Misterpiggy Goes to France

Misterpiggy's Foodie Pics part two!

2012-04-25T12:15:00.000-04:00

Here's the rest of misterpiggy's yummy pics! Enjoy!

Well this is Misterpiggy's final post about his France trip with Trafalgar Tours. Hope you enjoyed all of his pictures! Thanks for visiting and see you soon!

Misterpiggy's Foodie Pics part one!

2012-04-24T11:50:00.000-04:00

Here's pictures of all the things that Misterpiggy (and Muki too) ate or wanted to eat on his France trip!

Trafalgar Hotel: Park and Suites (Lyon)

2012-04-23T16:41:00.000-04:00

The Park and Suites hotel in Lyon was located in a business center and was about twenty minutes away from the Lyon Part Deux train station. While there was a large mall and fast food eateries near the train station, there wasn't really much to see or do or eat near the hotel itself. Even the hotel restaurant was closed for dinner during Misterpiggy's stay in Lyon.

The hotel room had a kitchenette and a sofa bed that could be used for additional sleeping.

A nice desk area. Wifi was supposed to work but didn't for Misterpiggy.

The room was very large and had another bed in a separate sleeping area.

The bathroom was good sized and modern.

The hotel was right next door to an office building hence the yucky view. Also the window was broken and could not be closed. Someone else on the tour also mentioned that their window was broken too. Misterpiggy had to compensate by turning up the heat at night and closing the hanging doors that separated the sleeping area. Misterpiggy hopes the hotel can fix all their broken windows.

Even though the hotel restaurant was closed for dinner, it was re-opened the following morning for a decent breakfast.

Misterpiggy's rating:

Size: 1
Comfort and storage: 0.5
Bathroom: 1
Roomsafe: 1
Breakfast: 1
Convenience and access: 0
Cleanliness: 1
View: 0
Quiet: 0
Free Internet/Wifi: 0

Score: 5.5 out of 10. Misterpiggy thinks he might stay at a different hotel than this one if he revisits Lyon in future.

Trafalgar Hotel: Mercure Hotel (Avignon)

2012-04-22T16:40:00.000-04:00

The Mercure was a nice little hotel right inside the walled town of Avignon. Misterpiggy could walk to either the Pont d'Avignon or the Palais du Pape in about five minutes. It was also very close to the many restaurants. Here's Misterpiggy's post about his time in Avignon.

The room misterpiggy stayed in was a bit smaller but had a nice view of a garden in the courtyard below.

The bathroom was a good size but still had the glass divider which misterpiggy was not a huge fan of.

A good amount of storage and a working room safe. Yay. Sadly no wi-fi though.

Breakfast was very enjoyable with lots of pastry choices and hot and cold items. Misterpiggy even sampled all of the meats and cheeses. He really liked the bright and comfortable dining area.

Misterpiggy's rating:

Size: 0
Comfort and storage: 1
Bathroom: 1
Roomsafe: 1
Breakfast: 1
Convenience and access: 1
Cleanliness: 1
View: 0
Quiet: 1
Free Internet/Wifi: 0

Score: 7.0 out of 10. Misterpiggy would stay here again. It was close to everything and had a great brekky.

Trafalgar Hotel: Holiday Inn Prado (Marseille)

2012-04-21T16:38:00.000-04:00

In Marseille, misterpiggy stayed at the Holiday Inn Prado, which was a standard tourist hotel. It was located on a very busy commercial street. He would have liked to roam around the hotel neighbourhood had more time permitted.

The rooms were a good size with sufficient storage. Misterpiggy doesn't remember if they had free wifi or not.

The bathroom was ok and nothing remarkable. One thing misterpiggy noticed was that at a lot of the hotels where he stayed, they had this glass divider which did nothing to stop water from leaking onto the floor. Also, you couldn't lean on it, in case it broke. misterpiggy thought it was a tad dangerous.

