Despite France’s reputation for fine restaurants and grand cafés, one of my most memorable meals was actually a picnic on a bench in Chartres. Munching my baguette with Emmentaler cheese and sipping my box of juice in front of the floodlit cathedral, I acknowledged the bum on the next bench.
A few years ago, John and I were in Montenegro, which is a new name for an old country. Montenegro was once part of Yugoslavia and then in union with Serbia, but in 2006 it declared its independence. Today tourism along the coast is developing rapidly, with many new high-rise hotels being built.
We stayed at one such hotel, The Queen of Montenegro (Ul. Narodnog fronta bb, BečIć/Budva 85310, Montenegro; phone +382 33 662 662 or fax 33 662 633), where we paid $150 per night, including breakfast.
8-day/6-night tour focuses on churches and breweries in GERMANY; departs April 3, Sept. 11 and Nov. 13. Highlights: Tiepolo frescoes in Prince Bishop’s Palace, Würzburg/Beer tasting in Regensburg/pilgrimage city of Altötting/Ettal Abbey’s distillery/Oberammergau/Munich. From Newark, from $3,169. Single supp., from $239. The Catholic Tour LLC (Beachwood, OH; 877/627-4268).
I made my 24th annual visit to the island of Moorea in French Polynesia, March 3-31, 2012. Tahiti and its neighbors in this archipelago are the loveliest islands I’ve visited in the South Pacific.
by Nita & Charles Swartz; Las Cruces, NM
Prior to a cruise out of Rome, we paid Holland America Line to arrange private touring and a stay for eight of us at a small, lakeside hotel, Nov. 4-7, 2011. During this time, our guide was Luigi Biavati of Sideways Tours Turistic Services (Rome; phone [00] 39 334 2376 681, e-mail sideways.tours@gmail.com).
Competent and very knowledgeable, Luigi did a great job. He speaks English fluently and has a great sense of humor.
I placed a request in ITN’s “Person to Person” section for information on travel that would combine hands-on cooking classes with touring. One of the people who responded was Sarna Rose, the owner of Poland Culinary Vacations (Bozeman, MT; 888/703-8130).
by Fred DeVinney; Oakland, CA
REPORT ON ITALY…
