France Travel Guide

Posts Tagged ‘Hotel’

In my teens, I traveled to France with my mother, father and grandmother for a month of sightseeing with a rental car. Michael Schumacher and Formula 1 have nothing on my father and our Opel rental car.

American fathers have an interesting if somewhat aggravating habit on trips. Yes, I am talking about the desire to see everything there is to see. This was particularly problematic in France, which has a gazillion things to see. For some reason, my memory is a blur! I’ll have to refer back to my Nomad Travel Journal, but here we go…

Churches. Big churches. Small churches. Church ruins. New churches. For three days, my grandmother had insisted we stop at every church we passed. She is just about the greatest grandmother a kid could hope for, but she had been a grade school teacher for forty years and there is just no disobeying. Did I mention we looked at churches?

We pulled into Lyon as the third day turned to evening. It was raining. We were tired and grumpy. After a minor argument, we pulled up in front of an older hotel with vacancies and checked in. Family arrangements being what they were, my parents had one room while my grandmother and I shared a second. We all agreed to take a nap and meet a little later.

As I lay on my bed, I watched the rain come down hard on the windows. I also admired the old, intricate wood structure that was our hotel. I dozed off and was awaken a few hours later by my grandmother.  

“The door is stuck!” she told me.

Grumbling, I walked over to the door and gave it a yank. Then I gave it another yank. Like a bad comedy, I put one leg up on the wall and yanked again. Alas, the wood seemed to have swollen and jammed the door shut. I couldn’t budge it.

At this point, my grandmother made a passing comment about the two years of French I was taking in high school and pointed to the phone. Dutifully, I called down to the lobby and chaos ensued. Somehow, we had lost the key, so I couldn’t tell them what room we were in. It just got worse.

What is the French word for “door?” Don’t know? Neither did I nor do I now. All I could say to the person at the front desk is, “We are stuck!”

To top matters off, I also started yelling my last name, Chapo, thinking they would at least come investigate. After being hung up on twice, it occurred to me that the pronunciation of my last name means “hat” in French. Yes, I was yelling,

“We are stuck! Hat!”

“We are stuck! Hat!”

Intensely cussing up a storm, I walked over to the door and banged it with my fist. It bounced open. My grandmother and I stared at each other and burst out laughing.

I hoofed it to my parent’s room to tell them the story. Half way through the tale, my mother plugged in her hair dryer, flipped it on and blew out the electricity for the entire floor.

We left very early the next morning.

France is regarded amongst the most visited and popular destinations for taking a holiday or a trip in Europe. And looking at the huge influx of visitors each year proves this fact. Whether it is a leisure trip, a pleasant tour, an adventure holiday or even a romantic getaway, France has all the answers. Geographically the country is very small but each area of the country has it own unique features. France provides with so many opportunities for its visitors as it has such a variety of attractions and activities to explore. Whatever is one’s taste, you can find it here as the country is blessed with such diversity.

France has many faces waiting to be discovered. When you travel in the country, the many hidden secrets unfold one by one and it is certainly a unique experience. Most importantly, the country invokes that feeling of adventure in everyone. Check out the capital city and glamour city of Paris to the Alps and the lush and relaxing countryside, you will never be out of options. At one time, France was a destination for the rich upper class people from America and Great Britain, as travelling to France was linked with luxury. However, the things have changed and now it is now a destination for travelers on any kind of budget. One will find hotels in France, which cater to tourists on a lavish vacation or on a tight budget.

Tourists will find France truly a land of contrasts. The country has a range of landscapes, which the country takes, pride in. Almost 80% of France is countryside, spreading out in the all directions. The inviting countryside is rich and diverse, and each region welcoming the visitors with a warm welcome. The country will endow the tourists with a number of adventures right from a tour of the museums housing major works of art to historical monuments reminding of France’s history. You wish and the country has it for a memorable holiday. It is just not the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, but there are several other tourist attractions to experience. Of the many things about France, the French wines need a mention. It is the great national treasure rooted in history. With over half million vineyards in the country, French wine is renowned the world over.

A popular destination like France, it has a plethora of accommodation options though the hotels France remains the most accepted of the accommodation options. With thousands of hotels in the country, visitors would not come across accommodation problems but as is the case with all popular destinations, reservations made ahead of your arrival are advisable. A great choice of lodging options is available, catering to all kind of travelers too. The capital city Paris is the world center for fashion, art and style, making it the top destination for visitors with over 30 million travelers visiting it every year. A romantic and beautiful destination Paris has much to offer and the hotels in France Paris furnish the needs of its visitors. The number of hotels in Paris exceeds the total hotels in France. For the adventure enthusiasts the lodging in the campsites, ski resorts, and inns is quite appealing, and satisfying the adventure cravings. Hotels France are fantastic, not disappoint its guest’s with its superb facilities and services.