Southern France
Jan 30th, 2010, 03:44 PM
#21
I've met Kevin and he is very nice and a gentleman.
He doesn't need Stu to advertise for him. On slow trav he is allowed to post it.
Two things I am curious about, steps,
You only joined fodors in November and making waves.
What was your previous name?
One thing has bothered me that everyone can publicize
Kevin and Coco's places but They are both great hosts and deserve the business they get BUT when I made a thread of ONLY LONG TIME FODOR POSTERS who owned property and Italy
who rented their places, it was deleted. One person said I was a shill for St Cirq. I never met her. I remember in 1999 I think it was, when she mentioned she had a place in France,
I asked where it was, hoping it was in Provence, well that was my intro to fodors when that poster accused me of advertising for St Cirq. What is it with the sour milk of some posters?
He doesn't need Stu to advertise for him. On slow trav he is allowed to post it.
Two things I am curious about, steps,
You only joined fodors in November and making waves.
What was your previous name?
One thing has bothered me that everyone can publicize
Kevin and Coco's places but They are both great hosts and deserve the business they get BUT when I made a thread of ONLY LONG TIME FODOR POSTERS who owned property and Italy
who rented their places, it was deleted. One person said I was a shill for St Cirq. I never met her. I remember in 1999 I think it was, when she mentioned she had a place in France,
I asked where it was, hoping it was in Provence, well that was my intro to fodors when that poster accused me of advertising for St Cirq. What is it with the sour milk of some posters?
Jan 31st, 2010, 02:01 AM
#23
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 235
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
ccarpenter,
Reading about your husband "wanting to drive as much as he can" makes me think that there are three roads on the Italian and French Riviera that he might not want to miss driving:
1) the so-called "corniche road" that runs roughly between the Italian/French border and Nice, passing above Monaco. (I'm a bit sleepy right now, but maybe others can be more precise for you!) If you have ever seen the movie "To Catch a Thief" with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant, that is the road they drive.
2) The "via Aurelia" between Rapallo and Nervi, which isn't quite as breath-taking as the famous Amalfi Drive in southern Italy, but it is really quite a sight. The best part begins in Rapallo and it makes sense to get off it before Genoa in the town of Nervi, where you can reconnect with the autostrade heading toward France.
3) the road that runs between Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino, along the sea coast, one of the prettiest in Italy.
In the summer -- I see you are going in July -- these roads can be thick with traffic, especially on weekends. (In particular, the road between Portofino and SML.)
I read in your posts that you are keeping your car until you get to le Cinque Terre, to avoid all those train changes, and parking it at a hotel. I don't know how open you are to changing your base, but unless you very much want to hike in le Cinque Terre while the car is parked, you could consider staying in either Santa Margherita Ligure or Camogli. That way, you can still get in some pretty driving, and you can still see le Cinque Terre if you take the train. Both those towns are very pretty towns (SML is harbor and Camogli is a fishing village) and you can hike there too if you like. I know that le Cinque Terre is a famous place, but maybe you would like these other places. But if you have your heart set on hiking in July in le Cinque Terre, you need to start very early, so then you should stay there.
It used to be (I thought) that you could drop off a rental car in San Remo or Ventimiglia at the French border, take the train into Menton, and then pick up a rental car, right there, in Menton. If that's possible, and you want to take the train to France, you could still take the corniche road.
Also, I don't know how long it takes to drive to the Luberon area from the French border, or from le Cinque Terre to that area, but I don't think the French Riviera is so interesting that you should spend a night there just because a hotel proprietor can't take you until the next night. I especially wouldn't aim for Nice, which is more expensive than other places and which you plan to go back to anyway. I would try to get at least closer to where you had your eye on going. Surely there is another place in Luberon you could go for a night, or if that is too far to drive, someplace further than Nice, away from the coast. The French coast can be a zoo in July.
Do you know the Logis de France website? It has great interactive maps for finding places to stay all over that area.
Whew! That was a lot to write! Hope it wasn't too much to read.
