I have been reading dln's wonderful Paris trip report for the past few days with a combined sense of deja vu and guilt. We were in Paris at the same time and I have finally realized that if I am going to find time to report to all of those who have helped make our trips better over the past few years, I am going to have to do a much briefer report.
We spent 9/24-26 in Paris, went to Spain from 9/26 - 10/3 and returned to Paris on 10/3-10-9.

The reason for the split was so we could meet my brother and sister in law in Paris at the end of their trip to Germany and Switzerland. Because this was their first trip to Paris, they wanted experienced companions. Thus, we visited many of the "usual" Paris sights for the first two days - Notre Dame, Ste. Chapelle, the Rodin, the D'Orsay, Luxembourg Gardens etc.
Our week in Andalucia was marvelous! The weather was hot in the sun, cool in the shade and not a cloud in the sky for our entire visit. We began in Malaga and drove through the Alpajurras to Granada, stopping the first night at Frigaliana and staying at La Posada Morisca, an inn with a spectacular view of the mountains and the sea. The Alhambra was fabulous - more beautiful and sensual than all the many fabulous pictures and descriptions I have seen. I felt surrounded by the most wonderful sights, sounds, smells, etc. We spent only one night in Granada at the Hotel America on the Alhambra grounds. Very convenient and certainly adequate. We drove to Sevilla where we stayed for 3 days, one of which was very HOT - 96! Loved Sevilla. It is colorful and fits my preconceived picture of a Spanish city.

We spent the last 2 days in Gaucin, a perched white village south of Ronda. We also visited Arcos, Caseras and Grazalema. In Gaucin we stayed at a beautiful and exquisitely located inn perched on the side of a mountain and overlooking the Mediterranean. The infinity pool had a view all the way to North Africa. The inn and its surroundings were lovely. The hosts were British Expats who, along with other British guests lectured us on the horrible mistakes made by the American President and the American military. Whether or not we agreed, we were very uncomfortable with the onslaught and tried to avoid the issue. It was the only time during our 17 days that we were not not welcomed and treated beautifully by everyone we encountered. Our return to Paris was wonderful and we spent the week doing a lot of things we hadn't done for our past couple of trips and some things new to us. We loved the restored Opera Garnier (first time I had been there since a ballet performance in 1982!) I visited the Cluny for the first time and enjoyed the museum and gardens. The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry is exquisite and I want to read the novel. I spent my time in the D'Orsay focused on the building itself, once I had soaked up the Impressionists and one of my favorites, the white marble bear on the second level. The old Gare is beatiful from every perspective. We did a lot of walking - the bakeries and florists and other shop windows were so fantastic it often took a long time to reach our destination. We visited Chartres for the first time in over 20 years and spent time on the Ile St. Louis for the first time in many years. It has sure changed! I will continue a bit later with details of hotels, meals and memorable experiences.

Hotels:

For the most part, we were very pleased with our hotels. Our first 2 days in Paris, we stayed at Le Regent on the Rue Dauphine. We were unable to get reervations for the first two days at the Hotel des Saints-Peres where we stayed on our return to Paris. Le Regent is nice, with a helpful staff and good location. The rooms are quite small.
The Saints-Peres is an old favorite where we have stayed our last few times in Paris. We love the hotel, its rooms, its staff and its location and were pleased to find that we were happier than ever with our choice.

In Spain, we stayed at La Posada Morisca, a part of the "Rusticae" group of hotels, in Frigiliana just north of Nerja. It is lovely with beautiful views, nice rooms with balconies or terraces and an excellent breakfast. It was at the Posada Morisca that we first discovered the ubiquitous Spanish mutt - a dog so homely that we immediately loved her. We were to find really homely but pleasant dogs everywhere in our travels through Spain and we have wonderful examples among our pictures.

We stayed at the Hotel America our one night in Seville - great to be on the Alhambra grounds since we were only there for one night but otherwise just OK.

We stayed at the Amadeus in Sevilla. I loved the hotel, its staff and its location. The owners have thought of everything to make a hotel comfortable and a guest welcome. We particularly enjoyed the remote controlled air conditioning as it was 96 during our stay, the music in the rooms and the live music in the evenings and the lovely rooftop terrace with great views of the city. I highly recommend the Amadeus!

Finally, we stayed at El Nobo, an inn in Gaucin, south of Ronda. The inn was lovely, set in beautiful gardens with a wonderful infinity pool overlooking the mountains and with a view to the Mediterranean and on a clear day, all the way to North Africa. The road approaching the inn was about the most amazing and terrifying I have ever seen. The hosts (British)were idiosyncratic to say the least and alternated between making us welcome and comfortable and carrying on about U.S. foreign policy. The inn had dogs as well and they were as odd as their owners but considerably more likable. The breakfasts were incredible, a combination of English, with everything that entails, and Spanish. We loved El Nobo in every way but could have done without the lectures!

Hey mamc, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. Stopping off in Paris first must have made for quite a cultural contrast.

If you don't wish to participate in political discussions abroad, you can always try lightening the air by telling them you would gladly forward all of their comments to the relevant parties, but owing to a nervous breakdown you have been ordered to take stress leave in Spain. This should send the message that you are on vacation from politics.

Welcome back.

Hi Mam,

Be as prolix as you wish. Lovely report.

