Places
ATW-2 Day 14: Ange to Paris, France
We were sad to leave our home for 3 days in Ange, Le Clos des Epinettes. We had the basement in-law apartment which suited us perfectly. Full kitchen, comfortable bed, clean bathroom. The hosts, Michel and Didier, were wonderful too. The only complaint we had was the size of the bath towels – too small. … Continue reading
ATW-2 Day 13: Ange, France
The weather did not cooperate today – it was cold, windy and rained intermittently all day. Not a fun day for sightseeing. But, after breakfast in our suite, we ventured out to see the sights of Blois. The main goal was to see the Blois Cathedral. We achieved that goal by parking the car about … Continue reading
ATW-2 Day 12: Ange, France
Another rainy day. It did dry out some in the afternoon, though, so it wasn’t a complete washout. After breakfast in our kitchen we drove to Tours, about 50 minutes away, with the intention of viewing the Tours Cathedral. We did do that, eventually, but it was hosting a funeral when we arrived, so we … Continue reading
ATW-2 Day 11: Chambery to Ange, France
We had breakfast at the hotel, packed, said fond farewells to the staff and left on a long (almost 8 hours door-to-door) trip to Ange in the Loire Valley. The hotel in Chambery – Ibis Budget Hotel Sud Chambery Challes-les-Eaux. We loved this place! Booking it was a bit of a risk. It was inexpensive … Continue reading
ATW-2 Day 10: Chambery, France
The weather in Europe has been quite nice. Right up until that white-knuckle trip over the fog-shrouded pass from Italy to France. Since then it has been dreary: cold with intermittent showers. Almost no sun. And the forecast for the entire week in France is not promising. It rained nearly all day the one day … Continue reading
ATW-2 Day 9: Genoa, Italy, to Chambery, France
I will explain the story behind the picture at the top in a minute. But I will start at the Best Western CHC Genova Airport Hotel – the expensive one-nighter. We felt considerably more positively toward it after breakfast which was simply one of the finest breakfasts I have had anywhere. Perhaps the finest free … Continue reading
ATW-2 Day 8: Rome to Genoa, Italy
Our two nights in Rome were at the Grand Olympic Hotel. We hated that the hotel was being renovated and weren’t impressed with the renovated room, but we loved the breakfast buffet and, for us, the price was right. 4 out of 10. After breakfast I had to find my way to the Budget rental … Continue reading
ATW-2 Day 7: Rome, Italy
This was a BIG sightseeing day. Arguably the biggest sightseeing day ever and a very successful one. But it started poorly. We both woke up with raging headaches, presumably from a severe caffeine deficit. So, at 6:30am Rome time (and who knows what time our bodies thought it was as we were very jet-lagged), we … Continue reading
ATW-2 Day 6: Chengdu, China, to Rome, Italy
Another 11-hour flight, another night with virtually no sleep. I didn’t expect that the flights from Sydney to Rome would be fun and I was right. We were both very, very tired by the time we landed. But thrilled to have made it to Rome. We arrived at 7:30am, Rome time. But our bodies were … Continue reading
ATW-2 Day 4: Sydney, Australia, to Chengdu, China
This was a travel day, but we had a late flight – 9:20pm – so we had nearly a full day in Sydney. We had breakfast with Leo and Gloria again, packed and checked out by 10am. We confirmed on the hotel scale that our bags were (barely) under the 50-pound airline limit. We had … Continue reading