Category: Countries

Five tips for finding your perfect, private, personalized, dream tour

We all have our obsessions.  Obviously, travel is one of ours, and along with that goes our obsession with personalizing our holidays.  Gone are the days of pre-arranged group shore excursions from cruise ships, and gone are the days of European bus tours with 42 other well-intentioned travelers for us (but we did have a wonderful time all those years ago on a whirlwind tour of Europe with a ten-year-old  – maybe we’ll tell you about it sometime!).

In our quest for personalization, we’re becoming experts on finding tour operators who specialize in bespoke experiences, and finding those tour companies online – a tricky and anxiety-inducing prospect as you lighten your wallet by a considerable sum before even setting foot in the country to which you are traveling.  For what it’s worth, then, we offer you our five tips for finding that perfect (for you), private, personalized dream tour.  First, the story of how we discovered these tips.

It all started a few months before when we began our search for a bespoke tour of the countryside outside Paris.  That search led us to À Paris Travel and a wonderful woman named Sue Lillie.  With considerable trepidation, we had started an online search for tour companies specializing in European travel, and soon found that there were too many to wade through with any degree of certainty about their quality.  So we narrowed our search to specialists in visiting France and stumbled on this wonderful company.  But we didn’t know that it would be wonderful at that time.

We decided that we’d focus on one of our obsessions – champagne – and more specifically in Patty’s case Veuve Clicquot champagne.  This led us to create a tour of the champagne district that would include a visit to the Veuve caves and a champagne tasting or two.  Before we were willing to pay the complete upfront amount, however, rather than conducting all of the transactions through email and the web site, we decided that a chat with the proprietor might put our minds at ease.  And so it did.  After a very pleasant conversation with US-based Lille (late of Montreal as it turned out), we felt quite comfortable paying in advance for the tour (which is required for most of these companies).  Then all we had to do was hope that a car and driver showed up on the appointed day at the appointed time.

Moet & Chandon in Epernay, France.

Early one gray morning in Paris we made our way to the front door of our hotel on the Champs Elysees to find Pascale leaning against his car awaiting our arrival.  And so we were off.

After a few brief questions about our interests, Pascale was quite sure he know just where to take us.  He’d take us to one champagne house, and then make arrangements for the other.  First, we’d visit Épernay where we would take a tour and tasting at the venerable Moet & Chandon, and then we’d venture to Reims, the largest city in the Champagne district and home to the Veuve caves.  Between the two, Pascale would drop us off at a favorite lunch spot where we’d join the locals for a bite to eat.

Patty at the champagne-tasting bar at Veuve Clicquot in Reims, France.

With just the three of us on board, we had all the freedom that a group tour just doesn’t offer.  The itinerary was ours alone and if we decided to veer off course at any point during the day, we could.  It was another of those days that you mark down in your memory as ‘perfect.’  In fact, it was so perfect that we relaxed a bit about the second tour we had booked during that trip (yes, we took a chance and booked two).  When tiny Caroline picked us up in her massive Mercedes in Villefranche on the French Riviera two weeks later, we knew that we were in for the time of our lives thanks to À Paris Travel and our willingness to take a risk.

Tip # 1: Be specific about exactly where you want the tour to take you.

We were quite clear that we wanted to visit Champagne, rather than simply saying that we’d like to take a day trip out of Paris which is the thought we had initially.

Tip #2: Decide what kind of experiences you’d like (follow your obsessions for example), and then keep an open mind.

We had other ideas when Pascale picked us up that morning, but other than the visit to Veuve, we were open-minded and let him guide us.  These kinds of open-minded approaches have led us to many wonderful experiences over the years.  And these guides are truly wonderful resources.  Use them!

Tip #3: Do your online research carefully and consider it to be part of the experience.

This is so important.  You need to do a lot of research, and you should consider not thinking of it as work; rather you might see it as part of the learning experience that travel ought to be.  We actually consider research prior to a trip a part of the trip resulting in a much longer experience than the week or three that are actually away.

Champagne, vintage 1906, in the caves.

Tip #4: Do your due diligence.

For us that means that as often as possible, getting these tour operators on the telephone.  Even if it’s as simple as booking a limo drive from a cruise terminal, try to speak to someone in person once you’ve gathered all the information you can from the web.  You can learn a lot by that more personal contact.  If you have a gut feeling that this isn’t for you, you are very likely right.  Sue Lillie put us very much at ease as she told us about how her company had developed and her own passion for French travel.