Yet another wall safe that was not attached nor functioning.

The view from the room.

Misterpiggy though that breakfast was alright. Nothing special, but enough food to go around.

Misterpiggy's rating:

Size: 1
Comfort and storage: 1
Bathroom: 1
Roomsafe: 0
Breakfast: 1
Convenience and access: 0
Cleanliness: 1
View: 0
Quiet: 1
Free Internet/Wifi: 0

Score: 6.0 out of 10. Misterpiggy would stay here again. A mostly average hotel stay.

Trafalgar Hotel: Boscolo Plaza (Nice)

2012-04-20T16:36:00.000-04:00

Here's the Boscolo Plaza hotel in Nice, where Misterpiggy spent two nights. The building facade certainly looked impressive. The hotel was divided into two sections, one side for business travellers and one side for tourists. Having seen the tourist rooms, Misterpiggy wonders if the business traveller rooms might be better.

Here is the tourist side lobby. It is connected to the business side by a large rotunda. The rotunda is also where you go downstairs to the dining room for breakfast.

The hotel had a rooftop terrace which would have been nice if it hadn't rained both nights that Misterpiggy was staying there. It had nice views of Place Massena.

Location wise, the hotel is strolling distance to place massena, the beach and the flower market. It was also close to lots of high end shopping on the adjacent streets.

The hotel room wasn't large nor small, and while the room was nicely painted it still exhibited signs of age. The floors were quite uneven and misterpiggy could feel the floor tilt downwards from the full height transom doors.

Here's the view from the doors which could open.

The bathroom seemed somewhat neglected and could have used refurbishment. Showering was awkward because there was no shower curtain, so there was always a puddle on the floor afterwards.
There was a separate toilet room which had a toilet and about 4 feet in front of it, a bidet facing the toilet. Kind of a strange setup if you ask misterpiggy.

There was a safe in the room but it was dislodged from the wall and didn't work. Also, there was only free wifi in the lobby, but not in the room themselves.

Misterpiggy was really impressed with the breakfast service each morning. It was a large dining room with a large center island. It had scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, different sliced meats and cheeses, lots of fresh juice and fruits, and heaps of pastries. The waiters would bring over pots of coffee or hot water for tea and they would clear away the plates every so often. Oh and did misterpiggy mention that their paper napkins were really nice?

Misterpiggy's rating:

Size: 1
Comfort and storage: 1
Bathroom: 0
Roomsafe: 0
Breakfast: 1
Convenience and access: 1
Cleanliness: 1
View: 1
Quiet: 1
Free Internet/Wifi: 0.5

Score: 7.5 out of 10. Misterpiggy would stay here again, just to enjoy the excellent breakfast and the convenient location.

Trafalgar Hotel: Escale Oceania (Aix-En-Provence)

2012-04-19T16:36:00.000-04:00

Misterpiggy stayed at the Escale Oceania while in Aix-En-Provence. It appeared to be recently renovated throughout. The hotel was situated in a residential area and wasn't really close to anything. It was about a twenty minute ride by tour bus to get to the center of Aix-En-Provence.

The rooms, while modern looking, were the smallest of all the hotels on the tour. The toilet had a separate room and the bathroom was separated from the sleeping area by a glass wall. No privacy for the squeamish.

Being a small room, there wasn't much storage other than the cubbyholes next to the small desk. The wifi did work, however. Misterpiggy can't remember if there was a room safe or not. probably not, but he will check the hotel's website and update this post if there was.

There wasn't much to see out the window of the room other than the parking lot and a bit of the highway beyond the barrier.

The tour group had breakfast in a conference room which was setup with long tables. The breakfast offerings were decent and you could make your own caffes and lattes via the machine at the bar.

Misterpiggy's rating:

Size: 0
Comfort and storage: 0.5
Bathroom: 1
Roomsafe: 1
Breakfast: 1
Convenience and access: 0
Cleanliness: 1
View: 0
Quiet: 1
Free Internet/Wifi: 1

Score: 6.5 out of 10. Misterpiggy would stay here again.

