Paris, not keeping too busy

 The main things to report for Wednesday and Thursday:

A walk in Montmartre, starting from the risqué Pigalle area to the quiet picturesque back streets climbing to Sacré-Coeur.

A more genuine windmill

Vineyard within Paris

In the afternoon, the Petit Palais for the show on Sarah Bernhardt, the great actress who also became a managerial figure in French theatre, dying a century ago.  The show had many memorabilia of her, including costumes: here’s one of Cleopatra:

The next day, we went to the Ile de la Cité to see Notre-Dame from the outside as it’s being rebuilt, and then the Sainte-Chapelle.  We had reserved tickets, waiting outside for our time with the security check for a short time inside.

Crossing the Pont Neuf to the Left Bank, we had our fill of steak frites at Brasserie Le Nesle.

A couple of practical notes: like in Amsterdam, card payments are accepted for small amounts, but I haven’t seen staffed places be cashless.  On arriving at the Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau station for the Petit Palais, again I saw turnstiles taped off and people going around them; when we entered the station after the show, the turnstiles were operating and they were new: I guess a couple of times we happened on situations where people got free rides as the new gates were being installed.

Gettting to Paris

 It was nice interesting that for an Air France departure from the U,S. check-in opened 30 hours before departure. Even if a Business Class upgrade offer was out of our reach, we could manage to pay a little for seats in the front row of the main cabin, and we took that offer that showed up at check-in. 

We got the bus to Boston Logan Airport, check-in was normal, and we found that, at Terminal E, used almost only for international flights, a domestic flight on Sun Country Airlines was at our gate, delayed over four hours.  There was no alternative gate for our flight, so the inbound aircraft needed to wait, delaying the cleanup for our flight and everything after that.  

We boarded and found it nice to have the front row economy seats. Even if it was billed as standard legroom, it felt better to have the wall in front rather than a row of seats, and the third person in the aisle had infinite legroom.  I heard not to have great expectations of AF’s food, and the chicken rice pilaf was ok. I pretty much didn’t sleep, but the flight was short enough and it was nice to have the A350’s big windows. The screen also had a camera view of the takeoff and landing. 

We arrived about an hour late.  We were at Hall M of  Paris CDG Airport Terminal 2E.  It took several turns and descents to get to the underground train to Hall K to start our way out.  There was the odd setup where we needed to start one way to turn around and choose which lane to take based on passport nationality.  For those that qualified, including the U.S., we went through e-gates, putting the passport on a reader while our faces are read to determine a match.  Then there was a hall with signs to the different baggage carousels (our bags were ready).  It was about an hour after arrival that we got into the taxi line; there were many people but it moved quickly.  We noted the chill in the air after we came from a hot spell in Vermont. We got into a taxi and it took over an hour in rush hour traffic to get to our hotel in Montparnasse.  

The desk agent said the room would be ready shortly, but I reminded her that I’d booked the previous night.  We got what was called an upgraded room, maybe slightly bigger than the basic.  Even this modern hotel had the traditional French practice of a toilet room separate from the bathroom. The neighborhood has a lot of modern buildings, with the Tour Montparnasse and other high-rises nearby.

After some rest, we took some walks around the neighborhood, including the historic theatre street Rue de la Gaîté.  

The next day, our main outing was to the Musée Marmottan-Monet; in many visits to Paris, often focusing on museums, I don’t remember having been there, and we liked the good collection with several Monets.  We went there with a Bolt rideshare and returned on the métro, having bought Navigo Easy cards that can be loaded with tickets.  At La Muette station, the turnstiles were taped off and people went around them, so no fare was taken from the cards; I don’t know if we missed some procedure that we needed to follow.

As we sometimes like to do even if it’s against local custom, we had one main meal in the mid-afternoon, Chez Papa near our hotel.

Pissarro painting; I hesitate to take pictures in museums.

Planning the spring 2023 trip: really, another cruise?

 We got home in November 2022 with good thoughts about our river cruise experience, and the benefits of becoming repeat customers with Uniworld were also appealing.  There was one offer that expired the day after our return, too soon to think about doing this.  

Just a little later, there was another sale offer for the Bordeaux cruise, which is where I was focused, an area of France where I haven't been and has been of interest to me.  As I remember, I initiated a booking on the budget deck and it was showing sold out, but I contacted them and they got us a cabin.

