Accommodations Worldwide

Europe

Near St. Lo, FRANCE, La Vimonderie (contact Mme S. Hamilton, 50620 Cavigny, Manche, France; phone + 33 2 33 56 0113, fax +33 2 33 56 41 32, e-mail sigihamilto12n@hotmail.com or visit www.frenchconnections.co.uk/accom/3591.html) was our base in October ’04 for visiting the D-Day beaches, Bayeux, Caen, Cherbourg, St. Lo and Mont-St-Michel, all of which are within about an hour’s drive.

The B&B has three bedrooms with facilities en suite plus TV; one is a single, one a double and one a double/family room with two double beds. A fourth bedroom has an extra- large double bed and no bath.

2005 costs are €27 ($34) for a single, €58 ($74) for a double and €55 ($70) for a “family room” which includes two double beds and en suite bath. Continental breakfast.

A “simple dinner” of aperitif, main course, dessert and one glass of wine costs €10 ($12). For €18-€22 ($23-$28), a gourmet multicourse dinner is served (price does not include champagne).

The owner will pick up guests at the St. Lo train station. However, since the B&B is located in farming country, a car is a must for getting to the main tourist sights.

The delightful hostess, Mme Hamilton, who is willing to do extra to make one’s stay enjoyable, is very friendly and extremely knowledgeable about food and wine. She drove the women in our group to the Saturday market in St. Lo and spent the morning showing them the sights, all for the price of her lunch. She also arranged a guide to help in our exploration of D-Day sites.

— WES LINGREN, Bellevue, WA

My husband, Al, and I stayed at a historic B&B, Vieux Savy (Chez André Nivarlet Savy, 17, B-6600 Bastogne, Belgium; phone 0032 61 21 43 36 or visit www.vieuxsavy.be), in early May ’05. It’s in a very peaceful, rural setting just three kilometers from Bastogne, Belgium. A restored old stone farmhouse, it was the headquarters of General George Patton during the Battle of the Bulge.

Our room was beautifully furnished with lovely marble-topped tables and a mirrored chifforobe. It had an almost-new private bath. €60 (near $73) a night.

The house has been in the family for four generations. The lady speaks only French, but we were able to learn many interesting facts about the place via pictures, hand motions and a smattering of French/English. Breakfast was served in the room where the general held conferences.

We visited the Bastogne Historical Center (€8.50 entry) and learned more about the battle to save Bastogne. General McAuliffe replied “Nuts” to the German demand for surrender. Now the town square is called Place McAuliffe, a restaurant is called Le Nuts and there are many “nuts” souvenirs.

— EMILY MOORE, Greenville, IL

We hiked for 12 days in GERMANY’S Sauerland, which lies between Köln (Cologne) and Frankfurt in southeast Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), in May ’05.

This wonderful hilly land of forests and meadows is not only a rambling paradise, it also offers grand biking, camping and fishing.Virtually unknown to Americans, it is visited mostly by German and Dutch travelers. To reach the area by car, we used Michelin map No. 543.

• Landhotel Laarmann (Westfälische Strasse 52, 57368 Lennestadt-Kirchveischede, Germany; phone 011-49-27 21/9 85 03-0, fax 0 11-49 27 21 / 9 85 03-55 or visit www.landhotel-laarmann.de) is where we stayed for 12 nights. We were in room 12, a large, quiet, double room at the back of the hotel, only reachable by climbing two sets of stairs.

While the cost of the room is normally €98 ($119), we received a discount for our prolonged stay and paid €78 ($95) per night for the first seven nights and €70.20 ($85) for each of the next five.

We took the half-board (Halbpension) option for €18 ($23) per person per night, which provided us with a divine 4-course gourmet dinner, exclusive of wine. The food selection, different each day, was outstanding.

Hotel Laarmann is a family-run operation and is open seven days a week. The owners speak a smattering of English and are super nice, accommodating and helpful. For example, at breakfast one day, the stretch band of my wife’s sweater ripped and one of the owners promptly repaired it at no charge.

• We used the following hiking maps: Freizeitkarten NRW mit Wanderwegen (hiking trails) and Radwanderwegen (bike trails), numbers 20, 21 and 25, scaled at 1:50,000. These maps, available at local tourist offices and in bookshops, show contour lines, enabling you to see the elevation gain of the trails.

We obtained the maps in the town of Altenhundem (10 minutes by car from our hotel) at the bookstore across from the rail station.

• These are the best places to get tourist information on the Sauerland:

1. In the Altenhundem railroad station (Hundemstrasse 18, D-57368 Lennestadt-Altenhundem, Germany; phone 011/49/2723- 68678-0 or fax 011/49/2723-68678-1), look for the “Touristik Information” sign.

2. Sauerland-Tourismus e.V. (Johannes-Hummel-Weg 1, D-57392 Schmallenberg-Bad Fredeburg, Germany; phone 011/49/2974-9698-0 or fax 011/49/2974-9698-33).

3. I found that the Sauerland website at www.sauerland-touristik.de was not very helpful. To study this site in English, go to Google, type “Sauerland” and use Google’s translating feature.

