1999 - Three Trips in One
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| 1999 - Three Trips in One
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 Introduction Places to Visit Timeframe Transportation Planning Itinerary Lodging Useful links |
This trip was, as the title implies, a combination of three separate vacations. First, Les and I (Beth) spent a week in southern France. At the end of the week we split up and Les went on his own to some of our favorite areas in northern Italy to visit some friends and to build up our library of photographs for that region. In the meantime, I hopped a train to Rome where I met up with my mother Grace, my sister Barbara and our friend Irene. The four of us explored Rome together, then headed down to the Amalfi coast to recuperate from the rigors of the Eternal City. Once our strength was regained we headed back up north, stopping along the way at Tivoli, Assisi, and Ravenna before finally reaching the South Tyrol where we again relaxed for a few days. Then I returned home while the rest of my group headed to Venice for one more burst of art and culture before heading their separate ways back to the States.
France: Mirmande, Provence, Arbois.
Italy: Bellagio, Orta San Giulio, Val d'Aosta, Italian Alps, Rome, the Amalfi Coast (including Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius), Tivoli, Assisi, Ravenna, Vigiljoch, Merano.
We went in the fall this time. The last time we were in Rome we asked several people what was the best time to visit and "autumn" was the unanimous reply. We already knew the South Tyrol is beautiful that time of year and we were betting that the south of France would be as well. It definitely was.
This was a mixture of modes. Les and I flew into Paris (taking advantage of United Airlines frequent flyer program), using our miles to upgrade to Business Class. Last year's trip to the UK in First Class convinced us that it was worth purchasing coach tickets and then using our miles to upgrade. We gained an entire day on that vacation because the first day we were completely rested and ready to go. While we didn't quite get the full night's rest like last year, it was still much better than coach and we arrived rested enough to make the long drive to Mirmande in a howling rainstorm without too much discomfort.
Once on the ground we rented a car (again from Hertz) at Charles de Gaulle and drove to Provence. After our week together in France, Les kept the car and dropped me at the train station in Genoa, where I took the train to Rome. When we were ready to leave Rome, my group rented a car for the next 5 days for our trip to the Amalfi Coast and then the drive up to the South Tyrol. Finally, I took an overnight train to Paris (Bolzano-Verona-Milan-Paris) for my return trip and the rest of the group took the train to Venice and then back to Rome. We purchased point-to-point rail tickets and rented the second car from Hertz, as this ended up being the most economical, and in fact the only way to get an automatic transmission car from Hertz.
This was my fourth overnight train ride in Europe, and will probably be my last. It was simply too noisy and the motion too jerky for me to be able to sleep, even though I had a first-class sleeping compartment.
We began planning early for this trip. Les and I booked our air reservations in January, which was a good thing because by June when we called about possibly changing Les's return they were all booked. This is partly due to the fact that we used our miles to upgrade. My sister had no problem purchasing regular coach seats in June.
The hotels didn't want to hear from us in January and told us to call back in June, which we did. We were able to book the rooms we wanted except for the hotel in Venice which didn't take reservations that early in advance for anything less than 4 nights. They suggested calling back in August to reserve for a 2 night stay in October.
Several of our hotel reservations were made over the Internet with e-mail replies. Those that we couldn't book electronically we called on the telephone and never had a chance to practice our Italian as they all spoke perfect English.
We booked our train/car reservations by Internet/telephone combination.
Click here for a list of links that we used to plan this trip:
1999 Useful links
Part 1: Together
Day 1 Saturday: Arrived in Paris and drove down to a town in south-central France called Mirmande, where we rested for the night. We explored the village in the morning before getting back in the car for the rest of the journey to Provence, stopping for lunch and a bit of sightseeing in Orange.
Photo album: Mirmande photos
Days 2 - 7, Sunday - Friday: Fox-Amphoux (in Provence). We spent the week exploring the perched villages (villages perchés) of this well-known region.
Day 8, Saturday: On the road again. Les drove me to Genoa where I took a train to Rome to begin the second part of my trip. He continued driving to the South Tyrol.
Part 2: Les on his own
Days 9 - 11, Sunday - Tuesday: South Tyrol. I (Les) spent a few days visiting with our friends in Meran and Lana, and taking as many photographs as I possibly could of this beautiful region.
Days 12 - 13, Wednesday - Thursday: Bellagio, on Lake Como. This is one of my favorite areas and I scouted restaurants (i.e. ate a lot), relaxed, found another great hotel, and again burned film like mad.
Days 14 - 15, Friday - Saturday: Orta San Giulio, Lago di Orta. This small lake to the west of Milan has a monastery on an island in the middle of the lake and an incredibly colorful and picturesque town. The food and lodging were great, especially the first night when I had a lakeside villa all to myself.
Day 16, Saturday: Val d’Aosta. This northwesternmost province of Italy is right across the border from France’s Chamonix with Mont Blanc and incredible canyons, mountains, and rivers providing the scenic wonders. I stayed in a beautiful chalet perched high on the side of a mountain and feasted well.
Day 17 - 18: Arbois, France. I wanted to go underneath Mont Blanc by tunnel but it was closed. So I took Little Saint Bernard Pass (at the top of which there is a Saint Bernard breeder!) and then drove north into the Jura Mountains to the charming medieval town of Arbois, known for its delicious (and expensive) dessert wine vin jaune.
Day 19: Mainz, Germany. This day from hell was characterized by 9 hours of driving, heavy fog, heavy traffic, and few directions. I did finally find my very nice and very modern Comfort Hotel just north of town. The restaurant was very pleasant.