As we booked the cruise, it was uncertain what the rest of the trip would be.  First, for the flight over, I was planning to convert credit card points to airline miles.  Among Chase's partners, being based in the U.S. for a transatlantic trip, I think first of United, but as their transatlantic miles price is usually over 30,000 miles each way, I was finding better deals on Europe-based partners.  I first looked at Aer Lingus to go from Boston to Bordeaux via Dublin, but it became clear that there could be problems being on an island and something going wrong with the one flight to Bordeaux.

Seeing that Air France via Paris would be better, it gradually came to be that we could spend about a week in Paris before the cruise.  Even after using IHG points for the stay in Amsterdam, the leftover points, annual free nights for having two credit cards with them, and a 10% rebate of the Amsterdam points meant that we'd have a free Paris stay just by buying a small number of points at the cost of less than a night.  We'd be convenient to Gare Montparnasse, where we could experience the TGV train to Bordeaux.

On the Flying Blue program, a one-way Boston-Paris flight could be had for 17K miles; I think it helps that Boston is in a lower-distance mile band.  There was also a bonus for converting American Express Membership Rewards. (I should also note that there's a money component to award booking, larger than with U.S.-based airlines.) I started the booking, and with a confirmation code there was an error message that I needed to call.  I understand that this is common with award bookings on points just transferred from another program, an effort to watch for fraud.  It took a few calls, some cut off, but the outbound was booked.

I was still thinking in terms of some time in Italy after the Bordeaux cruise, but it came to be that we didn't want to be away for so long, and there weren't great options for getting from Bordeaux to Rome or another Italian gateway.  We finally decided just to return home after the cruise, a connection from Bordeaux via Paris, and I completed that reward booking with a similar need to call.

In both directions, we were booked on the later of Air France's two flights on the route.  In late December, I got a notice that our flights had been changed: those flights were taken off the schedule for those days.  We were on the earlier flights, and that's how the outbound stayed, but a few days later I got an email in Spanish with a link to AF's Mexican site saying the original flight was cancelled, and not showing us having anything.  The originally rebooked flights were still on the timetable, and I made a call that got that reinstated.  There was another notice changing our flight out of Bordeaux to something still earlier, and the cruise line will probably want us up really early for their transfer to the airport.  Oh, and our bid for an upgraded stateroom was approved, much closer to the cruise start than it was last time.

Going over, our flight arrival is set for 6 a.m., and I was able to add an IHG free night so our room is booked for the previous night and we can have it ready on arrival.  We look forward to interesting times, having seen about the ongoing protests in Paris, apparently generally not affecting travelers all that much, and we don't have too much of an agenda.

But back to the plans to go to Italy: we're looking for a trip there in September.  Margaret has been looking to take Business Class when possible; I look at Flying Blue's Promo Rewards every month, and I understood I was seeing a good deal out of Montreal, which is about the same distance as Boston for us.  With a bonus for converting Chase points to Flying Blue, I booked a September trip in Business going over and Premium Economy on the return, looking good even though there is a notable monetary component to the booking.  I later learned that these didn't meet the definition of Promo Rewards; they're the low end of the dynamic rewards pricing, but we'll make the best of it.  Also, I completed the booking, after sleeping on it for a night, on the day that Flying Blue started charging for seat assignments on awards, but then they got the system fixed so they didn't charge on North American routes.

The return home

 For the start of our return home, we had arranged with a driver Barbara had recommended to pick us up at the hotel at 8.15.  He kept us updated on the phone, the construction on the street delaying him by a few minutes, and we started the trip with him needing to back up the Mercedes van some distance on the lane turned to dirt by the construction.

We arrived at Schiphol airport at 9, and it was a pretty smooth check-in and trip to the gate. I'd heard that most of the epic problems at the airport were resolved, but once in a while there was a bad day.  We'd taken the cautious approach of arriving early, there were two flights at our gate before ours, the last one delayed in leaving the gate so we needed to move to another one.

The flight to Madrid on Iberia Express had a few minutes delay and they charged for food and drink.  When I bought a Croque Monsieur I was worried about not getting it right away, but it was cooked in the galley after the order.  Even though this was a Schengen flight it arrived at the 4S satellite terminal at Madrid, and there was a long trip, with a curving underground train, to get to the main Terminal 4 and baggage claim.  This is quite a large terminal complex used mostly by Iberia.

