Good point Tony - wonder if anyone has put together a trip staying at hotels or B&Bs which have a resident cat, dog, parrot or whatever. Not for everyone obviously and I'd draw the line well before the resident python, but there must be others here who have noted 'the friendly old Beagle' or 'inquisitive Burmese' in reviews and thought those establishments might make for a more pleasant stay than the usual sterile properties. A new thread perhaps if there isn't already one somewhere.

Beacuse I do not speak French and have not stayed at every hotel in Paris, I thought the Hotel Delemas actually existed. If fact for my next stay I hope there is a vacancy since the Hotel Pompose Arse seems to be full.

Mr. Tower, please leave the Borscht Belt humour to Aduchamp.


Thin, Ann Taylor, and an old cow walk into a Parisian bar...

"Hotel Pompose Arse " would be a popular stay by SOME of the readers of these pages I am sure :)

farrermog, my guess is that establishments wouldnt highlight their resident animals because that would probably rule out those who dislike them.

For me, it will just add to the warmth of the place.

tony8028 - One of the most interesting things one can do whilst travelling through the Loire Valley is to visit a Troglydite cave, of which there are hundreds.
The best one - I went to two others and it was not so good, is this one with the restaurant deep inside the cave:
http://tinyurl.com/ydhvdzd

Not only will you see how millions of mushrooms types are cultivated, there are the snail farms inside as well plus other interesting stuff. The restaurant serves a speciality of the region.

Aaaaarrrggghhh!! Supposed to have posted that to Byron1 -sorry tony!

<<The trip in total is departing Sydney...NYC/Paris/Bruges/Amsterdam/Bangkok/Home>>

Tony, have you been to the U.S. before?

<<but there must be others here who have noted 'the friendly old Beagle'>>

I stayed in a family owned hotel in Paris in the 7th that had a Jack Russell puppy. My room wasn't ready when I arrived so they gave me a coffee and a newspaper. As I was sitting in the small lobby reading the paper, the dog came crashing through the paper onto my lap. Then when I wheeled my suitcase across the courtyard he ran alongside attacking the wheels. Made the stay interesting.

Ah, so you're a cat person. I should have known. >:-)
Do post a review of the hotel at the very least.

As an update to this saga....we canceled our booking at Hotel du Pantheon and booked a double room with a balcony at Hotel du College de France.

The reviews are all excellent, the location is awesome and while its not as plush as Hotel du Patheon, we're saving around 200 Euros which will go a LONG way during our Bangkok stop over on the way home !

Benecia, it's
http://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/

Sorry, posted on wrong thread1

Thats ok LAleslie....at least your not having a go at me this time , which is a nice change :)

Oh tony, Leslie's going to get you for that "your" instead of "you're" for sure. ;)

I have considered the Hotel du College de France in the past, so I look forward to your review. Sounds like such an exciting trip. Even if you can't do a big trip report, please post your impressions when you return. And while in Paris try to trek over to Jacques Genin in the 3rd for chocolates, caramels, mille-feuilles, etc., if you like sweets and get the chance.

Leely2 I just threw that "your" in there to give the old girl something to whinge about :)

yes it will be a short but excellent trip....I was thinking of waiting until Brugge before i went beserk with the chocolate, but I might have to take your recommendation and visit Jacques Genin!

I will file a trip report. With accommodation...its always a balance between how much luxury do you really need when an extra 100-200 Euros a day could be spent enjoying your time AWAY from the hotel room. Of course to some, money is no object.

It all makes me wonder what on earth people did before the web when it comes to researching a holiday!

Oh tony, there is aan excellent restaurant right near your chosen hotel, Le Pre Verre. Trt it you'll like it!

avalon, what type of food?

Any recommendations for excellent coffee ?

In my past trips to Europe I have been disappointed with the coffee although I have not been to Italy.

It was especially bad in Germany ! They seem to use this long life milk for everything that tastes of chemicals...

Tony, it's very French! And you really do need reservations. It is quite reasonable for the quality, as I recall under 30 Euro for 3 courses.

http://www.lepreverre.com/en/resto/resto.html

I think you'll be fine in that hotel. It may not be luxurious, but the location is good and I'm sure it will be clean and comfortable.

I checked the web site. I'll stay there myself if the man on the left at reception is the owner -- ohh, la la!

I'm a coffee lover and do not recall not enjoying my morning coffee in cafes in Paris. It's been so long since I've been in Germany, I don't remember the coffee but do remember how poor the coffee was on a Celebrity Millenium cruise and in some of the hotels on other trips.

You won't be too far from Brasserie Balzar (49 Rue des Ecoles), which has the best onion soup ever.

French coffee has never been the same since the introduction of longlife milk, which will kill anything dead. A major mystery since they are so fastidious about other ingredients.

Fingers crossed the Italians don't follow suit.

UHT milk is one of the main things keeping my wife from moving us to France!