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Tag Archives: London

Memories Lane or: Six Starts Part 7

09 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

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Tags

Anniversary, Honeymoon, London, Paris, The BCPF, Wedding

Salutations™!!

Yesterday we finished in London and moved on to Paris. This is the full retelling of the blog post for these two days – Day 7 and Day 8 of the Honeymoon Chronicles. Enjoy!

Enchanté, Paris.

The first of these honeymoon blogs was started on the trip from London to Paris via the “Chunnel” or Channel Tunnel under the English Channel. So, yes, a tunnel underwater; and no, you don’t see under there, it’s just about a 15 minute tunnel. The weird thing is that you see so many tunnels leading up to the big one that it’s almost hard to tell when you’re in the chunnel. The only reason I knew we had done it was because my phone told me: “Welcome to France.”

Paris is definitely one of our favorite cities. The BCPF and I have both decided that if we win the lottery, we are going to buy an apartment in one of the Arrondissements that allows us a visual of the Eiffel Tower. Speaking of the tower, this trip marked the first time that we actually visited it. We didn’t walk nor ride anything to the top, but we did stand underneath it. We happened upon it by chance after doing our customary Metro to outlying neighborhoods and traversing our way back toward the city center or whichever other destination we’ll be looking for. The oddity about that was it was the place (other than the train station) we saw an abundance of soldiers/police with machine guns. Last year, there was a plethora of police with semi-automatics canvasing the area. Kind of off putting, but it was cool, nonetheless. We also saw what I call the “Eiffel Tower Flip Out,” or a flashing/”sparkling” light show that goes nuts on the tower itself. That’s what happens every hour from sunset until 1am and lasts for 5 minutes. It started for the millennium celebration in 2000 and was supposed to only be temporary. It turns out that it was so popular, not only with tourists, but Parisians, as well, they left it. We saw this on an evening riverboat cruise of the Seine River right through the middle of the city.  You can see the video right below.  But, I kind of got off track; let’s get back to the beginning of Paris.

Paris is called the “La Ville-Lumière” (City of Light) and it’s not because of the shload of lights that are all spread all about this beautiful city. No, dear reader, it is because it was once – and to some extent still – the center of learning and enlightenment. See? We feel enlightened every time we come here. We arrived at Paris Nord Station and were picked up by a driver to be taken to our hotel. I will say this, to get it out of the way: The Best Western Premiere L’horset Opera was the worst hotel that we saw this entire trip. Supposedly, they’re a three-star resort, but that’s pushing it. I equate it to staying at The Cow Shed in Pineville, WV two years ago, but L’horset Opera was pretty bad. The room was smaller than we had stayed at any other location on the trip. The Wi-Fi (I like to Skype with 3B and mon mere when we’re out of the country) was shoddy and that’s putting it nicely. It would come and go; work then not work, all the time I tried to use it. The showers in Europe – we’ve gotten used to this – often only has covering, usually using half-glass large enough to protect just the part where the shower head is. This had a wall, but it was very shallow and nothing else. The water would bounce off my plump body and spill onto the tile floor. We used the floor towel that one steps out on but it was usually soaked and did no good. It was always slick. The actual WC was really no bigger a hall closet. Again, to a large man like me, that makes it hard to be comfortable. The kicker for it all, however, was the morning after the first night. We went down for the free breakfast that was included with the hotel. There was an array of meats and cheeses, most of which were under a serving case, different breads, cereals and a toaster for toasting any of said breads. As I was going to get some of the cheese and meat to put on my plate, I noticed a HUGE fly sitting on a wedge of cheese and it was trapped inside this case. That turned my stomach as I have a phobia with food being old, wet (not liquid; meaning food that has gotten wet), etc. The fact that the fly was encased with the cheese made me not want anything. I had a hard time getting even my breakfast tea down. Add that to the nonchalant attitude of the front desk the day before and the other things mentioned above, and it’s obvious that this was definitely a bad choice for our stay. We chose it and I know better than to allow my clients or me to stay there again. I’ve been an advocate for Best Westerns, especially their Premiere category, but this was horrible. The only plus for it was the bed was very comfortable. But, other than one more thing that I’ll touch on in the last installment of the “Chronicles,” and that may be worse or better according to my mood when I write it, this was the worst thing for the whole trip. Let’s talk about being out and about in gay ol’ Paris.

Shakespeare & Company, Paris

Because we were there last year, we had a respectable knowledge of the Metro and how it operates and how to navigate it. So, we bought 5 day passes (we only used four) and set off to explore the nooks and crannies of this town. Step one, head toward Notre Dame to start a tradition. We make our way to and around the famed cathedral, took in the sight of it and then crossed the river to the Left Bank. We wandered through the streets and found a music box store where The BCPF purchased a little music box that plays “Champs Elysees.” And, because I like to make sure she gets to one of the most famous bohemian bookstores, Shakespeare & Company, the music box store was a strategic coursed distraction before heading to the bookstore. It’s famous for being a hangout for Hemingway, Joyce and Pound. No, it’s not the same location but opened in a new location as an homage to the original and is still storied and famous.

Beef Tartare

Beef Tartare, Le Lutece, Paris

Croque Madame

Croque Madame, Le Lutece, Paris

 

 

 

 

We wasted away that day (and loved every minute of it) and decided it was time to get some vittles, or victuals if you want to keep with the literary theme, and found a nice little restaurant called Le Lutece. I had a Grimbergen Blanche which is a white wheat, and it was delicious. I never found it again across Paris, I’d go back to Le Lutece just to have it again. The BCPF had rosé and she seemed quite giddy about it. One thing about Paris, the house wine (really a lot of wines) is generally cheaper than either soda or even water. House wine can be about $2-3 where a Coke is about $3-4; bottled water, still or sparkling, is also $3-4. For food she had Croque Madame, which is a giant piece of bread with cheese piled on it and toasted and then a fried egg on top. For me, I will just say that I am a huge fan of beef and I’ll say that I’m a HUGE fan of raw beef. We were in Paris for 4 nights and 3 of those nights I had steak tartare. Each one tasted different and each one delicious. That’s just good shite. A good start to the stay and then we went back to the room so I could keep track of the Steelers game (it was opening day). That’s how I know she loves me, she let me track it on the computer… in Paris. Luckily, she was tired.

