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Liberty, Frugality, and the Family: Paris 2012 and London afterwards
We got back last night. I have soup simmering in the pot, hand imported tea in my cup. A cold front just moved in, and icy rain is beating on the window. Time to jot some things down.
One aims to inform and amuse in these reports. I find that reading about other peoples' annoyances and inconveniences is always fun, so will avoid monotonous sunniness. Our 22 year old daughter, MC, is spending the school year as an English language assistant in the Hautes-Alpes. The Christmas holidays have always been a big deal for us, and my husband (let's call him "Bob") and our 21 year old daughter H both had breaks from their schools. We had BA avios burning a hole in our pockets. Though never allowed to ask for time off during Christmas at my job, I gave it a try and got the same three weeks off that H did from her university. All right: we'll rendezvous with MC in Paris, Bob will return to work after ten days, and the girls and I will have some time together in London. I've always liked BA, and our balance of avios added to the illusion that we could afford this trip. Our flights over, AA from STL to ORD and then BA from ORD to LHR, went well. However, when H and I returned yesterday, we sat on the LHR tarmac for almost four hours while they tried to fix a brake problem, sent off for an entire assembly and installed it. I believe in working brakes, but: doesn't it make sense to fix your plane before filling it to the bursting point with whiny humans? |
I believe in working brakes, but: doesn't it make sense to fix your plane before filling it to the bursting point with whiny humans?>>
yes it's so obvious isn't it, and yet they never seem to factor that in. I'm sorry that you aren't able to give us monotonous sunniness as it implies things went wrong; I'm hoping for some sunny interludes at least. great start any way - keep it coming. |
Yes, do please keep it coming as time permits.
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Looking forward to hearing about Paris and the music.
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looking forward to hearing about your trip!
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I can't wait to find out what France is like. :-)
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Signing on for the ride.
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Your plane from LHR to ORD was no doubt the same aircraft that arrived from ORD that morning. Probably the arriving pilot reported mushy brakes or s/he made a hard landing, requiring an inspection.
At that point, either the mechanic/supervisor or the departing pilot decided to do a brake job. Under some circumstances, the departing pilot could simply have put it on his non-critical out of service list. Planes take off every day with things not working. They just can't be _critical_ things, and the pilot has the ultimate decision. The good news: by doing it at LHR, they had all the parts available, not something very likely if they had to pull it out of service at ORD. Twice I have had to wait while airlines flew in parts, and they come on the next scheduled flight, not by some unscheduled emergency airlift. When the next flight is next day, you get to spend the night in a hotel. The takeaway here is that no airline these days has lots of extra airplanes just sitting around waiting to replace an aircraft that has a problem. BA most certainly had/has extra aircraft, but not necessarily aircraft you would want to fly over the arctic. |
Thank you, Ann, taconict, opald, crazyf4, and Nikki. You are good and kind. Kerouac will be happy to hear that Paris is, if anything, lovelier than ever.
Ackislander, I appreciate that explanation. Having seen the Liam Neeson movie with the wolves, I especially wouldn't want plane trouble over the Arctic. I suppose we couldn't have waited in the terminal because invariably someone would wander off? I remain a BA fan. The crew were adorable: the announcements from the cockpits, the flight attendants who remained smiling and professional after 12 hours' worth of disgruntled huddled masses. I like being surrounded by youth and beauty as much as the next person (unless he is male), and admired their maquillage and coiffures. I had ordered the Hindu diet for the flight over, and the Asian Veg on return. Delicious. |
Yes, you should have been able to wait in the terminal. With the new regulations and fines in the US you probably would have been waiting in the terminal there. Note that even if they swap planes you can still wind up waiting. At boarding time for my recent Miami-Rio flight we were waiting for the plane to be brought over from the hanger, and then we had to wait on board for the service log to catch up with it. And for a minor mechanical to get fixed.
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I had so much valuable advice for this trip. Some I copied without noting the source, and am grateful to all.
Having secured time off from work and plane tickets, I began the search for lodging by early summer. I had never realized before that the holidays are highest Paris tourist season, but when I started looking at VRBO and other vacation rental sites, I saw that our dates, December 23 through January 2, were at the highest premium. (See the "frugality" part of the title.) We'd used airbnb.com with success in Chicago and Madison WI, and I had booked MC a room in Nice through them, so I spent a lot of time looking there. You pay the entire amount in advance, not great for large amounts so far in advance, but I like that they don't release the $ to host until after you've been there a day. I read the reviews carefully, considering only those with several good ratings, discounting complaints on the level of "the towels didn't match" and steering clear of any host who had ever canceled a booking less than a few months in advance. I also look at square meters for reasonable spaciousness. For Paris, we settled onwww.airbnb.com/rooms/218151 booked/paid by midsummer. We loved this place. The photos give an accurate idea of the airy beauty and calm aesthetics of the place, and it's just around the corner from the beautiful Place des Vosges yet on a quiet residential street. (It is on the ground floor, and there's a Catholic elementary school on the corner, but that was closed for holidays.) The price was extremely right and not inflated for season. As always, there are minor quirks when staying in someone's place. I'd be happy to discuss if anyone wants more detail: [email protected]. I looked at airbnb for London, but didn't find anything compelling. Hotwire.com had a good deal on what turned out to be the Doubletree Hilton on Southampton Row, so booked H and my last four nights there. When I know MC could come for five nights in London, I got us a basic triple at the Arran House, (£110/night including breakfast) where we'd stayed six years ago and loved. arranhotel-london.com/ More about these later, but they were both just fine. Bob, H, and I were to arrive at LHR early morning Dec. 23, and our Paris apartment was to be available by noon. I didn't find any good flights to CDG, so we decided to take the Piccadilly Line to St. Pancras, then Eurostar. That worked fine, and gave Bob a little taste of London. Thanks to TimS for help on estimating travel times both ways, and to flanner for mentioning the necessity of getting Eurostar tickets well in advance for holiday travel. MC came up by train from the south. |
that apartment in Paris looks lovely, Stoke.
