Paris - Barcelona report
I departed USA for Paris 10 days after getting my new Covid 2023-2024 vaccine at CVS. Paris and Barcelona were sunny and warm. I did not check any luggage even though I had private transfer between airports and hotels. A winter visit for me would require a checked bag. I enjoyed the flexibility of doing as I pleased as this was not a tour, but I must admit that I had spent a lot of time throughout the summer researching events, forming a loose/flexible itinerary and making restaurant reservations and timed entry museum reservations. I allowed for a lot of free time to explore, both in Paris and Barcelona. In 2022 I took 2 Tauck cruises - Douro and French Escapade. There are advantages to letting Tauck do all the planning but I did not miss the bus rides with fellow unmasked coughing/sneezing Tauck travelers. I used the Paris metro a lot and have not yet seen evidence of any bed bugs that might have hitched a ride back to the US with me. My small Paris hotel was lovely on a quiet street just a block from the Seine in the 5th arrondissement. It had once been apartments and was converted to a hotel. Simone de Beauvoir had lived and wrote there. Our Barcelona hotel was much larger, on the noisy Ramblas... very touristy but within convenient walking distance to the Gothic and Born neighborhoods - (Cathedral & Picasso museum) Not far we found a small square with four tapas restaurants offering both outdoor and indoor seating. We had lunch or dinner at 3 of the 4. With Chicago winter coming we chose outdoor seating, knowing the option for us will soon be gone. It was so enjoyable to people watch as we sat with drinks and tapas. We had 2 Tauck groups staying at the hotel. One had finished breakfast and boarded a bus to head to the north of Spain on a land tour. The other was about to head west to the border of Portugal for a Douro cruise. I'm not ruling out future trips with Tauck. Some of my Tauck trips have been as a solo. Every one of them has been truly wonderful. But, based on this recent experience, I know that I will be planning travel on my own again. This trip went smoothly... even the Air France EARLY morning flight from CDG to BCN went as planned. We arrived Barcelona early expecting to drop off our luggage at the hotel before heading out, but surprise!, our room was ready in the morning for check-in! I wish everyone happy, rewarding, safe and healthy travels. Thank you all for answering my questions and providing helpful information through this forum. Keep exploring!
Comments
We used to do our own trips in Europe. The train system is so good that you can get just about anywhere you want to go. But you have to carry your own bags and in many of the smaller train stations you have to go down and then up stairs (with your bags). The advantage is being able to spend several days in a city doing what you want. We would sometimes get a local guide for one day.
But we're older now, and appreciate having someone else do all the work of planning the trip, getting the hotels, and handling the bags. I doubt if we'll ever go back to doing it ourselves. Except maybe Paris, which is my favorite city - maybe we'll just go there for a week on our own.