Trafalgar Hotel: Best Western International (Annecy)

2012-04-18T11:40:00.000-04:00

Misterpiggy didn't have any expectations as the tour bus pulled up to the front entrance of the Best Western Internation in Annecy. From the street, the hotel looked rather small. The dull gray of the hotel exterior even matched the sky.

The lobby quickly filled up as the tour group all entered the hotel. After getting the room assignments, misterpiggy opted for the stairs as the elevators were so small (4 people with luggage was a squeeze, if he recalls correctly).

It felt like a rooming house and misterpiggy counted 3 doors inside his dwarfish room. One for the separate toilet room, one of the bathroom and one for the sleeping area. there was a small extension at the end of the room that didn't seem to serve any purpose. Maybe they should have turned it into a closet or something. New laminate floors and paint didn't seem to hide how old and tired the room was. Luckily it was only a one night stay.

There was supposed to be free Wi-fi but Marie advised that it was not working during the stay.

Two twin beds.

The small desk. Oh, there was a flat screen TV mounted on the wall, but misterpiggy never used it.

View from the room.

Bathrooms as small as Japan.

Lots of storage though and a room safe behind the doors.

Breakfast was a rather dismal affair. There was a rather nice looking restaurant at the front of the hotel, but the tour group ended up having breakfast in a back room where the food selection and quantity was quite limited. Here's a picture of where misterpiggy didn't eat.

On the plus side, the hotel was only a ten minute stroll to the old part of town.

Misterpiggy's rating:

Size: 0
Comfort and storage: 1
Bathroom: 0
Roomsafe: 1
Breakfast: 0
Convenience and access: 1
Cleanliness: 1
View: 0
Quiet: 1
Free Internet/Wifi: 0

Score: 5 out of 10. Misterpiggy would not stay here again.

Trafalgar Hotel: Hilton La Defense (Paris)

2012-04-17T11:40:00.000-04:00

Misterpiggy stayed at the Hilton La Defense while in Paris. The La Defense is a business district with lots of office buildings and home to the Grande Arche and the Quatre Temps giant shopping mall. The hotel looks like an aircraft hangar from the outside and piggy read somewhere that it used to be an exhibition/convention centre? Anyways, now there are offices, shops, eateries and the hotel inside.

The outside.

from the shops looking up at the hotel.

and inside views, these are the views from the room looking out.

There is a main shopping concourse at street level and two more shopping levels below that. Also convenient access to the Metro "1" line.

The rooms are spacious and modern. With 3 phones even. one between the beds.

a phone on the desk and even one in the bathroom. mini fridge and safe too.

giant sized bathroom.

All the usual toiletries. shampoo not necessary for misterpiggy and muki as neither one has any hair.

Muki doesn't need any Qtips either.

Misterpiggy found the room to be very comfortable. No noise leakage from adjacent rooms. It would have scored ten out of ten if there was free wi-fi.

Misterpiggy enjoyed his breakfasts on in the hotel restaurant located on the main level. The croissants and fresh juices were the best!

Misterpiggy's rating:

Size: 1
Comfort and storage: 1
Bathroom: 1
Roomsafe: 1
Breakfast: 1
Convenience and access: 1
Cleanliness: 1
View: 1
Quiet: 1
Free Internet/Wifi: 0

Score: 9 out of 10. Misterpiggy would definitely stay here again (assuming cost was no object).

Day 11: Au Revoir to France

2012-04-16T19:54:00.000-04:00

Although Marie had advised that the Hilton La Defense breakfast room would not be opened until 6:30 am, misterpiggy was lucky to be let in early and he savoured his last breakfast of fresh juices and croissants.

Marie was there to bid Adieu to those leaving at 7 am to catch their morning flights. The check in line up was long so it was lucky that misterpiggy got to the Charles De Gaulle airport early that day.
Thanks again to Marc, our competent and skilled driver!

