100 days

OZDUCK · Sep 20, 2017

This bad luck for you. I hope the weather clears up quickly.

turtlemichael · Sep 20, 2017

For dinner on our one night in NYC we booked a newish restaurant called Augustine which is in Beekman St in lower Manhattan. It is walking distance from Hilton Millenium and the Conrad. We had to go for a 6.00pm reservation in order to get in on short notice. That time should be still lunch! It came from an FT recommendation. The atmosphere was very buzzy, the service was top notch, food very good and prices more than reasonable particularly for NYC. We got talking to the group at the table next t us and ended up joining them for a drink. They were advertising executives - it is NY after all. Great when that happens.

turtlemichael · Sep 21, 2017

I have never stayed at the Conrad or so low on the west side before and therefore, hadn't experienced the Hudson River Park. It stretches along the river for miles and, at 6.30am in the morning, it was very popular with joggers and constitutional walkers like me. In really humid and warm weather, as a result of ex-hurricane Jose hovering off the coast, it seemed essentially New York.

turtlemichael · Sep 21, 2017

This was my first stay at the Conrad New York. I chose it because it was relatively good value on HH points (70k) in a week where everything decent was priced sky high because the UN was meeting.This was a one night stay between the flight in from Toronto and the flight out to Paris via Helsinki the following day. I'm currently parked in the Admiral's Club lounge waiting for Finnair 6 writing this.

The room wasn't ready at 2.30pm when we arrived but we were told it would be 5-10 minutes. After 30 (I am so patient!) I reminded them and it was ready. We were upgraded from a standard deluxe suite to one with a Hudson River view. There was nothing super special about the view but I guess views are at a premium in Manhattan.

I liked the room - great shower and excellent bed and plenty of room to move. It was pleasantly furnished and had everything we needed. We had the HH breakfast this morning. It was a choice of about 6 items and coffee and juice. The HH menu was listed separately on the menu with the possible interpretation that we were very special (or not). I was pleasantly surprised that it was very good given some of the comments on FT. OH had the fruit platter which was like an orchard on the plate and I had the granola, Greek yogurt and berries which was also huge and good. I couldn"t finish it.

We also had lunch there before we left for the airport and a soup, sandwich and macaroon for $20 was good value.

They granted us a 2.00pm late check out without an issue.

I liked the place but I find it hard to compare with Asian Conrads. It's origins are apparently as an Embassy Suites and it feels like that though it is very well tizzed up. I'd put it on a similar standard to the London Bankside Hilton though the latter is probably a couple of steps up. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants around it and it is a much more relaxed area than Midtown. One negative for some is that there is not a subway outside the door. It is a 5-10 minute walk but that is no issue for me.

I'd happily stay again.

turtlemichael · Sep 21, 2017

Now it is time to move on in the next leg of this trip. We are starting to get near the home stretch.

tgh · Sep 22, 2017

Whisper sailed at 9am this morning with a revised revised Itinerary that is all negative for us.
Newfoundland scrubbed and some new Canadian ports as "compensation".
Nothing to be done but make the best of it.

turtlemichael · Sep 22, 2017

tgh said:
Whisper sailed at 9am this morning with a revised revised Itinerary that is all negative for us.
Newfoundland scrubbed and some new Canadian ports as "compensation".
Nothing to be done but make the best of it.

I'm glad you have sailed but sorry you have lost so many ports in Newfoundland. The same happened to us though only one was due to weather. I came to the conclusion that the only "safe" way to see maritime Canada was land based. Do hope, despite that, you enjoy the trip and the early bits are not too rough.

turtlemichael · Sep 22, 2017

It's been a long day and a bit getting to Paris. My morning walk along the Hudson and lunch at the Conrad seem an eternity ago.