You can also use online travel forums such as TripAdvisor (we’re contributors to this one), but remember that everyone is different.  Read the contributors’ pieces carefully and note the outliers – in other words, is it the only one that had a problem with the tour operator, or the only one that didn’t.  In either case, that one might not provide you with as helpful information as you might think.  Also, read reviews to see if they are specific, or if they are just subjective assessments (e.g. It was wonderful! Terrible!  etc. without concrete descriptions of exactly what made it so wonderful or terrible letting the reader then decide.).  In the end, a traveler review on a site such as TripAdvisor is based largely on the contributor’s expectations going in.  If we were to review some of the hotels that others find wonderful, we’d find them barely acceptable for a variety of reasons all based on what we’re looking for.

Tip #5: Make your decision, pay your money, and don’t look back.

Don’t second guess yourself.  After you make a decision, go with it.  File away other interesting information about other tour companies for the future, but don’t keep comparing what one might have offered.  You’ve made a decision, and it is very likely that if you did your homework, it will be the right one for you.

If you’ve hit on a truly terrific one, perhaps you’ll do what we did and book again with that tour operator.  We’d love to know how people make out with personalized tours.  If you have five minutes, come along with us as we follow our obsession with Veuve Clicquot from the caves in France to the Veuve bar aboard the Queen Mary 2.

Lessons we wish more airlines would learn: Our Hawaiian Airlines experience

In February we headed out on our annual pilgrimage somewhere south to avoid a few weeks of nasty Canadian weather.  Usually, it’s a simple hop to Toronto and then onward to – well, just about anywhere “down south” as winter-weary Canadians like to say.  This year, our four weeks away found us on no less than ten – yes ten—airplane segments on three different airlines.  Needless to say, there is going to be a certain amount of comparing going on.

Soaring over the Napali coast.

We began our trip on our trusty Air Canada to whom we are quite loyal.  There is much for a discerning traveler to gain from being loyal.  Travel blogger and co-founder of airfare-prediction site FlightCaster Evan Konwiser (who knows more about airline loyalty programs than we ever will) offers five golden rules for air travels that include, among others, never travel anywhere without earning miles of one sort or another and focus on one airline at a time (you can read the rest of the rules at The Golden Rules of Loyalty Programs, and you should!).  We agree and have, indeed, gained elite status giving us some of the perks that make comfortable flying less of an oxymoron.  However, it doesn’t always work out that you can fly on your favorite – or even on one of its alliance members.

Air Canada belongs to the Star Alliance so when we’re connecting to places where AC doesn’t fly, we usually book a Star Alliance partner (then we can still earn loyalty miles).  This year, that meant flying on United Airlines from LA to Honolulu since we were stopping in LA for a few days enroute.  Oh dear, when Dorothy realized she wasn’t in Kansas anymore, she was predicting how an Air Canada frequent flyer would feel when faced with what passes for first class (yes, that’s what our ticket said) on this partner airline.

Since we are among the older (one boomer and one beyond) members of the population, we have no issue with older workers.  However, when flight attendants look like they should be lounging poolside at a retirement village in Florida, and have to turn sideways to make it up the aisles, we do begin to wonder how efficiently they would be able to move when faced with an emergency.  And what’s with all that scowling at passengers?  Then we had a great laugh when we saw the movie screen at the front of the cabin with its one movie on offer – we haven’t seen one of those since—well, since the last time we flew on an American-based airline a few years ago on our way to Puerto Rico (where Air Canada inconveniently does not fly).  A word of advice to our dear American friends: You really need to take a lesson from your partners north of the 49th parallel and in Europe (see Lufthansa).  Air Canada customers may complain as much as the rest of the flying world, but it’s clear to us most of the whiners haven’t traveled on American-based airlines lately.

We did, however, get safely to our destination relatively on time and with our luggage.  Who can reasonably ask for more these days?  Well, we can now that we’re-experienced Hawaiian Airlines – so our theory about American-based airlines doesn’t really hold up.

Our first experience with Hawaiian was some 10 years ago when we first ventured to Hawaii.  On our trip between Honolulu and Maui, we were booked on Hawaiian.  Our most vigorous memory of that event was the panic that preceded boarding: there were no assigned seats and the queuing began very early with a mad dash when the flight was called.  Our heads were spinning by the time we finally got on board and found remaining seats.  Needless to say that when we found ourselves booked on Hawaiian again, we were concerned.  We could have saved ourselves needless consternation because Hawaiian Airlines is what we would call a flawless operation from beginning to end – and we took four of their flights in a two-week period.

