Much more detail will follow in subsequent posts, as well as posts about our trip from Paris leading up to this point.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
We made it!
We survived the Inca Trail and made it to Machu Picchu. We experienced a little bit of everything- scorching sun, soaking rain, fabulous food, amazing views, rumbly guts and stinky toilets, and altitudes so high that pilots would be on oxygen (13,700 feet). But we pulled it off, and the awesome sight of Machu Picchu is quite a reward.
Much more detail will follow in subsequent posts, as well as posts about our trip from Paris leading up to this point.
Much more detail will follow in subsequent posts, as well as posts about our trip from Paris leading up to this point.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Park Hyatt Paris Vendome
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| Entrance to the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome |
After our longer-than-expected wait in the lobby, we eagerly took the elevator to the 5th floor where our executive suite awaited. We booked the hotel using the free night award from the Chase Hyatt Visa card, and as Diamond members of the Hyatt Gold Passport program our free nights would be in a suite. The Executive Suite we received was definitely an upgrade from the base-level suite (Park Suite King).
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| View from the room |
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| View of the courtyard below |
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| Living room |
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| Living room |
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| Living room showing attached bathroom |
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| Desk |
Behind the entry door was the minibar area, with the usual overpriced fridge of drinks, a pod coffee/espresso maker, and ceramic mugs for coffee and espresso. Two complimentary bottles of Evian water were provided along with wine glasses and champagne flutes.
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| Minibar and coffee area |
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| Large bed with lots of pillows |
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| Shelf next to the bed. |
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| Sink area with lots of counter space. |
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| Closet/luggage area. Our luggage was here when we arrived in the room. |
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| Shower area with rain shower and adjoining tub. |
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| Sink and mirror inside the shower. Great for shaving. |
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| Separate toilet room with Japanese-style multifunction toilet. |
Off of the bedroom was a second full Park Hyatt Paris Bathroom! The second bathroom also contained the separate sink area, large shower with enclosed tub and additional sink, and separate toilet room. We couldn't wait to make full use of the two elaborate bathrooms. Would we take baths at the same time, in separate bathtubs? Lose our toothbrushes among the four sinks? So many possibilities...
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| Second full bathroom |
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| Second full bathroom |
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| Second full bathroom |
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| Second full bathroom |
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| Second full bathroom |
Owing to the two full, extravagant bathrooms, available to us were four sinks, two tubs, two showers, 28 clothes hangers, four bathrobes, six oversized bath towels, and too many bottles of shampoo to count.
Attention to detail in the room is one thing that makes the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome so great. The heating/ventillation in the room was effective but silent. The lighting has a central control system allowing all lights to be turned on/off from the entry door of the room as well as from the individual lights themselves. The internet was functional and fast (and free for Diamond members) -- perhaps the fastest internet we had found on our trip so far. Also nice was that the internet allowed connecting multiple devices (hello iPhones, iPads, etc.) and did not constantly redirect the browser to the login screen upon each use.
Shortly after our arrival our welcome gift was delivered - a bottle of champagne and macaroons with a note from the GM. This was clearly an upgrade from the typical welcome gift, perhaps owing to this being our Honeymoon or some extra goodwill extended by the hotel at the suggestion of someone from Hyatt we met at a prior event.
Breakfast was included for us as diamonds and we chose to take breakfast one day in the restaurant and one day with room service. At the restaurant the buffet was extensive and was also served with a choice of egg dishes from the menu.
Late checkout at 4:00 PM was granted without resistance and lined up perfectly with our 5:00 train to Brussels. It always makes the frequent-traveler-nut inside me smile when I check out of an amazing stay like this one with a bill of zero Euros and zero cents.
As much as we love Paris as a city, we found ourselves wanting to spend as much time as possible in our magnificent accommodations at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome. This hotel was without question one of the highlights of our trip so far.
Paris
Since we have both been to Paris a few times before, and it is a city we are likely to visit again, we did not feel any pressure to see a lot of the tourist sights while in Paris. The things we were most looking forward to in Paris were visiting A's French "sister" G, who lived with A's family for a year, having a fancy dinner at a nice restaurant in Paris that G and her fiancé R gave us for a wedding gift, and relaxing in our first luxury hotel of the trip, The Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme.
We successfully navigated the Paris Metro to get to our hotel and promptly got pickpocketed while walking up the stairs of the Opera Metro station carrying our luggage. Luckily, C had made use of the zippered secret pockets on his travel pants so his iPhone and money were not in the right front pocket the guy managed to get his hand in and we didn't lose anything.
With our adrenaline running a little higher and a good lesson learned, we walked the half a block to the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme. We always feel a bit like impostors arriving at a top luxury hotel via public transportation, lugging our own bags.