PS to everybody else: I read the other posts and I just want to add that I do think if somebody is a friend, even if "only" an internet friend, you should mention that if you go so far as to recommend their establishment, especially if you've never stayed there yourself (or showered there, LOL!). You can link to independent comments, like Tripadvisor. That way, you won't be suspected of shilling for internet community friends.
Reading about your husband "wanting to drive as much as he can" makes me think that there are three roads on the Italian and French Riviera that he might not want to miss driving:
1) the so-called "corniche road" that runs roughly between the Italian/French border and Nice, passing above Monaco. (I'm a bit sleepy right now, but maybe others can be more precise for you!) If you have ever seen the movie "To Catch a Thief" with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant, that is the road they drive.
2) The "via Aurelia" between Rapallo and Nervi, which isn't quite as breath-taking as the famous Amalfi Drive in southern Italy, but it is really quite a sight. The best part begins in Rapallo and it makes sense to get off it before Genoa in the town of Nervi, where you can reconnect with the autostrade heading toward France.
3) the road that runs between Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino, along the sea coast, one of the prettiest in Italy.
In the summer -- I see you are going in July -- these roads can be thick with traffic, especially on weekends. (In particular, the road between Portofino and SML.)
I read in your posts that you are keeping your car until you get to le Cinque Terre, to avoid all those train changes, and parking it at a hotel. I don't know how open you are to changing your base, but unless you very much want to hike in le Cinque Terre while the car is parked, you could consider staying in either Santa Margherita Ligure or Camogli. That way, you can still get in some pretty driving, and you can still see le Cinque Terre if you take the train. Both those towns are very pretty towns (SML is harbor and Camogli is a fishing village) and you can hike there too if you like. I know that le Cinque Terre is a famous place, but maybe you would like these other places. But if you have your heart set on hiking in July in le Cinque Terre, you need to start very early, so then you should stay there.
It used to be (I thought) that you could drop off a rental car in San Remo or Ventimiglia at the French border, take the train into Menton, and then pick up a rental car, right there, in Menton. If that's possible, and you want to take the train to France, you could still take the corniche road.
Also, I don't know how long it takes to drive to the Luberon area from the French border, or from le Cinque Terre to that area, but I don't think the French Riviera is so interesting that you should spend a night there just because a hotel proprietor can't take you until the next night. I especially wouldn't aim for Nice, which is more expensive than other places and which you plan to go back to anyway. I would try to get at least closer to where you had your eye on going. Surely there is another place in Luberon you could go for a night, or if that is too far to drive, someplace further than Nice, away from the coast. The French coast can be a zoo in July.
Do you know the Logis de France website? It has great interactive maps for finding places to stay all over that area.
Whew! That was a lot to write! Hope it wasn't too much to read.
PS to everybody else: I read the other posts and I just want to add that I do think if somebody is a friend, even if "only" an internet friend, you should mention that if you go so far as to recommend their establishment, especially if you've never stayed there yourself (or showered there, LOL!). You can link to independent comments, like Tripadvisor. That way, you won't be suspected of shilling for internet community friends.
Jan 31st, 2010, 03:25 AM
#24
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 387
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Stu Dudley!
Isn't the internet awful? You can't control people! I think if you don't want people responding to your posts by addressing them to Stu Dudley, you'll have to change your screen name.
YOU ARE INTERPRETING CCARPENTER WRONG i do believe. Here is what ccarpenter wrote about why she wants to still have the car and not dump in La Spezia:
"I check the trains and it seems like you have to take 2-3 trains to get there, so Gordon wants to keep the car and drive to Cinque Terra. I fouind a hotel that will let us park the car since you really don't use a car in CT. .... So if Gordon has his way, we will only use the train a little and drive more. He feels that when we are on the train, we really don't get to see much.
As for Kevin's place, and everything else, it's better when you talk plainly. I know this guy, I've never stayed there but --- etc.