In summary, Misterpiggy was impressed with the professionalism of all the Trafalgar staff and would highly recommend the French Escapade tour to anyone wanting to get a taste of Paris and the south of France.

Misterpiggy enjoyed many aspects of the tour including the chance to visit a perfumery and a winery, because he would never have done this on his own. The villages of St. Paul du Vence, Eze and Avignon were a photographers delight. Nice was a beautiful city in it's own right and misterpiggy would like to to revisit it in the future. The visit to the Dulac patisserie in the Rhone valley was a nice surprise also.

There were little things that delighted Misterpiggy though seemingly trivial. Listening to the string symphonie outside the Comedie Francaise. Light, flaky and delicious croissants and pastries. Ditto for the crepes. And french fries! Now misterpiggy knows why they are called "french" fries, so crispy and light. Ok here's a surprise one, the paper napkins in all of the hotels were as thick as linen. Misterpiggy was so impressed with them, that he brought one back as a souvenir!

If there was one part of the tour that Misterpiggy found disappointing, it was the visit to Monte Carlo and Monaco. Misterpiggy wasn't allowed in the hotels (he didn't bring a tuxedo) and couldn't take pictures in the casino, so he wished he had spent more time by the waterfront. Perhaps Trafalgar could make Monte Carlo an optional tour in future.

Well this wraps up Misterpiggy's trip report. He will definitely return to Paris one day to see Versailles, The Louvre in it's entirety and visit Montmartre, the Latin Quarter and stroll along the Seine.

Stay tuned for future blog posts to see and hear what misterpiggy has to say about the hotels which he stayed at duing the course of the trip.

A bien tot from misterpiggy!

Day 10: Last day in Paris

2012-04-15T19:52:00.000-04:00

It was a particularly blustery and windy day as Misterpiggy went on the Paris city tour. Somehow misterpiggy lucked out because here he was at the front of the bus again. The tour group was joined by Katherine?, a local guide, as Marc drove down the Ave Charles De Gaulle, and then via beautiful tree lined streets near Les Invalides towards the Eiffel Tower.

Misterpiggy thinks that this building is called L'Hotel des Invalides.

And this is the Ecole Militarie.

Le pont des Invalides et le grand palais?

Marc pulled the tour bus into Champs de Mars and everyone got off the bus for the group photo and views of the Eiffel tower.

Marie had to make a mad dash from the group photo spot to the Eiffel Tower in time to buy the group tickets. By the time the group reboarded the bus and Marc dropped everybody off at the base of the tower, Marie had the tickets and was there in line saving a place for the entire group! And what a busy day it was. Only one elevator was working so the line-ups were long.

Here are some pics of the Eiffel tower as misterpiggy waited to go up.

And here are the views from the second level observation deck, where it was really cold and gusty.

Unfortunately it was too windy for misterpiggy to take a picture outside lest he be blown off the railing. For the afternoon, many of the group members took the optional tour to Versailles and Marc was driving them there, so misterpiggy made his own way back to La Defense via the Metro.

It was nice that afternoon to finally have some leisure time to see some of the stores in the Quatre Temps mall across from the hotel. Best of all there was free wifi throughout the mall so misterpiggy could publish his exciting adventures in lovely France!

Later that evening, everybody said their goodbyes at the farewell dinner at a restaurant on the Champs Elysees. A final thank you to Trafalgar tour director Marie Dubois, who took care of misterpiggy and everyone so well and made for a wonderful vacation experience.

Day 9: Lyon to Paris

2012-04-14T10:01:00.000-04:00

It was a very long day for misterpiggy on Saturday. He had to catch the TGV from Lyon back to Paris and the train station in Lyon Gare Part Deux was bustling. His train left promptly at 9:04 am and arrived in Paris at around 11 am.