At check-in they let us know they had an Executive Suite for us but that they were still putting the finishing touches on the room so it wouldn't be ready for a few minutes. We were a little early for check-in at 1:45, so a short wait seemed reasonable. Around 2:30, after checking in again and finding out "they just have to inventory the mini-bar" we decided C should run out and buy sandwiches since we had not had lunch yet, and surely the room would be ready when he got back.
C returned with our sandwiches to find A still sitting in the lobby cafe. Despite feeling a bit like gypsies in the palace, we tucked into our sandwiches right there. After an hour waiting for our room it seemed justifiable to eat our lunch there even though there was food service where we were sitting (where we could have ordered exorbitantly expensive sandwiches).
At 3 we inquired at the front desk again and this time a supervisor seemed appropriately concerned that we had been told our room would be ready in a few minutes and we had now been waiting an hour and 15 min. She offered us complimentary coffee and water and seemed to be trying to expedite getting our room.
We finally got into our room around 3:45, after waiting a full 2 hours. The room was amazing and worth the wait (more on the room in the next post) but it sure did not feel like luxury hotel service to be left waiting in the lobby for two hours. We have since heard from others that this is a common occurrence at this hotel.
It just would have been nice to know up front it would take 2 hrs, since then we would have checked our bags and gone out to lunch and to walk around Paris for a couple hours. We did appreciate the goodwill coffee though and the rest of the stay was flawless.
Shortly after we got to the room there was a knock on the door to deliver a bottle of Champagne, macarons, and a welcome note from the GM.
With a few hours until our fancy dinner reservation we went for a run through the Tuileries and around the Louvre. Running is not my favorite activity but with a setting like that you almost forget you are running and just enjoy the atmosphere.
G had made us a reservation at R Cafe, near La Madeleine, which was a pleasant walk from Place Vendôme. The dinner was delicious, and included Champagne, 3 courses, a bottle of wine, and coffee "with its little friends" as the menu said.
The next morning we had breakfast in the restaurant, which is not something we would normally splurge on at 49 Euros each, but as Diamond level members of Hyatt's Loyalty Program, Gold Passport, breakfast was included. To our surprise, when we looked over after being seated in the restaurant, we recognized one of the people at the table next to us. He was a fellow frequent traveler we had met at a behind-the-scenes tour of SFO airport last year. It was fun to talk travel with him and his companions (also flyertalkers) over breakfast.
With a couple hours until we needed to catch our train to go meet G and R (A's family's AFS student and her fiance), and after noticing our room had 28 clothes hangers, we decided to try to wash our clothes again. This time, we went to a laundromat that was only a few blocks from the hotel. For 4 Euros, this was way better than washing the clothes in the sink.
To reach G and R's place in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines we walked to the RER C line and took the SARA train to the end - a 45 min ride. It was beautiful weather so we walked around their town and the nearby park before going to see their new apartment.
We decided to cook dinner at home so G and R took us to the huge supermarket near their apartment and we bought the ingredients for Raclette - a traditional dish from the Alps region that consists of melting Raclette cheese on little trays under a special burner and then spooning the melted, gooey cheese over cooked potatoes and assorted charcuteries. G loves the little sour gherkin pickles, so we had to have lots of those too! We had a really fun time and had to take the very last train back to central Paris.
We successfully navigated the Paris Metro to get to our hotel and promptly got pickpocketed while walking up the stairs of the Opera Metro station carrying our luggage. Luckily, C had made use of the zippered secret pockets on his travel pants so his iPhone and money were not in the right front pocket the guy managed to get his hand in and we didn't lose anything.
With our adrenaline running a little higher and a good lesson learned, we walked the half a block to the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme. We always feel a bit like impostors arriving at a top luxury hotel via public transportation, lugging our own bags.
At check-in they let us know they had an Executive Suite for us but that they were still putting the finishing touches on the room so it wouldn't be ready for a few minutes. We were a little early for check-in at 1:45, so a short wait seemed reasonable. Around 2:30, after checking in again and finding out "they just have to inventory the mini-bar" we decided C should run out and buy sandwiches since we had not had lunch yet, and surely the room would be ready when he got back.
C returned with our sandwiches to find A still sitting in the lobby cafe. Despite feeling a bit like gypsies in the palace, we tucked into our sandwiches right there. After an hour waiting for our room it seemed justifiable to eat our lunch there even though there was food service where we were sitting (where we could have ordered exorbitantly expensive sandwiches).