We got the baggage and, as we'd decided, left our checked bags in the left luggage office.  Even going with just our carry-on backpacks and taking a taxi, the trip was stressing us: there were many taxis but also a long line of people, but it moved quickly, with dispatchers directing us to cabs.  Our driver turned on the meter to the fixed €30 fare and, like on the return trip, took reckless moves.

Maybe it would have been better to stay at an airport hotel and have it optional to go into the city, but it was a nice enough night, on an award, at the Indigo Gran Via, centrally located.  Even arriving after 4, the room wasn't ready yet, but it was ready quickly.  I just made a brief stroll out, spotting a red carpet event practically next door and looking into the very busy El Corte Inglés department store and its food court at the top.  The city was full of people out.

View from the store at sunset

We decided to have a room service meal, and later I had the free drink that was offered at the rooftop bar with this view:

In the morning we picked up croissants and coffee from a bar, then got a taxi to the airport.  I got the bags from left luggage, found the designated bank of counters for our flight, then learned there was another bank for Business Class check-in.  When check-in was done, it was still a long trip to the satellite terminal and we didn't have that much time in the lounge, where I needed some of the time to deactivate my Italian phone plans and change SIM cards.

We got to the gate and boarded our Business Class seats, I think Margaret's first time ever in that class, and my first since true lie-flat seats became the standard.  Margaret liked having a window seat by itself, and we liked the food and drink selections, my main course being a beef cheek dish.  We'll consider it a great flight, even if there were problems navigating the TV screen and getting usable Wi-Fi.

We landed in Boston, a delay getting to the gate meant we couldn't get the ideal shuttle bus to our home area, but fine to wait another hour, and we were home and the trip was done.  This trip covered a range of memorable experiences, in generally mild weather, and we'll try to think of what to do next.

Amsterdam, Finishing Up

 A few things to note about these few days in Amsterdam: on Monday we explored the Jordaan neighborhood, more with locals, and found some street markets and more canal views.

About the popularity of bicycles, I can show the multi-level bike parking lot at Centraal Station.

Instructions for the IJ ferry are only in Dutch, saying that one side was only for fietsers, which was the first Dutch word I learned on a warning sign entering Belgium at age seven: bicyclists. 

Tuesday we went to the Rijksmuseum; rather than the easy metro or tram we were looking for the taxi or Bolt. Going over although I’d established where the taxi stand was, there were no cabs there, and I got a Bolt car to arrive.

We hadn’t previously established a time to reserve a visit, and needed to figure out that tickets could be bought at the museum shop outside for immediate entry.  We ate at the museum cafe, with ordering and payment entirely done by QR code.  We had the great art works to see in the museum, but the crowds were a distraction.

At the end, calling a Bolt again, we didn’t know about the designated pickup spot on a side street, and when we found the car the driver was taking off saying he’d cancelled.  We did another call: just the wait was much longer than a public transportation trip would be, but the road routes gave us interesting looks at the city.

One more observation is that most payments here are cashless: the bakery where we get coffee and croissants demands payment by card.

One more walk to get pictures of Dam square:

We have a driver booked and hoping for the best for going to Madrid tomorrow for a night before returning home, hoping for the best.

Amsterdam and its challenges

The cruise arrived in the early morning and people could sit comfortably in the lounge until the time they’d chosen to leave, when Uniworld handled the luggage and and arranged car service rides to people’s various hotels.  While Barbara had her own B&B, we were booked, based on the co-brand credit card’s opening bonus, at the Kimpton De Witt Hotel.  It is near Centraal Station on one of the bigger streets, but that street was torn up for construction and there were complications in getting there.

 The room wasn’t ready; we walked a little on the touristed nearby streets, where shops often pandered to the vices Amsterdam is known for, and eventually with some prodding from us the room was ready.  It was nice to have more space than on the cruise stateroom, but it was back to the reality of spending money, which we effectively hadn’t done in the last week.

After a little wandering during the day, we agreed to meet Barbara at the Bistro Bonjour French restaurant.   For trips of a certain length, I had the Bolt app that I heard was more recommended than Uber for a rideshare service.  When I requested the ride, it went through several drivers all “unable to accept.”