In 2012 Hawaiian Airlines commissioned textile designer Emma Howard to design the Hawaiian pattern for the new uniforms. They are wonderful.

Where does Hawaiian Airlines find its people?  To a person, they were flawlessly personable and helpful.  When we arrived at the airport in Honolulu to catch our flight to Kaua’i we were hopelessly confused at the baggage drop-off.  And we were not alone.  The system did seem a bit foreign, but helpful agents were able to get us in the right line, and now we know how to navigate their system.  (Let’s face it, the variations in policies regarding check-in and baggage drop off among airlines throughout the world is mind-boggling.  It would be nice if they could get it together.  This is a tall order, we fear though, since even the security screening rules differ wildly from one airport to another even in the same country – shoes on, shoes off, cases in a bin, cases not in a bin, sweaters on, sweaters off, aahhh…you understand and we’re digressing).

We were flying first-class on these flights, but since the distances are short and many of the airports small (not the case in Honolulu) we did not expect many amenities.  We were surprised to learn that there are indeed first-class lounges in all the airports and more than one in Honolulu.  Decorated in Hawaiian motifs, the lounges don’t offer much in the line of food or drink – not necessary in these cases – but they are quiet, air-conditioned oases.

We heard a number of announcements indicating that Hawaiian Airlines was pleased to offer their customers advanced seat selection which suggested to us that the change was fairly recent.  Wonderful!  Actually, the reason we booked first class was because of our fear of the panic for seats as a result of our initial experience.  We needn’t have worried.

Once on board, the flight attendants were happy, helpful and fitted with delightful Hawaiian-inspired uniforms (with prints designed by Hawaiian textile artist Emma Howard) that made us smile.  On these short flights, they even managed to get us a drink and a snack – Mai Tai’s were our drink of choice!

The people were wonderful—but perhaps even more impressive was the efficiency of this airline.  With a mere 30 minutes turn-around time on each occasion, they managed to get the passengers and their luggage off the planes, the embarking passengers and luggage on and get away on time, all without seeming rushed.  The morning we flew back from the Big Island to Honolulu on our way home, there had been a computer glitch earlier in the day that had caused some delays.  Our flight arrived in Kona 10 minutes late, and with that planned 30 minute-turn-around we fully expected to be late, a situation that might have resulted in rushed connections.  Not to fear, though!  They still managed to get luggage and passengers off and on, and take off on time – a turnaround time of 21 minutes!

You might be thinking that we’re talking about a little turbo-prop plane with few passengers aboard, but they fly 717’s on these routes.  These full flights had 123 passengers on board and they still managed it.  We watched the baggage handlers efficiently moving luggage on and off the planes, and it seems to us that employees from other airlines could learn a thing or two.  In all our years of travel we have never experienced such fast arrival of our luggage – and that goes for small airports throughout the Caribbean.

Despite the fact that Hawaiian Airlines is not a member of the Star Alliance and thus we did not accumulate any frequent flyer points for the four flights we took, we enjoyed every minute of it, will do it again (may try one of their trans-Pacific flights next time) and would recommend them to anyone!

* Photo sources: http://mauinow.com/2011/10/10/hawaiian-airlines-adds-fifth-new-airbus/;

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nXFbQ8i7KNE/S8YGptkRNQI/AAAAAAAAACc/UT_kCoH5KjM/s400/Hawaiian

The discerning shopper: The fun of consignment & vintage shopping on vacation

We had a wonderful shopping experience at Recycled Rags during a recent trip to Corona del Mar, California

It’s finally here!  The first day of spring, not a cloud in the sky and we’re dreaming of spring cleaning – cleaning out the closets, that is.  And thinking about that reminds us of the fun we’ve had searching out the best consignment shops in various places throughout the world, most recently in California.  It’s true that thoughts of shopping leave some travelers cold; but for us, we prefer to leave our shopping to vacation time – all the better to work hard, avoid the shops while at home, and spend hard-earned money on travel.

The fun of shopping on vacation lies not in the actual shopping itself (although occasionally we have what we refer to in our family as a real “shopping experience” wherein the excitement of the find is almost too much to bear); rather the fun is in the search for the shops themselves, searches that often take us to parts of cities that we might not otherwise visit.  Those searches have often resulted in great city walks and serendipitous discoveries of fabulous restaurants.  .