Cigalechanta,
The "sour milk" of some posters is that they understand that most people who come to Fodor's assume and trust that other people are going to be basically honest in sharing only their own personal experiences traveling, and that these people are not involved with the money-making travel industry. Do you get that? So when the culture of the Slow Travel website is bought over here -- a culture of people cozying up to each other, being "supportive' and then shouting down anybody who independently holds the view that this or that itinerary or destination or b&b isn't the end-all-be-all of going to Italy or France -- a lot of people on Fodor's -- not just me -- want to blow the whistle on it. Over on Slow Travel, it doesn't matter if you've stayed at a "community member's" place yourself. You get to cheerlead for it anyeays, into the faces of people who just innocent signed onto the site believing people's advice was based on their critical judgment, not their friendships with "nice people they met."
Fodor's is more or less self policing. After a while, it starts to occur to people who see the same posters over and over again posting: "Stay here in Piemonte" "Stay here in Tuscany" "Stay here in France" "Rent this Gite" "Book this apartment" -- that these people can't possibly be in all these places at once. When you read their trip reports, they relish telling you how this is the 24th year in a row they've gone back to the same spot. So what do they think they are doing.
I changed my screen name because when I would try to help people looking for informed advice -- really informed advice -- not just swaggering about and scoffing at some poor newbie's ignorance of those piddly European showers at "other" places they don't stay -- people -- chiefly St Cirq -- got so nasty Fodor's editors came in and took down information "zeppole" had posted as well as all their vile remarks. See for yourself:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...mo-upfront.cfm
So I figured if I changed my screen name, it would stop, It didn't. It won't until I change my screen name again. Which surely I will, right? And who cares.
Isn't the internet awful? You can't control people! I think if you don't want people responding to your posts by addressing them to Stu Dudley, you'll have to change your screen name.
YOU ARE INTERPRETING CCARPENTER WRONG i do believe. Here is what ccarpenter wrote about why she wants to still have the car and not dump in La Spezia:
"I check the trains and it seems like you have to take 2-3 trains to get there, so Gordon wants to keep the car and drive to Cinque Terra. I fouind a hotel that will let us park the car since you really don't use a car in CT. .... So if Gordon has his way, we will only use the train a little and drive more. He feels that when we are on the train, we really don't get to see much.
As for Kevin's place, and everything else, it's better when you talk plainly. I know this guy, I've never stayed there but --- etc.
Cigalechanta,
The "sour milk" of some posters is that they understand that most people who come to Fodor's assume and trust that other people are going to be basically honest in sharing only their own personal experiences traveling, and that these people are not involved with the money-making travel industry. Do you get that? So when the culture of the Slow Travel website is bought over here -- a culture of people cozying up to each other, being "supportive' and then shouting down anybody who independently holds the view that this or that itinerary or destination or b&b isn't the end-all-be-all of going to Italy or France -- a lot of people on Fodor's -- not just me -- want to blow the whistle on it. Over on Slow Travel, it doesn't matter if you've stayed at a "community member's" place yourself. You get to cheerlead for it anyeays, into the faces of people who just innocent signed onto the site believing people's advice was based on their critical judgment, not their friendships with "nice people they met."
Fodor's is more or less self policing. After a while, it starts to occur to people who see the same posters over and over again posting: "Stay here in Piemonte" "Stay here in Tuscany" "Stay here in France" "Rent this Gite" "Book this apartment" -- that these people can't possibly be in all these places at once. When you read their trip reports, they relish telling you how this is the 24th year in a row they've gone back to the same spot. So what do they think they are doing.
I changed my screen name because when I would try to help people looking for informed advice -- really informed advice -- not just swaggering about and scoffing at some poor newbie's ignorance of those piddly European showers at "other" places they don't stay -- people -- chiefly St Cirq -- got so nasty Fodor's editors came in and took down information "zeppole" had posted as well as all their vile remarks. See for yourself:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...mo-upfront.cfm
So I figured if I changed my screen name, it would stop, It didn't. It won't until I change my screen name again. Which surely I will, right? And who cares.
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
worldwidewinetours
Europe
20
Jul 26th, 2012 08:22 PM