DSCN1401

After Placing the Lock, Paris

The next day was a day of exploration as we had a tour later that night. That tour was on the Seine River cruise and observation of the “Flip Out.” But, that day, it was a lot of walking and exploring. Another thing we did was put a lock on the infamous “Lock Bridge.” This is something that I told The BCPF last year that we would not be doing. Well, even though I wear the pants in the family, she tells me which ones to wear. We put a lock on the bridge. We understand they cut them off periodically but the symbolism is strong enough to be worth it. Now there are several lock bridges in Paris, I think we counted up to 8 on the cruise tour. The bridge we picked was one that was slightly behind Notre Dame: Pont de L’Archevéché. Once it was fastened, we had a nice gentleman (who had a professional camera) take a pic with our camera of me tossing the key into the Seine; also symbolic.

After that we made our way, via the Metro to the Place de la Concorde, which is where Marie Antoinette and others met their demise via the horrific guillotine. This is also an avenue to step onto the famous Champs-Elysees, which is probably one of the most famous streets in Europe, if not the world. At the other end, there is another famous Parisian landmark, Le Arc de Triomphe. We walked from Concorde to Triomphe, stopping in on some of the shops and even had lunch at a little restaurant tucked away back in a small shopping center. That’s about a mile and a half and it’s a 3 foot higher difference at Triomphe than at Concorde so there was a grade. It was a good walk.

Eiffel

The BCPF and Scorp at The Eiffel Tower, Paris

The BCPF had some things in mind that she wanted to purchase and we looked for some of these things. That’s how we ended up at the Eiffel Tower and then strode a long, long distance looking in shops and then to find the location of the tour company. We found that but had about 90 minutes before we had to be back. So we visited an old favorite. Last year we stopped, oddly enough after a tour with this same tour company, at a charming restaurant called Royal Opera. We did so again, this year. It was the only “repeat” we did. Again, beef tartare for me and duck for her. With beer and wine, we’re happy campers.

Then the river cruise. The river cruise was cool but really nothing to talk about that isn’t just a lot of stuff on a river. Stories was translated for us and we were told what some of the buildings and structures were. The remarkable part about this tour, though, was twofold. First we’re on a double decker bus traveling through the Place de la Concorde on the way to the Eiffel Tower and here, against a wall in the (the garden of tiles and garden that is adjacent to the Louvre), was a man answering nature’s call. There. In front of traffic and this double decker tour bus with people looking on. The funny part about that is his girlfriend (they were both dressed fairly nice and casual) was standing behind him just smoking a cigarette like nothing was happening. He finished, tucked away Mr. Happy and then turned around – facing the public – to close, button and zip his pants and then buckle his belt. We felt that was ridiculous and ridiculously funny. The other part of this twofold tidbit is the fact that there are very few traffic lanes marked in Paris. What we would see as about 4 lanes were, at times, 12 cars wide. In that, the scooters, mopeds and motorcycles were weaving through all the traffic, in front of cop cars, buses, each other. It didn’t matter if it was at a traffic light, stop sign or while traffic was moving. It blows our minds. After the river cruise we took a tour around the city, in the dark, on the bus. We saw parts we saw last year, this year and things we hadn’t seen before. Man, we love that town.

DSCN1405

Jardin deTuileries

I still love that town. I am so glad that The BCPF and I got to see and enter Notre Dame prior to its severe fire damage in the burning of April 2019. I’ll be back on track tomorrow, I think with the days. 

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

“London is a riddle. Paris is an explanation.”
― G.K. Chesterton

Memories Lane or: Six Starts Part 4

03 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

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Tags

Honeymoon, London, Marriage, Wedding

Salutations™!!

Six years ago today we spent our first ever day and night in London after getting married the day before. That four hour train ride sounds like it would be a long ride but it passed really quickly. As I have this week, here’s my (then fresh) recount of the happenings from six years ago.

 

Platform 9 3/4

Platform 9 3/4 a la Harry Potter at King’s Cross Station

Bloomsbury

Room 209 at Bloomsbury Hotel, London

 

 

 

 

In London, the train came into King’s Cross Station and yes, we found the 9 ¾ gate with the cart half in and half out of the wall a la Harry Potter. Had to call the car hire to pick us up since they didn’t know where we were coming in to. They picked us up right away and then took us on to our hotel, the Bloomsbury Hotel. It was ranked #5 on TripAdvisor and we can see why. It was probably one of the nicest, fanciest hotels in which I’ve ever stayed. This, of course, doesn’t count Walt Disney World as those are themed. A close second would be the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta. This hotel is the first one that I’ve ever gotten a tour of my room. After a free glass each of champagne (to celebrate the day before) we were given our room and the bellman brought up the bags. He then showed us how everything works and how to operate all the gadgets in the room. We have adapters for our electronics and such but they had one already for US standard 110 AC as well as a couple of the European Union and UK standards; they had it covered. The only thing we never figured out, to 100% efficiency, was how to use the shower.  It took me no less than 4-6 minutes a day to get it to the right temperature.  The BCPF, who loves her shower water much hotter than I (I like it just over warm), had to deal with extra hot water.  I, again, after wasted time, could get it to her level for myself.  Ouch!  But, it wasn’t so bad.  There’s a European trend that I can’t figure out.  The showers are all half shower doors (only going from the front to about halfway back), swing out and are very high tubs.  I, and I’m fairly tall, have to hold on to the handles provided and step up and into the shower.  Imagine the 4’11” BCPF trying.  It’s rather comical.

