Boscolo Exedra hotel in Nice

I don't usually write posts about hotels that I stay in, but this one is special.

It is the biggest hotel room I've ever stayed in while in France.
There are benches in the elevators.
There is a spa in the hotel; with pool, sauna and steam room.
There is a pool table (billiards) in a room off of the lobby.
The door handle is a rose.
Bathroom has a bidet.
We have two balconies (ledges) - one off of the bathroom and one off of the main room.
We are four blocks (approx) from the Mediterranean.
We have four different fragrance options for bath products (shampoo, etc.)


This hotel allows dogs, so we also have a barking dog two doors down. I have a dog and love her to death. I like how much French people love their dogs, but I don't really like dogs barking in my hotel.

DH and Andy have their own room, which isn't quite as nice as ours. They only have one balcony; and their bathroom is separated from the main room by a curtain, not a door.

I think this hotel is in the top 2 of the nicest places I've ever stayed. Number 1 is still the Halekulani in Oahu, Hawaii.

Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa

It was just as beautiful as I imagined it would be. This picture was taken from the golf course's pro shop. I only did a quick drive-by. I still hope someday to be able to actually stay here, even if it is for a single night.

The Biltmore is one of the 1,000 places I was supposed to see before I die.

Dublin, day two

The Book of Kells - in the book
Shelbourne hotel - in the book

The Book of Kells is in Trinity College. It is a historically significant book and extremely rare. It was hand painted. However, it was difficult to actually see because of being kept in a dark room, and trying to fight dozens of other people to get close enough to try and read it.

Shelbourne hotel is one of those hotels that I will never stay at, but was neat to see. I was greeted by men in top hats.

We took a double-decker bus tour around Dublin. It is a great way to see lots without killing my feet. We sat on the top deck. One of the highlights was seeing a naked guy in his condo. He obviously knew he could be seen and didn't care. It made me giggle.

We went back to The Temple Bar to listen to Irish music. It was a group of three men and they were very good.

I am glad to have experienced and seen Dublin. I wouldn't make a point of returning, but mostly because there are so many other places on my travel bucket list.

There were five of us on this trip and here are our nicknames:
Me - boots
Jennie - sassy pants and tiny bladder
Jeff - smasher and Jeff-Jeff
Dave - Guinness Master
Nevenka - long pour

Use your imagination. I'm afraid I am not at liberty to explain the origins of the nicknames. You really had to be there!

Paris - 13 June 2009

First, let me document the places from "the book" that I saw today or on previous trips:
Paris (my third trip)
Hotel de Crillon (today)
Taillevent (12 March 2001) - nicest restaurant I have ever ate at
Cathedrale Notre Dame de Chartres (today)

Started our day at the bakery and took the subway to the Eiffel Tower. We then walked along the Seine and around Place de la Concorde. We went to the Orangerie - tried to go here in 2001 but it was closed. This is a great museum that features huge Monet paintings.


We walked through the Hotel de Crillon. It is beautiful. We then did some window shopping at the exclusive Rue du Faubourg-St-Honoré shopping area. (Hermes, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, D&G, and more)

We then had a leisurely lunch at a Parisian cafe. Took the subway to Notre Dame, waited for a long time, and then walked to the top. The weather was beautiful and we had great views of Paris. I then got to experience this great ice cream place DH and the kids had been to twice already.

We finished with dinner at Alain Ducaisse's Aux Lyonnais restaurant. Jill had her first glass of wine at a restaurant. She did not let me take a picture though. We were not exactly fresh looking after that long walk to the top of Notre Dame.

8,440 steps walked today.

London day 3 - June 2009

My family covered this today, mostly without me:

St. Paul's Cathedral (me too)
Tate Modern
Millennium Bridge
Fish & chips at British pub
Shopping at Harrod's
Trafalgar Square (me too)

More places from "the book" that I can tick (British version of check) off of my list:
Tea at the Ritz
Connaught Hotel

Tea at the Ritz was an awesome experience. Jill and I went to the Ritz tonight while the boys had beer at the pub. I think Andy is really enjoying the fact that he can legally drink beer in London at 19.

The Connaught Hotel has a very impressive staircase.

The day ended on a bit of a downer because the tube (subway) workers started a 48-hour strike at 7 pm local time.

I worked again today - met with a prospect, met with a long-time client (UK Parliament) and met with a new client. It was a good day.

Michigan

Michigan has one entry in "the book" - Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel. I've been there on several occasions; and Jill and I had high tea there on our last trip in 2007.

Mackinac Island is a great place to buy fudge!

I've also visited President Gerald Ford's Library in Grand Rapids, the "UP," Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, and Holland State Park.

Hawaii

DH and I (with kids and BIL) went to Hawaii in October 2001 and got married on the beach.


"The book" has one listing for each of the islands. We spent time on two: Kauai and Oahu.


I really liked Kauai. We swam, explored, went SCUBA diving, took a helicopter ride, enjoyed shave ice and went to the spa. It was easy to have fun and relax on Kauai.


I am not a big fan of Oahu. Yes, we swam, went to Pearl Harbor, climbed Diamond Head, went to the Dole Plantation; but Honolulu is just a city on a beach. Traffic is terrible, the local merchants are pushy about selling their junk to tourists, and it is very expensive.


We spent our last night in Honolulu at the Halekulani - and loved every minute of it.