Don't worry, he didn't jump off the platform.

Misterpiggy travelled in coach #8 which Marie had reserved for the trafalgar group.

The TGV upon arrival at Gare Lyon in Paris.

Marc was driving the tour bus back all the way from Lyon, so the tour group was met at the Paris train station by a different bus that did some sightseeing along the right bank on the way to the Louvre.

Some of the tour group were taking the optional Trafalgar Louvre tour but misterpiggy decided to explore the grounds on his own instead. One day he will return to Paris and see the Louvre museum in it's entirety.

With so little time, misterpiggy had a quick lunch at McDonalds before strolling along the river Seine and admiring the many bridges and beautiful french architecture. He couldn't resist taking a boat ride so he boarded one at St. Germaine Du Pres and did a half loop around, getting back off at the Louvre.

Before meeting the tour bus for the trip back to the Hilton La Defense, Misterpiggy very much enjoyed listening to the the string orchestra that was performing near the Comedie Francaise.

Misterpiggy would have preferred to stay all day at the Louvre area, except he had to return to the Hilton hotel in La Defense to check in for his last two nights of this trip. Luckily his boat ticket was good all day long, so misterpiggy took the Metro back into town in the evening and resumed his boat ride.

Misterpiggy Bato-bus arrived at the tour d'Eiffel just as the lights were coming on. He made his way across the river to get a better vantage point. Afterwards he managed to get on the very last boat departing the Eiffel tower at 9:20 pm and returned to the original departure point.

The Metro from Palais Royale was only 9 metro stops back to La Defense so misterpiggy was snugly in bed by 11 pm.

Day 8: Chateauneuf du Pape, Lyon

2012-04-13T19:50:00.000-04:00

Misterpiggy went on a winery tour in Chateauneuf du Pape, on the outskirts of Avignon.

He was surprised to find that the vineyards were almost as small as he was. Apparently they cut them back very short to allow for a more bountiful harvest of grapes.

Marie had chosen a surprise visit to the Dulac patissier in the town of Montelimar, just north of Chateauneuf du Pape. Here in his store, the owner hand made chocolate, nougat and other baked items. He put out lots and lots of samples for everyone to try!

Back on the road to Lyon, Misterpiggy saw many power plants and wind mills. He learned from Marie that the country of France had 58 nuclear power plants operational and that it was #2 behind the USA which has 104 and ahead of Japan which has 55.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_country

This complex is located on the Rhone river nestled right in the wine region.

By late afternoon, misterpiggy arrived at the Park and Suites Residence hotel in Lyon. It was about ten minutes walk from the Lyon Part Deux train station. The hotel was in a business district and there weren't many restaurants around open for dinner. Not even the one in the hotel.

Here's misterpiggy's review of the Park and Suites hotel in Lyon.

Luckily, after much searching misterpiggy found the Luna ristorante nearby. It served up great pizza and pasta at reasonable prices! Highly recommended.

Here's some pics in and around the Lyon train station.

Day 7: Marseille, Arles and Avignon

2012-04-12T19:47:00.000-04:00

Another sunny and somewhat chilly morning as bus driver Marc drove along the coast on the way to Notre Dame de la Garde. A local tour guide accompanied the group this morning and provided some historical insights about Marseille.

He again demonstrated his amazing driving skills as he drove up the narrow and winding roads leading to the Basilica. There were cars, big trucks and other tour busses coming back down the road and everyone squeezed by with inches to spare. Here are some pictures from Notre Dame.

The second stop of the morning was at the old port near the town hall district.

Afterwards, was a visit to Arles to see the old Roman arena and architecture.

By late afternoon, the tour bus reached Avignon. After check-in at the Mercure hotel, misterpiggy did some exploring around the Palais du Pape, had an early dinner and then visited some shops.

Here's Misterpiggy's review of the Mercure hotel in Avignon.