Day 20: Getting up at 4 a.m., I left for the Frankfurt airport having only the faintest idea of where to go since the maps were too vague, signage scant, and pitch dark. Trusting to signs that appeared every once in a while and getting on and off highways when my map showed a straight shot was highly exasperating. But I made it in time, with no mistakes, got into my Business Class seat and zoned for the rest of the trip home.
Part 3: The ladies "do" Italy
Days 9 - 13, Sunday - Thursday: Rome. Five days in Rome is not enough, but we (Beth, Mom, Barb and Irene) squeezed in as much as we could. The Vatican museums took up a good portion of one day, and seeing the Pope took up half of another. There is so much to see here - we just tried not to kill ourselves trying to do it all.
Days 14 - 16, Friday - Sunday: Amalfi Coast. We drove from Rome to Amalfi and collapsed at our hotel overlooking the sea. After relaxing for the rest of the day and night, we were ready for an excursion on Saturday to Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. Sunday was another peaceful day of rest.
Day 17, Monday: An early start saw us in Tivoli in the late morning where we toured Hadrian's Villa (the gardens at Villa d'Este were closed on Mondays). Then we continued on to Assisi where we stopped for the night.
Day 18, Tuesday: We explored Assisi in the morning, then it was back into the car for the drive to Ravenna. Overnight in Ravenna.
Days 19, Wednesday: In the morning we visited the churches in Ravenna to see the mosaics, then drove to the South Tyrol. On the way we stopped in the cute town of Caldaro to have a coffee with our friend Karl Gapp at his Hotel Weingarten. We spent the night in Merano, visiting our friend Paul at the Hotel Graf.
Days 20-21, Thursday-Friday: In the morning we did some shopping in Merano, returned the car to Hertz in Bolzano, then took the cable car up to Vigiljoch from Lana. We spent this night and the next at Hotel Vigiljoch for the last time - it closed its doors the end of October, 1999. Friday we hiked through the woods and had lunch at a small guest house on the mountain top, while scouting out other places to stay now that Hotel Vigiljoch is closed.
Day 22, Saturday: We returned to Merano, had lunch at a traveling fish festival in town from Hamburg, walked around town, did some more shopping, had a marvelous dinner at a Tyrolean restaurant, and finally spent the night at a cute hotel above the town on the Tappeiner Weg foot path, called, appropriately enough, the Tappeiner Hotel. The Graf was overbooked with holiday makers in town for the harvest festival, so Paul found us this charming alternative. We had balconies with great views over the town.
Day 23, Sunday: We parted company, with my companions heading down to Venice shortly after lunch. I stayed to watch the harvest parade from a front window in the Graf, then took off for the train station and my overnight train to Paris. It was late getting into Verona and I barely made my flight the next day. I also got very little sleep, even though I had a sleeping compartment. No more night trains for me.
Day 24, Monday: I flew home to San Francisco. Business class was really worth it considering I arrived at the airport 20 minutes before my flight. They weren't going to let me on until I told them I was booked in Business Class. Thank God for those Frequent Flyer miles.
Lodging
A Portafortuna star () denotes a hotel we've stayed at before.
| Mirmande, France La Capitelle | This medieval village of 500 inhabitants is located on a hill. Numerous buldings are about a thousand years old. The hotel is a lovely old building with small but nice rooms. The restaurant is excellent and the staff quite congenial. | Tel: +33 4.75.63.02.72 Fax: +33 4.75.63.02.50 |
| Fox-Amphoux Auberge du Vieux Fox | Ancient agricultural village overlooking superb forests of pine and oak. The inn is the only commercial building in the town of eight or so residents. The food is outstanding and the proprietors are friendly. Good central location to explore the Var, but a car is a necessity. | Tel: +33 4.94.80.71.69 Fax: +33 4.94.80.78.38 |
| RomeHotel Parlamento** | Friendly, small hotel in the heart of Rome, with all the modern conveniences. Charming staff in a place that feels like home. Ask for a room with air-conditioning to avoid noise. | Tel: +39 06.679.2082 Fax: +39 06.699.21000 |
| Amalfi Hotel Aurora | Very pleasant medium-sized hotel in Amalfi. The rooms were lovely, and even in the economy rooms we had a balcony with a sea view. Breakfast on the terrace was excellent - we could smell them baking the fresh pastries from our room every morning. | P.le dei Protontini, 7 84011 Amalfi (SA) Italy Tel. +39 089.871.209 Fax +39 089.872.980 |
| Assisi Hotel Dei Priori*** | A lovely medium-sized hotel in the heart of old Assisi. The staff was gracious and efficient and the rooms were elegant. Breakfast was exceptional. | Corso Mazzini, 15 06081 Assisi, Italy Tel +39 075.812.237 |
| Ravenna Hotel Argentario*** | A bit run down and not in the most picturesque area of Ravenna, with somewhat dingy rooms. However, they were clean and air-conditioned, the beds were comfortable, and the staff were some of the most pleasant people we've come across. | Via Di Roma, 45 Tel: +38 054.435.555 |
| Lana/VigiljochHotel Vigiljoch*** | This fantastic mountain inn accessible only by cable car has, alas, closed its doors as of November, 1999. This was our sad farewell to an old friend. |  |
| MeranoHotel Graf von Meran*** | Very nice town hotel in historic building with a friendly staff and good food. | Tel: +39 0473.564.350 Fax: +39 0473.561.410 |
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Last modified: 04/08/2004 05:09:11 PM
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