The Bloomsbury was centrally located close to the Tottenham Court Road train station. The London Underground is an elaborate network of subway tunnels that lead all over the city. After about 3 minutes of mapping (we had experience with Paris last year), we were able to traverse the entire city of London (which has a population of just over 8 million people). We bought Oyster cards (re-loadable passes) and took the Underground everywhere.

Big Ben

“Big Ben” Queen Elizabeth II Tower

BCPF Big Ben

The BCPF at “Big Ben”

 

 

 

 

One of the first places was Jack Horner’s. Jack Horner’s is owned by Fuller’s Brewing (think London Porter, London Pride, ESP, etc.) and we just needed a little snack so we had a couple of orders of fish fingers which are basically fish sticks. They were good and having a real ESB, right there in London, was fantastic. The BCPF had a half pour of the London Porter. Then we just walked about stopping in shops, and made our way around to the Houses of Parliament and “Big Ben.” By now, everyone knows that Big Ben is actually the largest bell, not the tower itself. The tower is the Queen Elizabeth II Bell Tower. We were there right at 6pm so we got to hear the Westminster Chimes.

Scoff & Banter

Dinner at Scoff & Banter, London

We wandered until it was time for dinner. We ate that night at a modern London restaurant called Scoff & Banter. The idea is to have a bit of wit to their food offerings. I’ll say there wasn’t much scoff or banter happening. The food was good, but nothing spectacular. The BCPF had salmon that was on top of tomatoes, but she wasn’t feeling well, but felt better later that evening. I had the rib eye, rare, and it was alright, but again, nothing spectacular. The overall assessment of the restaurant was they tried way too hard.  We were mere steps from the hotel so we went back and spent our first night in the luxurious plushness that was the Bloomsbury. Continue reading →

Let’s Get Yours or: Stuck Inside and Talking Travel

23 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by TGBII in Rant, Travel

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a/perture Cinema, Bee On Your Way Travel, Bruges, Brussels, Costa Rica, cruise, Edinburgh, Expedia, Hotel, Kayak, London, Paris, Priceline, The Less Desirables, Travel, Travelocity, Walt Disney World

Salutations™!!

I know there’s usually a Movie of the Week post on Saturdays but there wasn’t a Movie of the Week (which would have been brought to you by a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables), but I have something else to talk about. Here it is, your periodic reminder of something that I do the “other half” of my days. By other half I don’t mean half of the days of the week I do the podcast/media stuff and the other half I do this. I mean every day I do the podcast/media stuff and the this all through the day. Each is “half” of my day and that also includes evenings. I’ve talked a good bit about the media stuff so I’ll focus on the other in this post. So, I know I’ve talked about it before and Thursdays are supposed to be Travel Thursday but I’ve kind of gotten away from that. So let’s talk travel, shall we? First, I’m a travel professional, a travel agent, an itinerary advocate. I have my own agency, called Bee On Your Way Travel. It’s part of a larger national agency so I have access to a lot of travel products.BOYWT

Do you bypass a real person to go to an OTA (online travel agent) like Travelocity, Expedia or Priceline? I hope not but if you do, there are two ways I can look at this. First, why not use a real travel agent? Email them, call them, IM them, send them smoke signals. It doesn’t matter what you do, contact them. They (we) want that business. There are three excuses I get from people (including my very own family, which kills me), the most, as to why they don’t use me: 1) “I didn’t want to bother you,” 2) “I just wanted to look it up and it was there, so I bought it,” 3) “I didn’t know you did that!?”

Okay. Looking at #1, that’s offensive. I know you’re not necessarily telling the truth; albeit perhaps not on purpose. You don’t ever not contact me at 9:30pm for just chatting or wanting to talk about someone else or get me to do something for you. I think it’s really one of two things. It’s either that you don’t like the thought of your friends (or family) making money off of you or you think you’re going to save money by using one of those OTAs instead of me. Look, I get it, it’s money and it’s hard to come by and we want to save what we can. The fact of the matter is, in most cases, you’re not going to spend much (if any) more using me than an OTA. I have access to stuff that an OTA isn’t going to present you. I also offer you a human aspect that you certainly aren’t going to get from an OTA. And, you’re putting food on my family’s table. OTAs are putting money in the big-wig’s pockets and not individual families (beyond that). You want your friends to succeed, right? You don’t like seeing them down. This is my job. This is what I do. I need to feed my family. Help your friends when you can.

#2. You spend a lot of time and effort working to earn your money. You work 40+ hours a week. Why in the world would you go home and work 10+ more hours on your vacation? That seems counter-productive, doesn’t it? You have insurance agents to handle your insurance, you have finance agents to handle your investments. Why not let your travel agent manage your free time and leisure money? I get the need to research what you want, but even the online world is going to mislead you at times. What is TripAdvisor going to give you that a travel agent’s expertise won’t? Honesty. I’m a senior writer at TripAdvisor so I’m for it, but there some people that only want to find negative things to make them look like they know what they’re talking about. Or, they just want a check on their count so give 5s and it means nothing. Even if we’re not experienced in a certain spot, our vendors are. They succeed from you being happy so they’re not going to steer you wrong. We succeed from you being happy and we’re not going to steer you wrong. If you have questions, ask me. If I don’t have the answer, then I will find that answer. Our answers are for your benefit, not just for us to see our name on a website. Use us! And, chances are, if you find it, we can get it for you at a great price, don’t impulse buy travel products. It usually isn’t worth it in the long run.

#3. (facepalm) I know that I don’t update my Facebook “travel professional” page every week, but I have 2200+ friends on Facebook and I’m talking about travel all the time and I talk about it on here, as well. I know I have readers because you talk to me. What more can I do? I’m open to suggestions. I DO “TRAVEL!” See!? I shout it at the top of my textual lungs! Now, you know!

