And finally ...

IX - Lessons Learned and Other Random Musings

BA has a great First Class product! The New Club World also looks pretty good. The seats appear to be about the same and the food is close, too. Whether First is worth $7000 is something I can't decide for you. In my case, with the paucity of BA flying I do, buying WT or WT+ and upgrading seems like a good use of my accumulating miles. Short of winning the Lottery, I don't think I'll be able to come up with the (now) 300K needed. Still, it's a goal ...

Hilton treated me very well. Perhaps if you're accumstomed to 5-star service on a constant basis you might think it's just OK, but, believe me, I was very happy with the hotel in Paris; the view, the lounge, the room, the staff, etc. While I've seen comments that the place seemed to represent 1970's Soviet architecture, I did not find that at all. If one looked very closely, you could possible find the occasional wallpaper tear here or perhaps a little water stain on one of the pictures, but you'd be looking with a very critical eye. I'd go back again in a heartbeat.

I knew that in the UK there is never a problem finding a B&B to stay for the night. I did not know what the situation in the rest of Europe is. Well, it's the same or even better. For one thing, the prices are usually better. And, rather than B&B's, I found that the small hotels are plentiful, reasonable, comfortable, and available. Typically charming, too.

The Internet has changed the way we do things. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in the travel industry. Besides making ticket purchase transparent, it also makes it possible to plan and book lodging and other transportation from the comfort of your home or office. In my case, because I was not working for the early part of the year, I had a lot of time on my hands - I could really do the research!

Speaking of research - like everything else, don't put too much faith (and money) in a pretty web picture. While researching the B&B's and hotels in France, I mainly used two books: Bed and Breakfasts of Character and Charm in France and Selected Bed and Breakfasts in France. You take one (or both) of these books and your map of France, and curl up with a cup of coffee and the cat curled around your feet, and just let your imagination soar. Then, when you find a place that piques your interest, Google it up for reviews, rates, etc. I've found that googling interesting properties is a very quick way of gathering the good scoop on them.

Then again, don't forget pure web sources. I used "French Way of Life" as a good source of a very interesting set of chateaux available.

There are numerous web booking agents - in fact, many of the places show up on these consolidated web sites. In actuality, some of them work well and are pretty quick, while others seem to take forever to get back to you. I have found that, if you have the e-mail address of the property itself, that's usually the best way to contact them. Besides, you then have a record of what's been said. Usually, an overnight response is fine, given the time-zone differences.

To really nail stuff down quickly, I called directly in a couple of instances. I then had the answer I wanted in minutes. Rates are very cheap - with the typical phone card, it's about a nickel a minute to most places in Europe. Well worth it to me.

Folks, the planning is half the fun!

Packing and clothing - the old adage "pack light" is still true - up to a point. If you're going like we did, covering a large distance in a few days, and staying at a different place every night, then packing as little as possible is the way to go. You can wear the same pair of jeans two or three days. That sweatshirt won't get that skanky on you. Clean underwear and socks are small and easily stored, etc.

However, if you're going to be in one place for a while, then, what the heck, let the airline and taxi guy hump the bags around. You'll be meeting the same people every day, and they will notice if you wear the same stuff.

I found cargo pants and shorts are a great convenience for carrying stuff. Don't carry your wallet, obviously.

Contrary to what you might have been told, they do wear jeans and sneakers over there. Either that, or there's a lot of American tourists speaking perfect French. Wear darker sneaks and you'll fit right in.

I never ran into any hint of anti-Americanism while we were there.

The bottom line is, a bit of planning goes a long way towards making a trip really enjoyable. It's a lot of fun, too! Set a goal, make your plans, and then make it happen. It's a big world out there, boys and girls, and it's just waiting for you.

Or to quote my dear Auntie Mame, "Life's a banquet, and too many suckers are starving."

Finally, I'm sincerely grateful for all the help and encouragement I received from all the folks on Flyertalk. The BA forum, the Hilton forum, the Western Europe forum, and so on. Without their demonstrating that it could be done, I'd still be daydreaming about the possibilities.

Special thanks to ScottC, CT-UK, Globaliser, Eugene, ajamieson, and a whole bunch of others too numerous to mention.

And finally, a toast to the Jaguar corporation! And maybe zoosh ... or maybe not.

Happy (con)trails.

[This message has been edited by BigLar (edited Nov 29, 2003).]