I've never stayed in that neighbourhood, so I'll be interested to read more about it. |
Enjoying your report. As I mentioned on your transportation thread, my cousin and I were nearby in Paris for most of the same time period. I hope you had as wonderful a visit as we did.
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ttt
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Gorgeous apartment. I like the ones that look like people live there rather than just being a rental. Looking forward to the rest of the report.
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PARIS
The Marais/Bastille This location was ideal for us. In our town, 110 year old houses are very old. We found the Marais' ancient, sometimes medieval, pre-Hausmann surroundings are deeply satisfying. Our apartment reportedly served at one time as Mme de Sévigné's stables. Though some parts of the Marais were mobbed Christmas week, the area north of the Place des Vosges remained unaffected. We were within easy walks of fun streets in the Bastille, where MC had spent fall semester two years ago, and the jazz manouche/gypsy jazz club Atelier Charonne. It is an easy walk from there to the river. Most picturesquely, continue west past the St. Paul metro stop, past the Scottish pub and the Socialist office, and turn left down the cobblestones behind St. Gervais church. For me, the Marché Bastille, formerly Richard Lenoir, was culinary heaven. I also bought a finely woven cashmere scarf there, my one personal purchase that I've worn daily since. The Patisserie Gérard Mulot, a small clean laundromat, and Café Hugo for morning noisette or coffee are close by and patronized by locals. Bob finally stopped referring to the Place des Vosges as "that little courtyard", but never tired of hanging out there. Almost every morning a musician stood at the archway where r.d Béarn enters the Place, taking advantage of the acoustics. Sometimes a violinist. One morning as we approached, we thought it was a soprano and baritone, but turned out to be one man alternately countertenor. He wore a kind of turban, a long black cape, and a mournful expression. I threw him an offering. Several mornings we heard the group Borsalino swinging away jazz manouche style. They set up on the western side where they can catch the morning sun and attract people from the park. Stand up bassist plays excellently, accordion, two guitars. We bought a CD and listened to it around the apartment. |
Thank you, Ann! You and Mr. Hig might enjoy that area.
Fun that you were there, too, Leely. bilbo, kind of you. Thanks, AGM. It felt very much like housesitting for some artsy friends. The owners are an interior designer and maybe an architect. Almost all of those books are about art and design, though up the loft some mystery novels in English. She set out tourist guides along the Steves lines. Recent guests appear to have been Italian and Dutch. |
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Gorgeous apartment. I like the ones that look like people live there rather than just being a rental. Looking forward to the rest of the report.>>
lol, we rented one like that in Rome once - it was full of books, paintings and art works, and half-used jars of jam in the fridge, as if the owner had just gone out for walk. we loved it. <<Our apartment reportedly served at one time as Mme de Sévigné's stables.>> stoke- i'm glad the horses had gone before you got there. thanks for the youtube link - I didn't know that one. did you see Rowan Atkinson at the Olympic opening ceremony? |
Christmas in Paris
http://tinyurl.com/cyhg3yy (Our daughter MC is the photographer for all the photos here. H brought her camera, but forgot a battery charger so adapted my selfish method of just walking around looking at things and occasionally making a sketch. Bob used a video camera.) I had never realized how festive the Paris Christmas season is until Kerouac's excellent photo essays. Such as, most recently: http://tinyurl.com/cxoj8lv Besides the big light displays in central areas, neighborhoods have their own festive styles. http://tinyurl.com/az5uhw3 The main tourist areas are thronged with all shapes, colors, and languages. Parents bring their children on holiday to enjoy the spectacle. Marchés de Noël spring up all around town, with booths selling vin chaud, waffles, trinkets and mementos. Christmas eve we took the Métro to Place dl Concorde and threaded through the crowds towards the Arc de Triomphe. http://tinyurl.com/a8nu9q9 http://tinyurl.com/am48jf5 http://tinyurl.com/bprgy9q I wasn't so wild about the holiday beer, but got a very nice paper cup full of vin chaude. Eyed raclette stands. We veered north from CE towards Boul Hausmann to check out the window displays at the Galleries Lafayette and Printemps. What fun with the children there, noses against the glass; they loved the less commercial Printemps ones better. http://tinyurl.com/bqvpwpt http://tinyurl.com/cuzfo3d This Santa's appeal for donations seemed to be based on belly, hat, beard, and general colorfulness. |
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