So I said earlier, Dear Reader, that there is two ways to look at this, right? Well the other way is that if you’re just in need to go to an OTA really quick and buy a flight and hotel for this weekend and it’s 2am (I’ll admit I won’t usually answer you at 2am), there’s still a way to do that and still support your buddy (that’s me). I have my very own website that is just as feasible, works the same way and is comparable in prices with any of the big OTAs. Hotels, flights, cruises, rental cars, packages, even insurance. They’re all available to you right there. The one difference, I’ll tell you up front, is that you have to register to get any pricings. There’s no commitment in doing so and it’s absolutely free. The idea is that I can offer you everything you need in travel at a competitive price that you don’t need to “shop;” you’ll find it here. To be clear, I’d much rather talk to you and work on things for you as I still can get access to things that even my website can’t. It’s more personalized service and, in most cases, I don’t require any deposit to work with you. Also, I only get paid after your trip is done. So, that’s never a concern. Travel, have fun. That’s what I care about. The website can be found here.

All that out of the way, let’s talk one more thing. The human vs. OTA aspect part deux. If you book with OTAs or http://www.IBuyCheapTravel.com (that’s made up, I think) or whatever, then you may get the bottom dollar cost on “budget” travel. That means you’re showing the places you’re going that you don’t care about their location, only what you can get from them cheap. Usually, that ends up being exactly what kind of vacation you get: cheap. Even when there are things and amenities included with these you’re getting as little as they can give up for that price. Plus, they see that you didn’t necessarily pick them for their product. Human interaction allows me to take in information, make suggestions and give advice so that we make sure we get the most bang for your buck. Never in anything else in life does it mean so much to say, “you get what you pay for!” than in travel. You pay for a Motel 6 (not that there’s anything wrong with that) then you are going to get a Motel 6. Perhaps not in the resort, etc., but in the overall experience. And if something goes wrong? Call an OTA and see what happens. Call me and I will work to get you satisfaction. I can’t promise magic but I will do what I can to make you as happy as possible. You can find ALL my contact info on the website.

I know Edinburgh, London, Bruges, Brussels and Costa Rica, to some extent because of my experience and traveling there. I really know Paris and Walt Disney World because I study them and have spent adequate time there. It’s more than where to stay. It’s how to get around, what to expect in the ambiance, the currency, the weather, everything. You read on TripAdvisor, “it was awful, it rained the whole time.” C’mon. They can do better than that. Let me get you the best info for your trip. Trust me with your trip. I have been doing a good amount of cruises as of late. It’s very popular as of late. Let’s get yours. All inclusive in Caribbean? Let’s get yours. Riverboat cruising through Germany? Let’s get yours. Let’s do this.

The bottom line here? I want to help you. I want to feed my family. I want you happy. I simply offer you better and more practical service than websites, other than my own; I still service those customers. My tagline has always been that I help turn your dreams into memories. Let’s make that happen. Come to me before you do an OTA. You won’t be sorry. Let’s get yours. I hope this sheds a little light on what I do and how I can help you. I could write another thousand words plus on this and I’m sure I will in the next bit, but at fifteen hundred words, this is probably too heavy, already. I’ll end it here, then.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I look my best when I’m totally free, on holiday, walking on the beach.” – Rosamund Pike

Talking Tuesday or: Talking Travel Tuesday

08 Tuesday Dec 2015

Posted by TGBII in Talking Tuesday, Travel

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Tags

Amsterdam, cruise, Heidelberg, Italy, London, Mediterranean, Paris, Travel

Salutations™!!

I didn’t do the Talking Tuesday last week, instead doing the Rolling Stone update. Enjoy this audio blog post from this week!

 

http://www.thelessdesirables.com/UTNL2/UTNL2TT120815.mp3

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” – Saint Augustine

Getting You There or: A Trip Ain’t Just a Trip

25 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It, Rant, Travel

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Bee On Your Way Travel, Berlin, London, Paris, Prague, USA, WSNC

Salutations™!!

This is coming in late as I’ve been a busy “bee” today. Lots of stuff going on and trying to take care of them. I know I’ve been over this thing about a thousand times but after seeing a friend publicly ask for recommendations about a trip to some place and having that friend seem to be totally surprised when I told her I was one, let me reiterate… I am a travel professional!! I have my own “agency” called Bee On Your Way Travel. It’s an independent agency of a larger, national, umbrella agency.

Now, I’m not blaming this friend, at all. She’s not to blame, I am. I need to do a better job of putting the word out there. Although I’ve been doing it for over three years, I suppose some people just aren’t being inundated with my posts and tweets enough. That’s probably because I’m not inundating anyone with them. Facebook’s new rules, or the fact that they want you to plop down exorbitant amounts of money to advertise through them (i.e. really inundate you with ads) many people don’t see my posts when I do make them from my “travel professional” page.

I’m not posting on there as usual as I’d like because I can’t schedule “shares.” My BOYWTcontent is always vendor-driven. I want people to know what specials I can offer them from my vendors. But, I can’t just schedule things to come out when I want to using that. So I have to create original posts and that’s very time consuming and as we know, Dear Reader, this isn’t my only gig. Same goes with my Twitter account for the agency, it’s hard to get enough content scheduled to create proper content. I can make stuff from scratch but, again, that’s time consuming. Not that you’re not worth it, but that I have to pick and choose my battles. So, here I am, again, letting you know that I sell vacations. I book business trips. I get you where you’re going. I help make dreams into memories (I made that one up – but it’s true).

Are you looking to book your family’s dream vacation to Walt Disney World? That’s a daunting task to sort through all that minutiae to get exactly what you want out of it. I’m here to help you with that. I am a travel professional because of my Disney knowledge.  Dining plans and park hoppers? Deluxe, Moderate, Value? Don’t know what I’m talking about? Don’t worry, you don’t have to, I’ll explain it. I’ll book it.