Day 6: Cannes and St. Tropez

2012-04-11T19:45:00.000-04:00

The rain from the previous night dissipated by the time the coach was ready to leave the hotel in the morning. Another sunny day!

The bus meandered through the coastal highway and reached Cannes where everybody got off the bus for a quick photo stop.

Then it was back on the bus for more views of the Mediterranean sea before travelling south to the marina of St.-Maxime.

While the tour group was waiting for the ferry, As a treat, Marie handed out macarons for everybody to try. It was terribly windy and very chilly as the tour group boarded the choppy 15 minute boat ride to St. Tropez. Marc was going to drive the bus into St. Tropez to meet the tour group later.

In St. Tropez, Marie gave a quick guided tour and then everybody was off to get something to eat and explore for a few hours. There were lots of fancy yachts for Misterpiggy to see.

Misterpiggy saw these trees everywhere he went. The bark looks like blotches of paint.

Finally, it was back on the bus for the drive to busy Marseille. Misterpiggy stayed at the Holiday Inn Prado hotel and there was a special Trafalgar dinner in the hotel dining room that evening.

Here's Misterpiggy's review of the Holiday Inn Prado in Marseille.

Day 5: Eze et La Bergerie

2012-04-10T19:00:00.000-04:00

Preceding lunch was a trip to the ancient village of Eze which is perched on a rock 1400 feet above sea level.

The tour bus made a photo stop.

Inside eze.

Time to enjoy a lunch high up on the Grand Corniche overlooking the village of Eze and the mediterrean sea. Marc did an excellent job of manoeuvring the giant tour bus up the steep and winding roads.

Upon arrival at cozy La Bergerie restaurant, the tour group was met by the owner and enjoyed aperitifs on the sunny terrace. Misterpiggy then enjoyed a delicious lobster bisque, followed by a tender duck main course. Desserts were yummy also.

Sadly, the excellent lunch excursion came to a close and the tour bus headed back into Nice.

The weather became wet and dreary by late afternoon and misterpiggy had a quick pasta dinner at Le Milos before camping out in the hotel lobby for the rest of the evening to catch up on his blogging.

Day 5: It's nice in Nice!

2012-04-10T13:17:00.000-04:00

After a leisurely breakfast, misterpiggy went across the street from the hotel and took some pictures in the main plaza, called place massena.

Then he found his way to the Marche de Fleurs. It is the flower and fresh food farmer's market and it is open every day from 9 am to 11 am. Misterpiggy saw lots of different fresh fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers. There were lots of open air cafes on either side of the flower market, where you could get a tasty crepe or a cafe or just sit and watch everybody.

The waterfront and beach were just on the other side of the flower market, so misterpiggy decided to go down to the beach and bask in the morning sun for a bit.

Misterpiggy decided to join the optional afternoon visit to the medieval hilltop village of Eze and have lunch on the Grand Corniche. To be continued!

Day 4: Grasse, St. Paul De Vence and (ughh) Monaco

2012-04-09T19:44:00.000-04:00

Misterpiggy said au revoir to the Escale Oceana hotel and he was transported to Grasse where he visited the famous Fragonard Perfumery, where he learned how perfumes and soaps were made.

While everyone was shopping, he took some pictures in the little garden outside.

Marie handed out some free perfume samples on the bus, but piggy didn't want any cuz he smelled fine just the way he was.

The next stop on the day's tour was the medieval hilltop village known as St. Paul de Vence. Misterpiggy visited lots of artist shops and enjoyed the great views.

In the afternoon, he visited Monte Carlo in the principality of Monaco.

They didn't permit cameras in the casino and piggy was stuffily denied entry to the nice hotels, so for about two hours misterpiggy hung around and watched people watching each other. Had he known, he would have headed back down to the waterfront to take more pics.

Misterpiggy thought that there were too many people with too much money and too much time who liked to drive around and around in front of the casino to show off their fancy cars and rev their engines. All of this was a bit nauseating to misterpiggy and he was very happy to leave this human zoo.