First, a bit of background:  We are decidedly not antique people, and would not go around the corner for a dusty piece of old furniture (apologies to antique aficionados among our readers – but that just leaves more great stuff for you).  We would, however, venture into shops that carry vintage clothing to poke about looking for a ‘find.’  Not necessarily what you would term a bargain.  Sadly perhaps, we are not bargain shoppers.  We look for value and a true experience.  A discerning shopper knows that a bargain is often not truly ‘a find.’   Webster’s dictionary defines a bargain as “an article bought or offered at a price favorable to the buyer…”  Well, a bargain is not good enough for it to be ‘a find’ in our view.  The price has to be what we are willing to pay for the feeling, the experience, the emotion that the piece evokes.  If it’s also a bargain, then so much the better.

Three recent experiences serve to illustrate the experience that can be had with just a little bit of planning.

We happened upon Caprice by accident the first time, but have returned several times since.

Our first real vintage find came in Nice, France.   Just as you might expect, Vieux Nice [Old Nice] is home to a variety of interesting and off-beat shopping that includes vintage clothing and antiques.  We happened upon this particular find as we wandered through the labyrinth of narrow streets that are now more often home to tacky tourist shops filled with snow globes and cheap T-shirts.  However, this is France we’re talking about, and some of the streets are lined with quirky artists’ studios and galleries, scrumptious bakeries and wonderful shops that sell vintage clothing and handbags.  This little one beckoned.

Located at 12, rue droite, Caprice had a welcoming vibe, in spite of its apparently chaotic displays.  Don’t be fooled.  There are some very real finds in this little store and the shop girls know where everything is – and often their provenance. .

As Patty made her way down the steep, narrow stairway to the basement level, Art found himself contemplating a red leather jacket he saw hanging over the stairwell.  He asked the clerk if he could have a closer look at the item.  She was more than willing to oblige, and brought the jacket to him.  It turned out that it was an original Christian Dior from the mid-1970’s in the style of a blazer – soft red leather piped with white, a design that never goes out of style.  But would it fit?  There was only one way to find out.

Art beckoned Patty to return to the main floor to don the jacket.  It fit as if it had been made for her.  We were able to get a slight reduction in price for paying cash.  Fortunately, we were carrying a bit of a wad of Euros!  But, we were hooked on the idea of doing a bit of vintage and/or consignment shopping.

Sure, you need to see all the landmarks - but the addition of some consignment shopping can add another fun dimension to your travel. Washington D.C. is more than monuments!

In Washington D.C last year, we made it a point to research the consignment shops before leaving home.  After all, we reasoned, what better place could there be to find clothing that might have been worn only once or twice to a diplomatic ball or cocktail party? We had our map and were easily able to find Secondi on the second floor of a building in DuPont Circle.  If you’re in the market for some real upscale design pieces, this is the place.  We came out with a mint-condition Dior handbag and a great story to tell.

And just last month, on a day trip along the tony coast south of Los Angeles, we researched the consignment shops in Corona del Mar.  We visited several, but our favorite was Recycled Rags.  What a fabulous place.  Crammed with well-displayed and only slightly pre-loved clothing, the store is a treasure trove of labels and ‘finds.’  The shop staff was friendly and knowledgeable, chatting away while working feverishly to help.

With our 23-year-old son in tow, we were obviously hoping to find a place that also carries men’s clothing – and this one does (although Ian who loves nothing more than to browse the consignment shops especially in London, didn’t find anything in his size).  We also shy away from pre-loved shoes; however, we pounced on several pairs of Tod’s women’s shoes that looked as if they must have been someone’s grand mistake.  If they had ever been worn, it must have been only while the wearer was sitting or lying down.  They were in new condition.  And they fit!  We happened upon another Dior bag (this time a little one) and happily exited the store with our finds.  These Tod’s shoes that retail for over $400.00 were around $130.00.  Heaven!  And a terrific afternoon’s experience.

The Discerning Travelers’ Tips for Happy Consignment Shopping on Vacation

  • Do your homework.  Part of the fun of traveling in general is preparing and dreaming about what’s to come.  In the case of consignment shopping, the web is your best friend.
  • Find the names of shops in the general area where you want to visit and scour their web sites.
  • Read some reviews.  What are people saying about the shops?  What kinds of merchandise do they carry?  Which ones resonate with you?
  • Map the location and incorporate some of the other attractions you’d like to see along the way so that you can put it on a walking tour.
  • Keep your expectations low.  That way you’re more likely to be pleasantly surprised.
  • When you get there, take your time and think of it as a museum experience.
  • If you’re looking for pieces of clothing, remember that if the piece is actually older than the last couple of years, the sizing was different.  In any case, try everything on!