Looking to get 5 of your employees and you to a trade conference in Vegas but everyone’s on different time schedules? I’ll do that booking for you. You have enough other stuff to worry about than that.  Have a last minute jaunt to a festival you’ve always wanted to go to but hadn’t booked the flights or a room or a car? I got you! Open-sea cruise? Riverboat Cruise? I got you!

Is Europe on your agenda this year? Do you want to have all your luggage loaded and unloaded for you and an English-speaking guide to tell you all that you could want to know about the British Isles or the windmills in Holland or the history of Point Zero in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in my favorite city, Paris? Guided tours are a wonderful way to see Europe. Unlike tours in the past, you still have these guided tours and still have plenty of free time for yourself. You don’t necessarily get to see the behind-the-scenes tours of the World’s oldest and best cities on your own, with these, you do.

How about just renting “aparthotels” in Berlin or Prague and staying like you live there?  More than one city? No problem, I’ll find the perfect free-independent itinerary for you. Piece each part together. Tickets to the Louvre or bus tours around London? I got you! Every kind of travel you can think of, I do it.

In the case of my friend, they just needed a hotel room on the beach for three days in July. Okay! I have many to choose from with a wide range of budgets to consider. A trip to D.C. A trip to Quebec? The Grand Canyon? Tokyo, Korea, Vietnam? Coming soon… Cuba?  I can do all that. Get you there, get you settled in and get you a good time.

I can do this two ways. You can call me, email me, send me a message via my “travel professional” Facebook page, message me via Twitter, anyway you want. Heck even message me here, or if you know me personally, just hit me up on my regular Facebook page. The other way is by visiting my website.  Do you use sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak or the like? Then you can help a brother out by visiting my site, BeeOnYourWay.com. It’s powered by Priceline so it’s comparable to any of the other OTAs (online travel agents). The difference in mine? With the exception of flights, anything that’s booked on my site, I get commission for it. Am I making a lot? No. I’m making minimal, but sometimes it’s just good sense for you and for me to book via that engine. If you want in-depth booking help or questions, then call me directly. I’ll be honest, I make more commission when you do it that way (letting me do it).

Since I’m talking commission, let’s discuss how it works and better yet, what does it mean to you? I’m not going to lie to you. The cost of going through a travel professional does cost a bit more. Usually, it’s a very modest amount. The vendors don’t want to lose money and I need to feed my family so think of it like this: you don’t want to work for free, neither do I. Yes, you can book yourself via the OTA but why? You most likely work 40 hours a week. You work hard for that money. Do you want to go home and spend hours upon hours of time from your family, friends, dog, etc. by sitting at a computer sorting through webpage after webpage after webpage of travel information just to get frustrated and most likely turn off the computer and go to bed mad? No, you don’t want to do that. You also don’t want to get out a ladder (or borrow or buy one) and get up on your roof and clean your gutters out or you’re too busy to mow your lawn. You hire people to do that. So let me be who you hire to manage your vacation or leisure time.  If it cost you $50 more to book a trip through me while you’re still able to work or even sleep. Wouldn’t that be worth it?  It’s worth it, I promise. Now, with Disney, you won’t pay me one penny more than if you book it yourself online. Not. One. Penny. More.

What are travel professionals not? We’re not deal finders. We do come across special pricing promotions every once in a while, but we’re not here to find you deals. You don’t call a real estate agent and say, “hey! what kind of deal can youo find me on a house?!” While insurance agents shop to find bundle deals for your home/car/boat/motorcycle insurance, you don’t call them looking for a deal. You get them to do the work for you: prepping the paperwork, looking at rules and regulations, etc. Same with travel agents (still professionals), we don’t hunt deals, we work so you don’t have to. Use us.

I have made this about 800 words more than I meant to, and I apologize for that, but I wanted to make sure I got the point across and explained all that you may need to know about travel professionals. Use us (especially me!) and allow us to work for you. Contact me and let me help you get where you want to go.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Now, you’re going places!” – Tim Beeman – Travel Professional

Caught with Your Pants Down in the Garden or: Do You Want Flies with That? (The Honeymoon Chronicles Pt. 4)

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Arc de Triomphe, Best Western, Champs Elysees, City of Light, Eiffel Tower, France, Grimbergen, Le Lucene, London, Paris, Place de le Concorde, River, Royal Opera, Seine, Shakespeare & Company, Skype

Salutations™!!

Enchanté, Paris.

The first of these honeymoon blogs was started on the trip from London to Paris via the “Chunnel” or Channel Tunnel under the English Channel. So, yes, a tunnel underwater; and no, you don’t see under there, it’s just about a 15 minute tunnel. The weird thing is that you see so many tunnels leading up to the big one that it’s almost hard to tell when you’re in the chunnel. The only reason I knew we had done it was because my phone told me: “Welcome to France.”

Paris is definitely one of our favorite cities. The BCPF and I have both decided that if we win the lottery, we are going to buy an apartment in one of the Arrondissements that allows us a visual of the Eiffel Tower. Speaking of the tower, this trip marked the first time that we actually visited it. We didn’t walk nor ride anything to the top, but we did stand underneath it. We happened upon it by chance after doing our customary Metro to outlying neighborhoods and traversing our way back toward the city center or whichever other destination we’ll be looking for. The oddity about that was it was the place (other than the train station) we saw an abundance of soldiers/police with machine guns. Last year, there was a plethora of police with semi-automatics canvasing the area. Kind of off putting, but it was cool, nonetheless. We also saw what I call the “Eiffel Tower Flip Out,” or a flashing/”sparkling” light show that goes nuts on the tower itself. That’s what happens every hour from sunset until 1am and lasts for 5 minutes. It started for the millennium celebration in 2000 and was supposed to only be temporary. It turns out that it was so popular, not only with tourists, but Parisians, as well, they left it. We saw this on an evening riverboat cruise of the Seine River right through the middle of the city.  You can see the video right below.  But, I kind of got off track; let’s get back to the beginning of Paris.