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| The front of the hotel |
We finally got into our room around 3:45, after waiting a full 2 hours. The room was amazing and worth the wait (more on the room in the next post) but it sure did not feel like luxury hotel service to be left waiting in the lobby for two hours. We have since heard from others that this is a common occurrence at this hotel.
It just would have been nice to know up front it would take 2 hrs, since then we would have checked our bags and gone out to lunch and to walk around Paris for a couple hours. We did appreciate the goodwill coffee though and the rest of the stay was flawless.
Shortly after we got to the room there was a knock on the door to deliver a bottle of Champagne, macarons, and a welcome note from the GM.
With a few hours until our fancy dinner reservation we went for a run through the Tuileries and around the Louvre. Running is not my favorite activity but with a setting like that you almost forget you are running and just enjoy the atmosphere.
G had made us a reservation at R Cafe, near La Madeleine, which was a pleasant walk from Place Vendôme. The dinner was delicious, and included Champagne, 3 courses, a bottle of wine, and coffee "with its little friends" as the menu said.
The next morning we had breakfast in the restaurant, which is not something we would normally splurge on at 49 Euros each, but as Diamond level members of Hyatt's Loyalty Program, Gold Passport, breakfast was included. To our surprise, when we looked over after being seated in the restaurant, we recognized one of the people at the table next to us. He was a fellow frequent traveler we had met at a behind-the-scenes tour of SFO airport last year. It was fun to talk travel with him and his companions (also flyertalkers) over breakfast.
With a couple hours until we needed to catch our train to go meet G and R (A's family's AFS student and her fiance), and after noticing our room had 28 clothes hangers, we decided to try to wash our clothes again. This time, we went to a laundromat that was only a few blocks from the hotel. For 4 Euros, this was way better than washing the clothes in the sink.
To reach G and R's place in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines we walked to the RER C line and took the SARA train to the end - a 45 min ride. It was beautiful weather so we walked around their town and the nearby park before going to see their new apartment.
We decided to cook dinner at home so G and R took us to the huge supermarket near their apartment and we bought the ingredients for Raclette - a traditional dish from the Alps region that consists of melting Raclette cheese on little trays under a special burner and then spooning the melted, gooey cheese over cooked potatoes and assorted charcuteries. G loves the little sour gherkin pickles, so we had to have lots of those too! We had a really fun time and had to take the very last train back to central Paris.
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| R and G setting up for Raclette |
For our final morning in Paris we had arranged to have our complimentary breakfast as room service. We booked room service for 11am anticipating making a Champagne brunch of it with our bottle of Champagne we had been given by the hotel. Before our brunch, we took another run along the right bank of the Seine past the Louvre, Notre Dame, and Ile St. Louis.
Shortly after our return, this arrived:
We had one "American breakfast" which consisted of 2 poached eggs on toast, sauteed mushrooms, bacon, fruit salad, yogurt, a basket of breads and pastries, OJ and coffee. We also ordered one Eggs Benedict with truffle hollandaise and a hot chocolate. With the addition of our Champagne this was certainly the most amazing room service I have ever had, and it was the first time C had ever had room service. (I tried to tell C that it's not this glamorous when I order room service when traveling for work when I have too much work to do to stop for dinner, but I'm not sure he buys it.)
After a leisurely brunch and relaxing afternoon in our suite, we packed up and headed back to Gare du Nord to catch the Thalys train back to Brussels.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Blois, Chambord, and heading back to Paris
Before beginning the 3.5 hr drive north to Blois from Cognac we decided it would be a good idea to get some new water bottles. We had been refilling the same Deer Park/Poland Spring bottles since the start of our trip and they were starting to seem not-so-fresh.
We stopped at a big grocery store and hunted for a 6-pack of individual bottles based solely on the shape and sturdiness of the bottles. In the past we had found that some European bottled water companies have not yet switched to eco-friendly bottles so we were looking forward to obtaining some sturdier bottles.
We got back out to the car to continue our journey and C opened one of the new bottles to take a drink... and it sprayed all over him. Oops, we forgot to check the label for "gazeuse" and had mistakenly bought sparkling water. Oh well, we like sparkling water too.
After mopping up a bit C finally took a sip... and nearly spit it out - it was salty! We looked at the label more closely and saw that it had a bunch of words about recovery and rehydration. It was intended to be used like Gatorade after working out. The nutrition facts indicated that the water contained 1700 mg of salt per liter. Oops, well, we didn't get any fresh water but at least we got good bottles. We poured out the salty, sparkling water in the parking lot and continued on our way.
On the drive there was noticeably more traffic than there had been on our trip south. It was Aug 31 and lots of French and British families were driving home from their summer vacations. We saw lots of cars stuffed to the roof with pillows, beach toys, and other vacation accoutrements, often with luggage and tarps on the roof and bike racks on the roof.