Here are a few more tips from a professional shopping consultant:  Five Tips for Shopping at Consignment Stores.

Kaua’i by helicopter: Working down that bucket list!

A helicopter is the only way to experience the magnificence of the Napali Coast in Kauai in this expansive way.

The lure of the Hawaiian Islands was never stronger than when Patty was nine years old.  Her grade five teacher returned from Christmas vacation with slides and stories from her Hawaii trip, and one awe-struck little girl was hooked.  So began a childhood obsession with travel advertisements and brochures.  In those days – long before we could click our way to information – Patty filled out those little forms that were invariably included in travel advertising.  In due course the brochures and posters arrived, and Patty began her collection – all the while creating a kind of childhood bucket list.  These days, as we move ever closer to those retirement years (a few years yet, though), together we’ve created our own list of places to go and things to do.  Hawaii was on Patty’s early bucket list – and seeing the islands by helicopter was on our current one.  Check off Kaua’i by helicopter!

Up in the clouds over Kauai, the 'garden island'

This was our second trip to Hawaii.  The first one was some fifteen years ago when we whisked ourselves and our then eight-year-old son Ian off to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary.  Oahu (Waikiki and Honolulu) and Maui were our destinations then – Oahu, Kaua’i and the ‘Big Island’ (Hawaii) were on the agenda this year.

When you head to the islands, you usually have some things that are must-do’s on the list.  Fifteen years ago a luau was on the list (we accomplished that and found our little family threesome to be the only ones not on their honeymoons at a table of some 20 or so revelers that evening!).  As more seasoned and discerning travelers at this point in our lives, we decided to forego the pig roast this time in favor of a few other delights – among them was the desire to do Kaua’i and the Big Island by helicopter.

The Blue Hawaiian staff prepare the helicopter for our embarkation! Yikes, they're not even turnng off the rotors!

Art has been in the offshore medical business for almost thirty (!) years at this stage.  That means that over the years he has been required to undergo helicopter-ditching training.  Among other things, this involves being strapped into a chopper’s seat while the training cockpit simulates an emergency landing on water.  The general course of events in that kind of scenario is that when the blades touch the water, the helicopter flips so that the passengers are now under water.  The situation is simulated in the training, but the water is very real.  Art was actually required to be able to unfasten a seatbelt and shoulder harness and push open a window while the cockpit rapidly filled with dark, murky water, and then swim to the surface.  It would be enough to make most people run screaming from offshore activities all together.  But he didn’t, although he never did have to put this part of the training to use (thankfully).  He did have occasion to fly in choppers to remote locations, however.  Patty on the other hand, had never set foot inside a chopper.  Blue Hawaiian Helicopters was to provide her with her first experience.

Like a well-oiled machine (pun intended), the Blue Hawaiian folks have their system down to a science.  For us it started with buying the tickets (yes, it’s expensive) through the hotel’s concierge who asked us our weights.  “They need it to calculate fuel etc.,” said the concierge.  “Then they’ll weigh you again when you get there.  It’ll flash up on a screen…”  What horror!

She laughed and told us that she was joking.  But when we arrived at the Blue Hawaiian office a few days later, they did, indeed, weigh each of us.  It did not, however, flash up anywhere much to everyone’s relief.  We’re an odd bunch about our weight, aren’t we?  It’s a bit like asking someone how much money he or she makes – but we digress.

The weights were used to determine total weight for the individual choppers and the seating arrangements so that weight could be distributed.

We chose the bigger and nicer of the two types of choppers they offered.  We flew in an Eco-Star that takes a pilot and six passengers with individual seats rather than bench seating.  After the weigh-in, we watched a safety video and were then helped with our inflatable life vests that we were required to wear around our waists.  Then, we were off to board the helicopter.

In Kaua’i (the office is in Lihue) we were loaded into a van and driven the five minutes to the airport where we awaited the return of the helicopters and were assigned our numbers.  We would board without the helicopters even turning off their rotors and we each needed to be in the right place for boarding.   We followed the instructions and were off.

The Discerning Travelers came home from Kauai with some extraordinary memories etched in their brains!

The Blue Hawaiian pilot was extremely capable and personable as he expertly lifted the chopper from its pad and began his narration of the tour.  It was clear that he loved his job and we were the happy beneficiaries.

They call Kauai the ‘garden isle’ and as you soar above the magnificent Napali Coast the reasons are clear: breathtaking mountains, verdant valleys, awe-inspiring waterfalls.  There really is no other way to get any real sense of the island.

If you have five minutes, join us on our tour…