I had the idea to go to Centraal Station where surely we’d find regular taxis. On the plaza in front of the station, the only vehicles were trams; there was no sign of automobile traffic.  At Margaret’s suggestion, I tried Bolt again and got a ride accepted at a meeting place in front of the adjacent Ibis hotel.  That was the one acceptable ride app experience to date (a regular taxi called by the Bolt app) although it was worrisome to pass bicycles on the narrow canal streets. We still got to the restaurant by the appointed time, and had a nice French meal: prix fixe, main course of chicken with good-flavored sauces.

With the thought that drivers weren’t accepting the rides from the hotel because of our torn-up street and the difficulty of getting there, we tried Bolt again for the return.  We continued to get refusals, and decided to get a tram from the bridge where we were; there wasn’t a ticket machine at the stop but I had downloaded the GVB transit authority’s app, where I needed to enter a credit card number to get tickets with QR codes and start the 1-hour validity.  Then we need to check in and out of the tram; they’ve recently allowed doing it ourselves but it’s confusing how to position the phone.  I understand there is the option of buying on board from the conductor if applicable or the driver.

The next day, Saturday, with a day mostly of strolling, we talked of having an Indonesian meal;  I remembered eating at Sampurna, which was open through the afternoon.  For going there, I had downloaded the regular taxi app, hoping to have better luck.  It works like the other apps and once again we kept having drivers cancel.  I tried from the plaza in front of the train station, no better luck, and it wasn’t clear if automotive traffic could go on the side of the street where we were waiting.  I asked a hotel concierge, who said it was best to go to the next block and hail one.  We did indeed find a taxi waiting, which we took in desperation even as the driver quoted a high fare because of a closed street.  The main taxi stand at Centraal is on the opposite side of the tracks, facing the harbor.

Our dining experience was less than ideal; even mid-afternoon there was a wait to be seated and the staff were facing some challenges.  It was time to say goodbye to Barbara, returning home on Sunday.

Another thing Saturday while I was off on my own was that it was time to return the HipPocket Wi-Fi device, which had served us well on the cruise. I was looking for a mailbox for the postpaid envelope, and it was hard to find one.  Google Map searches were leading me astray, such as to addresses that were no longer package handling places, and the post office in the station seemed to be in the area limited to ticketed passengers clearing turnstiles. I didn’t really know what a Dutch mailbox should look like, but I finally found one by a tram stop in front of the station.

I knew to expect heavy bicycle traffic, but on this trip I’m impressed by the number of people walking in the streets.  The pedestrian streets are full, but so are the wide sidewalks on the broader boulevards.  The main other place where I’ve noted so many people out was Haiti, which I’d consider such a different society.

On Sunday, I’ll briefly mention seeing the Eye Filmmuseum, accessed by taking the free ferry, accessed by a free ferry across the IJ harbor channel, pronounced like the English Eye, making the museum name pun on that along with the shape of the building.

Then we had the canal tour, nice to get that overview but I couldn’t get the best pictures.  The narrowest house in Amsterdam:

Cologne and approach to Amsterdam

 We docked in Cologne during the night and there was an early call for breakfast as we were getting things done early to be sure we’d complete the long trip to Amsterdam in time for some passengers to make their flights.  We were out on a walking tour at 8.30, before much had opened, and had a bit to see of the center of this big city, much of it with postwar reconstruction, the guide telling us of a few oddities, many centered on critical details that were missed in getting something to function.  He provided some jelly donuts. We got to the Cathedral; I remembered seeing the spires when my family drove by on the Autobahn when I was seven, and now it was impressive to look inside, however briefly.

Cologne was a city I’d wanted to see for a long time, but this visit was rushed, with the ship needing to leave before noon.  As we are on this afternoon sailing, I can report preliminary thoughts on the cruise.  It was nice to be on this all-inclusive cruise with plentiful food options and all drinks included.  It’s also unique to be able to wake up in different towns without needing to pack and move bags.  On the other hand, I’m not generally a fan of going on guided tours, and I felt the pressure of having limited time, especially in Cologne.

We’ve had our nice Captain’s final reception and dinner, now looking forward to our time in Amsterdam.