Later that evening, misterpiggy arrived in Nice, where he stayed two nights at the very regal looking Boscolo Plaza Hotel.

Here is Misterpiggy's review of the Boscolo Plaza hotel in Nice.

The Trafalgar highlight dinner was held at a nearby restaurant where he enjoyed a roast beef dinner.

Day 3: Elegant Aix-En-Provence

2012-04-08T12:13:00.000-04:00

After a discouraging breakfast at the Best Western in Annecy, misterpiggy was happy to reboard the bus for the trip to Aix-En-Provence via the French Alps. Luckily he had the back seat all to himself today and he made the most of it taking many pictures of the beautiful mountain landscape from the back window of the bus. The back windows were dirty, hence the spots on some of misterpiggys pictures. Sorry about that!

The bus stopped for lunch near Grenoble. Misterpiggy saw some snow capped the mountains from the roadside eating area. It was cold enough to turn misterpiggy into a frozen porkchop.

Finally out of the cold gray mountains, the tour bus emerged into the blue and sunny skies and continued it's scenic drive until it approached the beautful Aix-En-Provence, home to painter Paul Cezanne, with it's fountain, carousel and tree lined boulevard.

Yay, sunny again!

Following a brief stop at the Escale Oceana hotel, Marc and Marie drove the tour group into town and free time was given to see the antique market, visit some of the shops in the narrow alleyways off the grand boulevard and just bask in the warm sun.

Lots of the shops were closed because it was Easter Sunday, but you could still get a yummy crepe with nutella to eat.

Afterwards, back to the hotel for a nice inclusive dinner and early bedtime for misterpiggy.

Here is Misterpiggy's review of the Escale Oceania in Aix-En-Provence.
Goodnight!

Day 2: A long drive to Annecy

2012-04-07T21:28:00.000-04:00

Misterpiggy slept soundly at the hotel and in the morning, had an excellent breakfast of fresh croissants, pastries and fruits in the hotel breakfast room. Then he boarded the bus with everybody else for the long drive to Annecy.

The adventure began quickly as the tour bus could not leave the hotel because there was a huge tractor trailer blocking the driveway exit. The driver was nowhere to be found and tour director Marie ran everywhere looking for the driver. Finally after what seemed like 20 to 30 mins, the truck driver appeared and moved his truck. It was a wonder that Marie Dubois remained composed and cheerful throught that ordeal!

Marie advised that the seating would be changed everyday so everybody would get a chance to get a good view.

Here was our driver Marc trying to stop the bus from rolling forward. Just kidding!

Along the way misterpiggy saw picturesque little farmhouses nestled amongst the rolling hills.

Misterpiggy and everybody arrived in Annecy, a not so small town close to the Swiss border, in the late afternoon under cold and gray skies. The Best Western International hotel was about a ten minute stroll from the old town.

Here is Misterpiggy's review of the Best Western International hotel in Annecy.
After dropping off our luggage and getting the rooms, Marie led the tour group into the old town for some sightseeing, walking along the old canals and into the boat shaped Palais de L'isle.

She let the group have some free time before the Trafalgar Be My Guest dinner and she pointed out the restaurant called Chez Mamie Lise where the tour group enjoyed it's first meal together.

After an excellent meal misterpiggy explored Annecy's very quaint and picture perfect old town and cathredral in the light rain for the remainder of the evening.

Thanks for taking the time too look at misterpiggy's pictures. See you tomorrow!

Day 1: Misterpiggy's in France!

2012-04-06T15:49:00.000-04:00

Well, misterpiggy finally made it to France, sorry to keep you all waiting. His Air Canada flight was only delayed by one hour due to lack of tailwinds.

The arrival gate at Charles De Gaulle aiport in Paris.