Paris is called the “La Ville-Lumière” (City of Light) and it’s not because of the shload of lights that are all spread all about this beautiful city. No, dear reader, it is because it was once – and to some extent still – the center of learning and enlightenment. See? We feel enlightened every time we come here. We arrived at Paris Nord Station and were picked up by a driver to be taken to our hotel. I will say this, to get it out of the way: The Best Western Premiere L’horset Opera was the worst hotel that we saw this entire trip. Supposedly, they’re a three-star resort, but that’s pushing it. I equate it to staying at The Cow Shed in Pineville, WV two years ago, but L’horset Opera was pretty bad. The room was smaller than we had stayed at any other location on the trip. The Wi-Fi (I like to Skype with 3B and mon mere when we’re out of the country) was shoddy and that’s putting it nicely. It would come and go; work then not work, all the time I tried to use it. The showers in Europe – we’ve gotten used to this – often only has covering, usually using half-glass large enough to protect just the part where the shower head is. This had a wall, but it was very shallow and nothing else. The water would bounce off my plump body and spill onto the tile floor. We used the floor towel that one steps out on but it was usually soaked and did no good. It was always slick. The actual WC was really no bigger a hall closet. Again, to a large man like me, that makes it hard to be comfortable. The kicker for it all, however, was the morning after the first night. We went down for the free breakfast that was included with the hotel. There was an array of meats and cheeses, most of which were under a serving case, different breads, cereals and a toaster for toasting any of said breads. As I was going to get some of the cheese and meat to put on my plate, I noticed a HUGE fly sitting on a wedge of cheese and it was trapped inside this case. That turned my stomach as I have a phobia with food being old, wet (not liquid; meaning food that has gotten wet), etc. The fact that the fly was encased with the cheese made me not want anything. I had a hard time getting even my breakfast tea down. Add that to the nonchalant attitude of the front desk the day before and the other things mentioned above, and it’s obvious that this was definitely a bad choice for our stay. We chose it and I know better than to allow my clients or me to stay there again. I’ve been an advocate for Best Westerns, especially their Premiere category, but this was horrible. The only plus for it was the bed was very comfortable. But, other than one more thing that I’ll touch on in the last installment of the “Chronicles,” and that may be worse or better according to my mood when I write it, this was the worst thing for the whole trip. Let’s talk about being out and about in gay ol’ Paris.

Shakespeare & Company, Paris

Because we were there last year, we had a respectable knowledge of the Metro and how it operates and how to navigate it. So, we bought 5 day passes (we only used four) and set off to explore the nooks and crannies of this town. Step one, head toward Notre Dame to start a tradition. We make our way to and around the famed cathedral, took in the sight of it and then crossed the river to the Left Bank. We wandered through the streets and found a music box store where The BCPF purchased a little music box that plays “Champs Elysees.” And, because I like to make sure she gets to one of the most famous bohemian bookstores, Shakespeare & Company, the music box store was a strategic coursed distraction before heading to the bookstore. It’s famous for being a hangout for Hemingway, Joyce and Pound. No, it’s not the same location but opened in a new location as an homage to the original and is still storied and famous.

Beef Tartare

Beef Tartare, Le Lutece, Paris

Croque Madame

Croque Madame, Le Lutece, Paris

We wasted away that day (and loved every minute of it) and decided it was time to get some vittles, or victuals if you want to keep with the literary theme, and found a nice little restaurant called Le Lutece. I had a Grimbergen Blanche which is a white wheat, and it was delicious. I never found it again across Paris, I’d go back to Le Lutece just to have it again. The BCPF had rosé and she seemed quite giddy about it. One thing about Paris, the house wine (really a lot of wines) is generally cheaper than either soda or even water. House wine can be about $2-3 where a Coke is about $3-4; bottled water, still or sparkling, is also $3-4. For food she had Croque Madame, which is a giant piece of bread with cheese piled on it and toasted and then a fried egg on top. For me, I will just say that I am a huge fan of beef and I’ll say that I’m a HUGE fan of raw beef. We were in Paris for 4 nights and 3 of those nights I had steak tartare. Each one tasted different and each one delicious. That’s just good shite. A good start to the stay and then we went back to the room so I could keep track of the Steelers game (it was opening day). That’s how I know she loves me, she let me track it on the computer… in Paris. Luckily, she was tired.

DSCN1401

After Placing the Lock, Paris

The next day was a day of exploration as we had a tour later that night. That tour was on the Seine River cruise and observation of the “Flip Out.” But, that day, it was a lot of walking and exploring. Another thing we did was put a lock on the infamous “Lock Bridge.” This is something that I told The BCPF last year that we would not be doing. Well, even though I wear the pants in the family, she tells me which ones to wear. We put a lock on the bridge. We understand they cut them off periodically but the symbolism is strong enough to be worth it. Now there are several lock bridges in Paris, I think we counted up to 8 on the cruise tour. The bridge we picked was one that was slightly behind Notre Dame: Pont de L’Archevéché. Once it was fastened, we had a nice gentleman (who had a professional camera) take a pic with our camera of me tossing the key into the Seine; also symbolic.

After that we made our way, via the Metro to the Place de la Concorde, which is where Marie Antoinette and others met their demise via the horrific guillotine. This is also an avenue to step onto the famous Champs-Elysees, which is probably one of the most famous streets in Europe, if not the world. At the other end, there is another famous Parisian landmark, Le Arc de Triomphe. We walked from Concorde to Triomphe, stopping in on some of the shops and even had lunch at a little restaurant tucked away back in a small shopping center. That’s about a mile and a half and it’s a 3 foot higher difference at Triomphe than at Concorde so there was a grade. It was a good walk.

