March 2011

My wife, Vera, and I stayed at the Etap Hotel Valence centre (65 Av. du Tricastin, 26000 Valence, France; phone +33 892680673), Oct. 7, 2010.

After a tour of France in May ’10, my wife, Rose, and I stayed at the charming but small Hotel du Champ de Mars (7 rue du Champ de Mars, Paris 75007; phone +33 1 45 51 52 30) for three nights.

The hotel is in a wonderful neighborhood with lots of sidewalk cafés always busy with people, plus markets, shops and a bakery or two. There are two Métro stations nearby, and you can walk to the Eiffel Tower although it’s about eight or ten blocks.

In Prague, the delightful Unitas Hotel (Bartolomejska 9, 11000 Praha 1, Czech Republic; phone 00420 224 230 533), built in 2008, is more than worth the price: €109 to €139 (near $148-$188) for a double, depending on the season.

Its rooms, air-conditioned, are incredibly spacious and have a kitchen corner with a refrigerator, microwave, dishes, silverware and a coffee pot with supplies. Included in the price is an extremely generous breakfast with omelets, pancakes, cheeses, breads, coffee cakes and other goodies.

My husband, Norman, and I found a gem of a hotel in Panama City. We stayed at the three-star Hotel Bahía Suites (Calle 31 con Justo Arosemena; phone 011 507 225 8578), in the Calidonia area of Panama City, Aug. 24-Sept. 1, 2010.

Our queen standard room, $69 per night, included a fabulous full breakfast served in the rooftop restaurant with its panoramic view of the city, the Casco Viejo and the Bay of Panama. King standard rooms cost $79 per night.

Every year for the past six years my daughter, Alison, and I have taken a trip to Thailand. In Chiang Mai we stay at Sarah Guest House (20 Tapae Road, Soi 4, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand; phone [66 53] 208271, fax [66 53] 279423). It is owned and operated by Sarah, who is from the United Kingdom, and her husband, Jack, who is a Thai tour guide.

While on “Oprah” in August, Julia Roberts said that Bali is “Heaven on Earth.” My husband, Carl, and I traveled to Bali in February-March 2010 and would agree with her!

After visiting Argentina in November ’10, my wife and I flew home to Charlotte out of Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) on Continental Airlines. I will compare our experience to that of another ITN subscriber who returned to the US through EZE in February ’07 (Sept. ’07, pg. 44).

Good news — the departure tax was included in the cost of our airline ticket. One less queue!

My wife, Shirley, and I have been vacationing in Norway for many years. We have friends in the Lofoten Islands and stay with them or in a rental owned by their son.

I read Wanda Bahde’s article “Ultimate Africa — Going Beyond the Simple Safari in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe” (Oct. ’10, pg. 44), about the trip she and her husband took with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) in September-October 2009, and I could not concur more with their recommendation of this trip. My wife and I took the “Ultimate Africa” trip with OAT in July ’09 and had a superlative experience.

I have a few comments on Ms. Bahde’s assessment.