that, then I got ready to go with that flight and stay on points at the airport Hilton the night before. People also said that going from central Paris to CDG airport by taxi or car service to make a flight at that time is fast, but it can be a problem to go by public transportation, as I'd prefer, at that hour.





The miles didn't post with my third statement in late July, and I started to get cold feet about making the trip. Although I could afford the costs on the ground, they would still be substantial at a time that I should be thinking more about saving for retirement. Silly as it seems, what really turned me against this trip was hearing a story on public radio that the Berlin S-Bahn train was having problems and service had been cut back. If I go to Germany, I want to see efficient public transportation!





So in early August, I booked a trip to see my family in Vermont the first week of September. On Aug. 7, the miles finally posted and out of curiosity I searched and found that there was still availability for this trip leaving the first weekend of September, but I'd decided not to take it and was otherwise committed. It was hard to believe that I was still accumulating miles to this extent, but surely if I used the miles this year, next year's trip to Italy would need to be paid. Now I had the miles for my 2010 trip to Italy with a stopover in Paris. Berlin will need to wait.





The trip that's booked: Italy with a stopover in Paris, 2010





Before I had the final bonus, I transferred all my NW miles to Delta because that's where the credit card bonus would go. When that bonus took me over 60K, I transferred that amount to NW because of their easier booking. When another bonus for partner transactions with Delta posted before the Aug. 31, I made another transfer to have 75K with NW.





So there were considerations in when to go to Italy. There's a small window of time when the family house isn't rented before the height of summer. I could wait for a trip in September or later, but there was some appeal to booking while the better NW site is up and while Continental is still a partner (that ends in late October): having them with one connection in Newark as an option is nice.





While watching U.S. Open tennis on television in my parents' home, having briefly talked about when the Italy house would be available, I couldn't resist searching on a laptop for current availability for this trip. I found it for early summer dates, going to Paris first, at 75K. Maybe I could have waited to find something at 60K, but it was hard to wait much longer, and, as I prefer, these transatlantic flights are without a change in Europe. In fact I think this availability showed because the Minneapolis-Paris and Rome-Detroit flights had just been put back on the schedule. These were booked as NW flights but it appears that only the Delta name will be in place then, and I'm expecting to see big schedule changes before I go.





For Paris-Rome, I only needed a flight with medium-tier award availability, and maybe the choices were limited because of momentary site flakiness and I should have waited. There were options to connect through Amsterdam, which seems really out of the way, and others to connect through Lyon or Bordeaux; one option was to stay overnight in Lyon and leave late enough the second day to see some of Lyon, probably not a good way for a Slow Traveler to make a one lifetime visit. Having a connection on these flights also adds to the fees on an award ticket. I considered flying to Florence, but I went with the one non-stop to Rome that was showing, in the evening, so if I'm going alone I'll probably stay at a Rome airport Hilton. Then I noted that World Cup quarterfinals will be in progress; if France or Italy are playing it will be interesting trying to get service, and I'll be wanting access to TV too. If I'd waited to book, maybe I could have found a more convenient flight time, but it would have meant devoting the full day to the relocation; as I have it, I can do things in Paris before leaving.





While I was booking, there was also the option for my parents to book their award and join me, just for the Italy part. It would require a transfer of miles, at a cost but for now with a bonus, from mother to father. I was finding availability at 60K from Boston or a closer airport but connecting through Detroit (an indication that the reinstated flight was the key). When I changed it to search availability for two people, it was no longer showing. So their plans are on hold; I have hope that there's time for this to become available at the lower mile level. People worry about Delta showing much availability; my experience is that airlines in general improve their award availability in January for summer travel.





So, thinking about non-airline matters, for Paris my parents recommend a hotel, but I also need to be open to the SlowTrav style of apartment stays. I have a long list of museums I want to see, and I need to see if the Paris Museum Pass makes sense. My stay in Italy will be shaped by whether my parents are there; I'll need to consider whether to spend the whole time in the Umbertide house with a few excursions around Umbria and nearby Tuscany, or take other trips around. Arriving on Friday night, do I rent a car at the airport although I try to avoid the surcharge, or do I take the train to, say, Perugia, to rent the car before the Saturday midday closing? Or spend time in Rome before going to Umbria? Things to consider.