WTF-Beta

@steve-miller You know, I’ve never had a bad one!

@wtg I have an Apple Maps Guide I’ve started with different places folks have recommended or that I’ve found while poking around online. About 1/3 of them are chocolate shops To be honest the reason I have so many is because I adore hot chocolate so it will replace gelato for my mid day travel treat! I am sure I won’t be able to resist picking up some solid chocolates as well though!

@bernard I’m so happy to hear that the concert at Sainte Chappelle was memorable! I will definitely book it now that I have confirmation that it’s a good experience. I am always a bit nervous about how touristy these little concerts in amazing venues will be (and usually book them anyway!) To be fair, we have only had one bad experience (Vienna Musikverein) and the venue was so stunning (and the acoustics so brilliant) that it was still worthwhile to go!

@adagiom We won’t be climbing the Eiffel Tower but I’m very excited about seeing it in general! I read Eiffel’s Tower by Jill Jonnes and that added to my desire to visit. Right now Versailles is one of the places we have left off our list. We didn’t want to give up a full day in Paris for it and while I know Versailles is THE palace to visit, palaces in general are never our favourite. We will save it for a second trip!

Replaceable You by Mary Roach. Her books are always educational and highly engaging. I listen to them and she does an excellent job reading her own work. This one is about prosthetics, organ donation, and other means of replacing human parts. Very interesting (and often hilarious). I have enjoyed all of her previous books, though Stiff might be my favourite.

For those who enjoy puzzles, I have recently become obsessed with Murdoku. They are kind of a cross between sudoku and a logic puzzle. I have two of the books (a third is in preorder). You can also try them online. I did online first and then ordered the books (trying to stay off devices). I find them easier to do on paper. I highly recommend them! https://murdoku.com/?lang=en

Thanks, John! We have already planned to go to the Catacombs. We went to the Sedlec Ossuary when we were in Prague, and the Catacombs sound like a similar idea on a larger scale. I looked at Musee de La Musique but I think it’ll have to wait until another trip - but it’s on my list of things to consider if the weather is truly terrible one day so our afternoon non-plans of wandering whichever neighbourhood aren’t ideal! I love the Canal St Martin boat tour idea! I’ll look into that. Thank you!

I want someone to do a study of folks who play board games as a serious hobby and see if that has impact. I spend so much time learning new rules, mechanics, symbology, and strategies for various games I have to think it counts for something!

We had a complete change of heart and decided to avoid heat by trying travelling during my March Break rather than July. So we are going to Paris for 7 days in March. We haven’t been!

We already have our hotel booked on Rue Cler and have a pretty good itinerary sketched out. We love all art museums so that has our mornings pretty much locked in so we can do first entry to the Louvre, L’Orangerie, D’Orsay, and Musée Marmottan Monet. Hotel Des Invalides (Rob is ridiculously excited about the military museums there). We will do a food tour in Le Marais and in Montmartre for two evenings. Possibly an evening concert at Sainte Chappelle. At this point we are trying to eliminate what we won’t have time to see rather than looking for stuff to do! But I know many of you have been and I think maybe @jon-nyc lived there for a time so throw any great tips my way!

I am so glad you have landed somewhere safely and happily!

4 3 2

@CHAS said:

Hope you have a great time and that you post pictures on your return.
We were going there until Bob has some trouble.

I’m sorry to hear that. I hope at some point you can revisit that plan.

And you remind me I need to write up an Italy post with photos. I’ll try to get that done this week!

@jon-nyc said:

Either way you can’t really go wrong. While I’ve never cruised there, I’ve visited all the Baltic port cities you’d likely stop at on a cruise and it’s probably a decent way to see them. (I wonder if those cruises are still stopping in St Petersburg?).

I also did a trip a couple of years ago with the boy where we did Oslo-Bergen-Stockholm. While in Bergen we did a fjord cruise which was by far and away the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever taken in

Personally I’d probably lean toward the latter type of trip (land based with day cruises) but that’s just me. Summer in those cities is lovely and you can tour around them comfortably on an ebike.

We do love the unpack once benefit of cruising so that’s why we are leaning that way. We also do not drive in Europe so it limits small towns for us. We love public transit so the British Isles is more where we are thinking land based. Considering how well travelled you are hearing your perspective of the scenery of the fjords is really helpful! Thank you!

@DougG said:

I did the mail route up the west coast of Norway in ….1987.
we combined it with the train trip from Bergen to Oslo. Probably my favorite trip of my life, certainly the most scenic.

Oh I have looked at the train extension as well and it looks brilliant. I appreciate you weighing in as it being memorable!

We have recently returned from Italy so now I’m travel planning again! It was (expectedly) ridiculously hot while we were travelling but, since I can only travel in the summer, we choose between comfort and destination. Next time, we are hoping to travel someplace cooler, so we are looking at cruising somewhere in the Baltics, Scandinavia, Iceland, and maybe the northern British Isles. We also have Havila Cruises on our radar, which is a ferry that does the mail route up the west coast of Norway. A different experience than a traditional cruise, but it looks amazing. We are only looking at smaller ship cruises (Viking and Oceania). Currently whatever itinerary we look into deeply becomes the one we want to do next so we are having trouble deciding. This would be for about two weeks in July 2028 (Italy is expensive so we are taking a year off of major travel to bulk up our travel account again).

Any insights from our travellers that might push us in one direction or another?

I haven’t done an ocean cruise but we LOVE river! I really want to hear your impressions of AMA when you return as well. The good thing about the Rhône is that it is generally high rather than low so the current issues shouldn’t affect you!

I’ve heard great things about AMA! We recently sailed Uniworld and now that I can compare two lines I have realized that all of the ones on that tier are fantastic but unique and which one is “best” is going to depend on what is important to each person. But all of them are fantastic!

Which river are you sailing? I want to know all the things!

@AdagioM said:

Well, it’s already booked for fall, so I hope it happens in a reasonable way!

The river can change suddenly so you still might be okay! Who are you sailing with?

@wtg said:

About the tariffs on alcohol...

https://theconversation.com/trumps-new-tariffs-give-ontario-and-quebec-the-perfect-excuse-to-sell-their-unsold-american-booze-287930

Anecdotally, folks in my area are fine with them putting US booze back on the shelves to placate the US, though most people say they wouldn’t buy it anyway. I’ve heard folks suggest that we should put it back on shelves but on the bottom shelf, which I think is a great gesture.

I loved our river cruises but water levels are so unpredictable I’m not sure I would book one, especially in the summer, right now. Last year we cruised the Danube and had low water on the east end, but we just had to embark a couple hours down the river so it didn’t change much. This year is very different.

This is all so frustrating but what drives me most crazy is the dairy. We do let dairy in - but only a small amount because we make our own. Dairy is not something we need to import. And the safety inspections and requirements differ here so that’s another layer. I don’t understand the idea that another country should be required to import stuff we don’t need.

Moon

@wtg said:

549, no signs of letting up.

@dolmansaxlil - how bad is it up by you?

Sorry - I was in Italy where the air was lovely! However, on the 16th we were at 490 at home so glad I wasn’t there.