Paris airport has a squishy baggage area. It was a long walk from terminal 2A to terminal 2C. From there the waiting Trafalgar reps directed him to the waiting coach one level below the arrival level where Marc, our most capable bus driver for the trip, helped everyone with their luggage.

Here's an old Concorde jet on display that misterpiggy saw as the tour bus left the airport.

Misterpiggy was lucky enough to ride in the front seat of the bus, right behind the bus driver on the way to the hotel. He enjoyed the great views of Paris through the large tour bus windows.

He saw lots of graffiti on the highway, some of it looked like art!

The Hilton is located in the La Defense business district not too far outside the Paris city centre. It looks like a giant aircraft hanger but was actually an exhibition center, now converted into the hotel and shops and offices. The metro subway line runs right up to the hotel in the lower level, convenient for travelling into the centre of Paris.

Here is Misterpiggy's review of the Hilton La Defense in Paris.

After a short rest, misterpiggy attended the orientation and welcome meeting held in the Hilton Tangerine bar, with our members of the tour group. Marie Dubois, our Trafalgar tour director, cheerfully introduced herself and provided much useful information about the upcoming excursion.

Following the meeting, misterpiggy located the metro station underneath the hotel, bought his tickets from the ticket kiosk, checked his subway map for directions and headed to the Champs Elysees and the Arc De Triomphe.

It was sunny and cool so misterpiggy did some sightseeing around the Champs Elysees. Here he is at the Arc De Triomphe.

Here's misterpiggy on the Champs Elysees .

There was beautiful architecture everywhere and he bought some tasty macarons from Raymonds to snack on.

After having some dinner, it started to get rather chilly, so misterpiggy made his way back to the hotel by metro.

He stopped for a pic of le Grande Arche before making his way back to his toasty hotel room.

Feel free to post any comments or questions for misterpiggy. He will try to answer them the best he can. Bon soir for now!

Day 0: Waiting for departure

2012-04-05T18:15:00.000-04:00

Piggy's just hanging out at the airport ... even though he came during rush hour, the traffic wasn't too bad.

So to kill time, did some picture taking in the duty free shop and around the departure gate.

Trip Details

2012-04-02T11:24:00.000-04:00

Let's review MisterPiggy's trip details. Although he is busy packing and getting his travel documents in order, he took time out from his busy schedule to share all the juicy details.

Duration:
12 days, leaving Thursday April 5th and returning Monday April 16th.

Flights:
Departing for Paris via Air Canada flight AC880 out of Terminal 1 @ 8:40 pm (Thu Apr 5th)
Returning via Air Canada flight AC881 back at Terminal 1 @ 1:00 pm (Mon Apr 16th)

New plane! http://www.aircanada.com/shared/en/common/fleet/pop_fleet77W.html

MisterPiggy Tip of the day:
Did you know if you just type in the flight number into Google Search, it will tell you if the flight is on time or not? How cool! Sugoi! Try it: just go to Google Search and type in AC 880.

Hotel Info: (click on the pciture to make it bigger)

Weather:
Here's a neat weather site. It shows the weather for all the principal holiday cities in France. It has the live weather tab so you can see real time weather plus it has the weather forecast tab where you can use the slider so you can check the next few days. Screen cap follows.
http://www.holiday-weather.com/country/france/

Paris looks to be chilly in the low teens when MisterPiggy arrives on Friday morning. Luckily he will be heading towards the south of France for most of the trip, where it will be warmer in the higher teens, lower twenties Celcius.

Bonjour France!

2012-04-01T10:53:00.000-04:00

Well it's time for the little Mister Piggy to grow wings. He hasn't been travelling for quite awhile now so he's anxious to board a plane with his camera and bags. In only a few short days, Mister Piggy will be on a flight to France. He's going on Trafalgar's French Winter Escapade 12 day tour which starts and ends in Paris. Other stops on his trip include Lyon, Marseille, Avignon, Monte Carlo, Monaco, just to name a few, and he even gets to take a TGV train for the first time. How exciting!