Eiffel

The BCPF and Scorp at The Eiffel Tower, Paris

The BCPF had some things in mind that she wanted to purchase and we looked for some of these things. That’s how we ended up at the Eiffel Tower and then strode a long, long distance looking in shops and then to find the location of the tour company. We found that but had about 90 minutes before we had to be back. So we visited an old favorite. Last year we stopped, oddly enough after a tour with this same tour company, at a charming restaurant called Royal Opera. We did so again, this year. It was the only “repeat” we did. Again, beef tartare for me and duck for her. With beer and wine, we’re happy campers.

Then the river cruise. The river cruise was cool but really nothing to talk about that isn’t just a lot of stuff on a river. Stories was translated for us and we were told what some of the buildings and structures were. The remarkable part about this tour, though, was twofold. First we’re on a double decker bus traveling through the Place de la Concorde on the way to the Eiffel Tower and here, against a wall in the (the garden of tiles and garden that is adjacent to the Louvre), was a man answering nature’s call. There. In front of traffic and this double decker tour bus with people looking on. The funny part about that is his girlfriend (they were both dressed fairly nice and casual) was standing behind him just smoking a cigarette like nothing was happening. He finished, tucked away Mr. Happy and then turned around – facing the public – to close, button and zip his pants and then buckle his belt. We felt that was ridiculous and ridiculously funny. The other part of this twofold tidbit is the fact that there are very few traffic lanes marked in Paris. What we would see as about 4 lanes were, at times, 12 cars wide. In that, the scooters, mopeds and motorcycles were weaving through all the traffic, in front of cop cars, buses, each other. It didn’t matter if it was at a traffic light, stop sign or while traffic was moving. It blows our minds. After the river cruise we took a tour around the city, in the dark, on the bus. We saw parts we saw last year, this year and things we hadn’t seen before. Man, we love that town.

That’s a lot of info to slam on you at once, so I guess it’s time to take a break, but don’t worry, more is coming soon!

DSCN1405

Jardin deTuileries

Until next time, same blog channel at SOME blog time…

Scorp out!

 

“London is a riddle. Paris is an explanation.”
― G.K. Chesterton

Mawage, That Bwessed Awangment or: The Vows and the English Bloke (The Honeymoon Chronicles Pt. 2)

09 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Dalhousie Castle, Edinburgh, England, Food, Fullers, Honeymoon, London, Scotland, Travel, Underground

Scorp & The BCPF 9/2/2014

Salutations™!!

Well, here it is, the second part of the honeymoon posts. Can you believe it!? Within a few days time. It’s almost like a real writing gig, or something. I will say this post is picture intensive. Now, where was I? Oh yeah…

Stephanie & Tim Wedding Day -3

Walking hand in hand after the ceremony

Alright, it’s time for the wedding story. So The BCPF had stuffed her wedding dress into a vacuum bag and sucked the dickens out of the bag until it was a brick of white mess. Of course, I had to take her word for it because I didn’t get to see it. As I mentioned in the last post, I already had the kilt and had to do the “hiring” of the accessories. She unleashed the dress and handed it off to the concierge (or the castle’s equivalent) and they sent it off to have it pressed. So we were set. We got up, had breakfast (more haggis and black pudding), and then went back to the lobby to wait for what-happens-next.

We had hired a wedding planner, Kimmie Brown of Litú, was a treat and a lifesaver for us. Kimmie handled getting all the paperwork put together, she and her husband, George, served as our witnesses, she got the piper, Andrew, hired the photographer, Michaela Waddell, and lined up and directing us through the process of the registrar. Priceless, I tell ya, priceless. Also, we had already pre-selected our vows and ceremonies. So when the time came, we were pretty much prepared. I put on the kilt kit that turned into a much more involved procedure than putting on a tuxedo. The kilt shirt, first. The kilt, next. The waistcoat, the socks, the flashes, the ghillie brogues (shoes) and then the sporran (the man purse of awesomeness), which held it (mostly) in place. The prince Charlie jacket was next to last and then the sgian-dubh (pronounced skee-un-doo) which is a small knife that rounds out the ensemble. I’ve lost a bit of weight since I was originally fitted for the kilt so it was a bit loose. Tradition says that I don’t wear a belt with the prince Charlie jacket, but in the future, I certainly will wear one (I have already purchased one to wear once back home). And the part everyone has asked me… yes, I went unbreeched. Aye, that means I didn’t wear anything under the kilt. If you’re gonna do it, do it Scottish, I say.

Stephanie & Tim Wedding Day -1

First posed pic after ceremony

Stephanie & Tim Wedding Day -2 (1)

“Forehead kiss” and posing with Andrew, the piper.

I wasn’t allowed anywhere near The BCPF while she got ready, but when it was time for the wedding (noon for us in Edinburgh, 7pm for our friends back home), the piper piped me downstairs to the “gun room.” The gun room doubles as a chapel for the religious ceremonies and we used it as a location for our civil, non-religious, ceremony. The registrar talked with me a few minutes and then Andrew piped The BCPF down to the door and then after making sure she was ready, piped her down to me. She was BEAUTIFUL. I don’t have pics of her at the altar, just yet, so we’ll have to wait until the photographer sends me the collection. I cried, no shame in telling. We exchanged words, vows, and rings. We kissed. We signed the paperwork. Michaela shot us all over the grounds of the castle and that was it. It truly was much more glamorous than I just described but without pictures, I can’t do it justice. It was simple, but wonderful. She was my wife, my bride, my life’s partner – which she already was. Dang, I love that woman!

But, as is the story of our lives, there was no rest for the wicked. We had to jump out of our formal wear and into civilian clothes and run back into town to get our last-minute shopping done. We bought stuff for 3B (my 12-year old son) and my mother. We had reservations at the castle for dinner so we headed back and took our   place in the Library Bar, drank some complimentary champagne, talked to a slew of Americans wh

Dinner

Newlyweds in the Dungeon Dining Room

o were also taking holiday, and then went down to the Dungeon Dining Room to have our wedding supper.