What are the rates at the Saints-Peres?

mamc, I'm really enjoying your report! We were told by some Dutch tourists we met that since Spain has joined the EU, much money has been poured into the country and that it's the up-and-coming place to be. I've never been there, but your description of it really whets my appetite to see it.

Do read Tracy Chevalier's book about the tapestries. If you thought the tapestries were beautiful, you'll think they're twice as beautiful after the book.

Ira, the Ste. Peres has various rates through the year. The website currently shows rates from E105 to E290. I think we paid about E190 but were there during high season. I checked out the Bonaparte on one of our walks and it looks very nice - I was curious as you are a very loyal customer!

Thanks, dln, you enspired me! Your trip sounds lovely. And now I am sure your DH will be ready to return.

Before the spell checkers come along, that's "inspired".

One correction--the Hotel America must have been in Granada since it was right next to the Alhambra. We stayed there in 1985, and I am sure that the prices have changed.

Food:

This is my favorite part. I love to research restaurants, bakeries, markets, etc., and I had lots of ideas before we left, many of them from this board.

We ate at lots of familiar restaurants in Paris and had some new experiences. Familiar were L'Epi Dupin, one of my favorites, and as good as ever; La Fontaine de Mars, a delightful and delicious experience as always; and Cabane de Auvergne. The latter is fun and the food is good and very reasonable. However, each of our entrees and main courses could have fed all of us. Enough for a army.

New experiences included Ze Kitchen Gallerie. I love the restaurant and the food. My main course was definitely unusual and delicious - squid and mussels in a red pepper fusion sauce.

We also ate at Clos des Gourmets for the first time. The food and service were lovely but we believe that every table in the restaurant was English-speaking, mostly American. I love my fellow Americans but this was a bit unusual. Unlike most of the other restaurants, there was a lot of cigarette and cigar smoke in the air.

We ate at Bistro du 7eme, a real treat! The food and service were great and at a very reasonable price. Other very reasonable meals were at Le Petit San Benoit and Le Ferme de St. Germain. Both were very tasty.

We had tea (actually cafe)at Laduree and my pastry was incredible - Macaron Pomme Caramel. The macarons we bought on the way out were wonderful. We had delicious pastries from Gerard Mulot, Pierre Herme and Paul. The croissants and tartines at the Cafe Bonaparte were the best in Paris.

The Berthillon ice cream (I had chocolate, figue, citron thyme and cafe and mandarin sorbet) was delectable.

We went to an old favorite tiny restaurant near the Place des Vosges for lunch. When we were last there, it was very French and we had the most delicious salad. On our return, we found the theme had changed to Latin American but we again had a delicious salad.

We had crepes on the Rue Cler - about the only culinary disappointment of our trip - and onion soup across the street from the Cathedral at Chartres. We had Croque Monsieurs on the top of the Samaritaine. Wonderful view, pretty good food.

I was thrilled with the food in Spain. I had been told so often that most of the food was ham and fried fish. I was worried about salads and vegetables. I needn't have worried, the food was delicious!

In Granada, we ate at at Mirador de Moryama in the Albacin. It is a lovely restaurant with a beautiful view of the illuminated Alhambra. I had a delicious avocado salad and superb grilled dorado.

The entire time we were in Spain, we ate outside. In Seville, we ate mostly tapas - Modesto and Cafe Belmonte were places we liked. We ate at a Moroccan restaurant, Al Medina, the best Moroccan food I have ever eaten. While we stayed at El Nobo, we had figs picked directly from the tree, the most delectable I have ever tasted.

The figs, the avocados, the tomatoes, olives and almonds were all wonderful.

I guess because we walked so much, we ate at will and enjoyed every bite - definitely a foodies' success story.

You are absolutely correct, Michael, we stayed in the Hotel America in Grenada.

It was so much fun reading your trip report--thank you for taking the time to post it. I too am a big fan of Spain (and France and Italy as well).

Just one final post to mention some of the wonderful things we saw and did.

In Spain we loved the gardens and courtyards with the smell of jasmine everywhere and the beautiful vibrant colors of bougainvilla. We marvelled at the perched roads - how in the world did they get built!? On our first day in Spain we were driving along and saw a beautiful beach over an incredible cliff - probably 1,500 feet below the road. After finally finding the access road and nearly expiring from fright, we arrived at the beach and decided to take a walk. We did but were the only people present with clothes. I wonder, is it rude to keep your clothes on while walking on a "natural" beach?

I loved the fountains, falls and pools at the Alhambra, the sound of water and the beautiful tiles everywhere. We were surprised and delighted by the green parrots at the Alcazar. And amused that the police in the Alcazar are called vigelantes.

Olives and almonds served with sherry were addictive.

In Paris, the gardens were beautiful, especially at Luxembourg. The fall weather with its quality of light and blowing golden leaves delighted. We went to a lovely concert at Ste. Chapelle; Vivaldi, Mozart and Pachelbel. The concert was at 7 which allowed us to watch the windows change color as the sun set and the light faded. We saw a wonderful sculpture exhibit in the Tulleries, mostly huge heads and torsos. We sat in the sun at the Tuilleries, the Luxembourg and lots of sidewalk cafes. The Opera Garnier was beautifully cleaned and restored and the tour afforded sights I had never seen while attending performances. We enjoyed a "Fetes de Jardins" outside Notre Dame - it was fun to watch the florists creating the fabulous arrangements that we enjoyed in florist windows all over Paris.

Both Andalucia and Paris were a feast for the senses and we had a wonderful time.