The traffic thinned around lunchtime and we realized why as soon as we pulled into an "aire" to get some lunch. The French do not eat in their cars so every single car on the road had stopped for lunch and there was competition for parking spots at the rest area. There were lines out the door for both the Paul bakery for sandwiches and the sit-down restaurant, and several large families were picnicking in the parking lot.
That afternoon we drove straight to the Chateau de Chambord and visited the magnificent chateau. It turns out it was built by Francois 1 (a recurring theme on this trip) but he never really used it and most of the time it sat empty.
After checking into our hotel we walked around the town of Blois and found a place for dinner. We stumbled upon a little square that had about 5 restaurants with outdoor tables and a band getting ready to play a set in the street. We settled in at a wine bar and had a drink while the band played.
As the band started their second set an ominous cloud started moving in from the West. Everyone in the square kept turning to look and point. When it finally started to pour everyone grabbed their drinks and headed for cover.
The interior of the wine bar had a nice atmosphere so we decided to wait out the rainstorm and stay for dinner. We finished (and so did the rain) in time to head to the Blois Chateau (also Francois the 1st's) for their nightly light show in the castle courtyard. Only the Wed night show is narrated in English and we were there on Thursday but we still managed to follow along as they told the history of the chateau's construction, the tale of Joan of Arc, and the story of the Duc de Guise's treachery and then murder at Blois in 1588.
The choreography of the lights splashed on the walls of the chateau was really cool.
The next morning we continued on our planned 1.5 hr drive back into Paris to return our rental car at the Sixt by Gare du Nord. There was heavy volume on the highway heading into Paris which slowed to a crawl as soon as we hit the Péripherique, the Paris beltway. It was disconcerting having motorcycles dart up the middle between the left and 2nd to left lanes, which is perfectly legal in France.
We successfully returned our car having needed 40 min of the 1 hr grace period on the return time and after only 1 illegal left turn and one taxi-only lane to get the final block to the return garage.
We made it back to Paris!
We stopped at a big grocery store and hunted for a 6-pack of individual bottles based solely on the shape and sturdiness of the bottles. In the past we had found that some European bottled water companies have not yet switched to eco-friendly bottles so we were looking forward to obtaining some sturdier bottles.
We got back out to the car to continue our journey and C opened one of the new bottles to take a drink... and it sprayed all over him. Oops, we forgot to check the label for "gazeuse" and had mistakenly bought sparkling water. Oh well, we like sparkling water too.
After mopping up a bit C finally took a sip... and nearly spit it out - it was salty! We looked at the label more closely and saw that it had a bunch of words about recovery and rehydration. It was intended to be used like Gatorade after working out. The nutrition facts indicated that the water contained 1700 mg of salt per liter. Oops, well, we didn't get any fresh water but at least we got good bottles. We poured out the salty, sparkling water in the parking lot and continued on our way.
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| C sheepishly pouring out the salty, sparkling water |
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| Tiny trailer with roof box |
The traffic thinned around lunchtime and we realized why as soon as we pulled into an "aire" to get some lunch. The French do not eat in their cars so every single car on the road had stopped for lunch and there was competition for parking spots at the rest area. There were lines out the door for both the Paul bakery for sandwiches and the sit-down restaurant, and several large families were picnicking in the parking lot.
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| Waiting in line for Paul sandwiches |
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| C at Chambord |
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| Exterior staircase at Chambord |
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| A checking out the queen's quarters |
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| The double spiral staircase at Chambord |
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| Band in Blois |
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| Drinks in Blois |
The interior of the wine bar had a nice atmosphere so we decided to wait out the rainstorm and stay for dinner. We finished (and so did the rain) in time to head to the Blois Chateau (also Francois the 1st's) for their nightly light show in the castle courtyard. Only the Wed night show is narrated in English and we were there on Thursday but we still managed to follow along as they told the history of the chateau's construction, the tale of Joan of Arc, and the story of the Duc de Guise's treachery and then murder at Blois in 1588.
The choreography of the lights splashed on the walls of the chateau was really cool.
The next morning we continued on our planned 1.5 hr drive back into Paris to return our rental car at the Sixt by Gare du Nord. There was heavy volume on the highway heading into Paris which slowed to a crawl as soon as we hit the Péripherique, the Paris beltway. It was disconcerting having motorcycles dart up the middle between the left and 2nd to left lanes, which is perfectly legal in France.
We successfully returned our car having needed 40 min of the 1 hr grace period on the return time and after only 1 illegal left turn and one taxi-only lane to get the final block to the return garage.
We made it back to Paris!
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