Venison

Venison with Beet Sauce

Dessert

Dessert

We started with an amuse bouche which included a mushroom mousse and bread. The BCPF had a chicken pate and I had a beef carpaccio. Our minds not being still and sound at the time, I forget what the actual dish was, but there is a picture of it. For the main course she had a slab of pork and I had venison with beet sauce. I’ve never been big on venison (or beets for that matter), but man this was delicious. For dessert I had a raspberry flan dish, and of course, Grand Marnier. A truly lovely food experience.

Pork

The BCPF’s Pork Dish

Up early the next morning as we had a train to catch from Edinburgh to our next destination, London. The train ride was a four and one-half hour ride. I spent plenty of time on the WiFi updating the website for that week’s The Less Desirables. But, I have to say, First Class is the way to go. We got to choose our breakfast (Scottish for me, please…) and all the tea or coffee or water you can stand. The ride was not bad at all.

 

 

Platform 9 3/4

Platform 9 3/4 a la Harry Potter at King’s Cross Station

Bloomsbury

Room 209 at Bloomsbury Hotel, London

 

In London, the train came into King’s Cross Station and yes, we found the 9 ¾ gate with the cart half in and half out of the wall a la Harry Potter. Had to call the car hire to pick us up since they didn’t know where we were coming in to. They picked us up right away and then took us on to our hotel, the Bloomsbury Hotel. It was ranked #5 on TripAdvisor and we can see why. It was probably one of the nicest, fanciest hotels in which I’ve ever stayed. This, of course, doesn’t count Walt Disney World as those are themed. A close second would be the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta. This hotel is the first one that I’ve ever gotten a tour of my room. After a free glass each of champagne (to celebrate the day before) we were given our room and the bellman brought up the bags. He then showed us how everything works and how to operate all the gadgets in the room. We have adapters for our electronics and such but they had one already for US standard 110 AC as well as a couple of the European Union and UK standards; they had it covered. The only thing we never figured out, to 100% efficiency, was how to use the shower.  It took me no less than 4-6 minutes a day to get it to the right temperature.  The BCPF, who loves her shower water much hotter than I (I like it just over warm), had to deal with extra hot water.  I, again, after wasted time, could get it to her level for myself.  Ouch!  But, it wasn’t so bad.  There’s a European trend that I can’t figure out.  The showers are all half shower doors (only going from the front to about halfway back), swing out and are very high tubs.  I, and I’m fairly tall, have to hold on to the handles provided and step up and into the shower.  Imagine the 4’11” BCPF trying.  It’s rather comical.

The Bloomsbury was centrally located close to the Tottenham Court Road train station. The London Underground is an elaborate network of subway tunnels that lead all over the city. After about 3 minutes of mapping (we had experience with Paris last year), we were able to traverse the entire city of London (which has a population of just over 8 million people). We bought Oyster cards (re-loadable passes) and took the Underground everywhere.

Big Ben

“Big Ben” Queen Elizabeth II Tower

BCPF Big Ben

The BCPF at “Big Ben”

One of the first places was Jack Horner’s. Jack Horner’s is owned by Fuller’s Brewing (think London Porter, London Pride, ESP, etc.) and we just needed a little snack so we had a couple of orders of fish fingers which are basically fish sticks. They were good and having a real ESB, right there in London, was fantastic. The BCPF had a half pour of the London Porter. Then we just walked about stopping in shops, and made our way around to the Houses of Parliament and “Big Ben.” By now, everyone knows that Big Ben is actually the largest bell, not the tower itself. The tower is the Queen Elizabeth II Bell Tower. We were there right at 6pm so we got to hear the Westminster Chimes.

Scoff & Banter

Dinner at Scoff & Banter, London

We wandered until it was time for dinner. We ate that night at a modern London restaurant called Scoff & Banter. The idea is to have a bit of wit to their food offerings. I’ll say there wasn’t much scoff or banter happening. The food was good, but nothing spectacular. The BCPF had salmon that was on top of tomatoes, but she wasn’t feeling well, but felt better later that evening. I had the rib eye, rare, and it was alright, but again, nothing spectacular. The overall assessment of the restaurant was they tried way too hard.  We were mere steps from the hotel so we went back and spent our first night in the luxurious plushness that was the Bloomsbury.

Well, I’ve reached a good stopping point before the next installment of the honeymoon chronicles. I don’t know if I’ll be updating tomorrow, but as soon as I can, I promise.

Until next time, same blog channel at SOME time…

Scorp out!

—

“By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show.”   -Samuel Johnson

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Eat Drink Triad Podcast

The Podcast of Triad Food and Beverage Coalition

Beeman-Metz Media

Coming Soon

myfox8.com

News, Weather, Sports and more from WGHP FOX8

As Ardmore Turns

An almost true-to-life soap opera that practically writes itself.

Beeswax Vinyl and More

A NC-based Podcast About Music and Vinyl

Defining Yellow

Eddie Huffman

SippingNC: The Art of Drinking

A Blog and Podcast all about North Carolina libations.

Dr. Rock's Blog & Roll

Your dose of the BEST music ever made! (www.DrRock.com)

Sipping NC: The Art of the Drink

North Carolina Libations from Beer to Wine to Spirits

benedictbeerblog

Funny Redhead Loves Beer. Funny Readhead Writes About Beer.

The Beer Dads Podcast

Three guys having a beer and talking about being dads.

The Man Who Walked the Town

Exploring WSNC One Step at a Time

Somewhere Over the Olive Tree

Way up high in the Valencian mountains

Daily Inspiration Blog

The NC Triad's altweekly

Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem's alternative newspaper and media source

Wrestling-Online.com

Covering pro wrestling news since 1998!

I've got a Roman Candle Now!

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