4. For additional help, check Lonely Planet’s guidebook “Germany,” which devotes a few pages to this lovely region.

— PHILIP WAGENAAR, Contributing Editor, ITN

On the 12-day “Rivieras of France & Italy” tour with Collette Vacations (Pawtucket, RI; 800/832-4656) in May ’05, we stayed at the Hotel Astor (Lungomare Carducci 54 - 55049 Viareggio, Italy; phone +39 058 450301, fax 455181 or visit www.astorviareggio.com).

Located right on the Mediterranean, this was one of the nicest old hotels I’ve been in (43 overseas trips). Our room rate was $321 per night, double. (Rates range from $222 single room to $729 royal suite.)

The tour cost $3,475, including air out of Traverse, Michigan; many meals, and a 3-day post-tour of Rome. There were 27 of us.

— PIM DODGE, Frankfort, MI

Peter Rugh continues describing hotels from a November ’04 trip to ITALY (July ’05, pg. 55 & October ’05, pg. 57):

We proceeded to Lucca, where the weather, city and hotel were additional highlights of our trip. Lucca is surrounded by a wall, 115 feet at the base and 40 feet high, built during the 16th-17th centuries to replace ancient ramparts.

The wall is now a city park about 2.6 miles long, and it makes for a very pleasant walk literally “around the city,” with plenty of ramps to access the city itself. You can view the city from the wall and you can view it from the tower of the Guinigi Palace, located almost in the center of the city. The tower, with a magnificent view, has a garden and six trees growing at the top.

• Upon the recommendation of friends, we stayed three nights at the Palazzo Alexander (Via Santa Giustina, 48, Centro Storico 55100, Lucca, Italy; phone 0583 583571, fax 0583 583610, e-mail info@palazzo-alexander.it or visit www.palazzo-alexander.it) — $158 per night. The staff was very accommodating, and we highly recommend the hotel.

Lucca is the home of Puccini, and we attended a concert that was part of a Puccini Festival at the Church of San Giovanni. The church sits above an archaeological dig uncovering a Roman temple on the same location. There are plans to have four concerts per week year-round on a continuing basis. The one we saw was terrific. Unfortunately, the Puccini Museum was closed for remodeling.

Our last main stop was Camogli, located on the Portofino coast 15 miles south of Genoa. Camogli was very quiet during our stay, but we’ve visited there before and know what it can be like during the tourist season.

We took the train into Genoa, the only big city we visited on this trip. The change from the quiet of our first 16 days was shattered by the noise and bustle. We sought out the solitude of an old friend, the Monumental Cemetery at Staglieno, a

contrast of elaborate tombs and simple gravesites with over 60,000 inhabitants. It is one of Genoa’s landmarks and is an amazing place.

• While in Camogli we stayed at Hotel Augusta (Via Piero Schiaffino 100-16032; phone 0185 770592, fax 0185 770593, e-mail info@htlaugusta.com or visit www. htlaugusta.com). We had a large, simply furnished room for $89 per night.

• When we visit Camogli again (our favorite focaccia bakery was closed, so we have to go back!), we think we’ll try Hotel Cenobio dei Dogi (Via N. Cunco 34, 16032 Camogli, Italy; phone 0185 7241, fax 0185 772796, e-mail cenobio@cenobio.it, or visit www.cenobio.com) for more comfort and amenities. $195 per night.

• We finished our trip (one of the best we’ve done) by staying close to Malpensa Airport (actually between the two terminals) at Hotel Cervo (Via de Pinedo 1, 21019 Somma Lombardo [VA]; phone 0331 230821, fax 0331 230156, e-mail hotelcervo@malpensa.it or visit www.hotelcervo.it).

This hotel ($120 per night) is one of several located close to the airport and primarily used by business travelers and tourists. There is shuttle service available for a low cost.

Readers who have questions or who would like restaurant recommendations for the places we visited can e-mail us at edithstreet@comcast.net.

When will we go back to Italy? As soon as possible!

— PETER RUGH, Berkeley, CA

Pacific

While in Sydney, AUSTRALIA, in June ’05, I stayed at the Novotel Brighton Beach (2216 Brighton Le Sands, Sydney, Australia; phone/fax [61] 2195565111, e-mail H1656@accorcom or visit www. novotel.com).

Located a quick 10-minute ride from the airport, this hotel is really convenient if you’ve just flown in or if you want to stay close to the airport the night prior to your flight.

And if you have kids, the hotel offers a Bayview Suite — two rooms with a king-sized bed and a pullout sofa. The balcony overlooks the beach and the airport and, while it is not glamorous, kids will love to watch the Qantas jets take off and land.

Other amenities on the property include landscaped gardens, a water slide/pool, Legos in the lobby, Internet service ($2 for 20 minutes), two restaurants, a cocktail bar and a gambling video parlor full of Pokies (Australian poker games). Prices start at Aus$175 (US$134).

— JENNIFER EISENLAU, Boulder, CO