Getting to Kennedy and through Terminal 8 to the lounge was a breeze. It was much better than I had expected. The AA lounge was big and crowded but the wine was good as was the food. Our Finnair flight to Helsinki suffered the usual delays at JFK including 50 minutes from the gate to wheels up. However we got in to HEL only 25 minutes late. I haven't been on Finnair for a while but I'd have to say it ranks fairly well down the scale for J cabins. Food was only average. I had a wagyu beef thingy that was edible but only just. It was wagyu in name only. The suite was comfortable accept for the area you put your feet when sleeping which I found very cramped. Not that there was a lot of sleeping time. The flight was only 7.5 hours and after the meal was delayed buy turbulence there was less than 3 hours between lights out and when they started serving breakfast. Service was however good and there seemed to be a crew member wandering the cabin all night offering water etc to those who were awake.

The flight down to Paris was okay in the bulkhead seats but the meal was pretty much tasteless.

In the gap we had couple of hours in the Finnair Helsinki Schengen lounge which was uncrowded, comfortable and with good food. There was enough time for a shower.

All up, it was good to get to the Hilton La Defense.

turtlemichael · Sep 22, 2017

The Finnair lounge at Helsinki.

craven morehead · Sep 22, 2017

turtlemichael said:
It's been a long day and a bit getting to Paris. My morning walk along the Hudson and lunch at the Conrad seem an eternity ago.

Getting to Kennedy and through Terminal 8 to the lounge was a breeze. It was much better than I had expected. The AA lounge was big and crowded but the wine was good as was the food. Our Finnair flight to Helsinki suffered the usual delays at JFK including 50 minutes from the gate to wheels up. However we got in to HEL only 25 minutes late. I haven't been on Finnair for a while but I'd have to say it ranks fairly well down the scale for J cabins. Food was only average. I had a wagyu beef thingy that was edible but only just. It was wagyu in name only. The suite was comfortable accept for the area you put your feet when sleeping which I found very cramped. Not that there was a lot of sleeping time. The flight was only 7.5 hours and after the meal was delayed buy turbulence there was less than 3 hours between lights out and when they started serving breakfast. Service was however good and there seemed to be a crew member wandering the cabin all night offering water etc to those who were awake.

The flight down to Paris was okay in the bulkhead seats but the meal was pretty much tasteless.

In the gap we had couple of hours in the Finnair Helsinki Schengen lounge which was uncrowded, comfortable and with good food. There was enough time for a shower.

All up, it was good to get to the Hilton La Defense.

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Was that on the A340 turtlemichael it does look a little dated? The A350 much nicer but still cramped in the feet area and layout is a much better 1-2-1. The lounge photos bringing back very recent fond memories. Cheers

Pushka · Sep 22, 2017

tgh said:
Whisper sailed at 9am this morning with a revised revised Itinerary that is all negative for us.
Newfoundland scrubbed and some new Canadian ports as "compensation".
Nothing to be done but make the best of it.

That’s a shame. Make the most of it though as there’s not much you can do about.

OZDUCK · Sep 22, 2017

Gosh that lounge is empty - we were there in the morning "rush hour" and it was really crowded. I agree about the cramped feet on the A350 - I am glad someone else agrees, as I thought it must have been just because of my big feet.

tgh - it will be a shame missing out on Newfoundland even though some of the other ports could be very interesting.

turtlemichael · Sep 22, 2017

craven morehead, it was an A330. It was quite dated and worn. The best thing was the service. As well, the layout was strange - the left side was a mixture of one and twos, the middle all twos of course all with aisle access and the right side all single seats. Those in the twos on the left side missed out on one console. We were in the middle. So the layout was 1/2- 2-1. All up, 32 seats if I counted correctly.

craven morehead said:
Was that on the A340 turtlemichael it does look a little dated? The A350 much nicer but still cramped in the feet area and layout is a much better 1-2-1. The lounge photos bringing back very recent fond memories. Cheers

turtlemichael · Sep 22, 2017

OZDUCK said:
Gosh that lounge is empty - we were there in the morning "rush hour" and it was really crowded.

OZDUCK, we were there from 9.30am until noon and there was no peak hour that day.

OZDUCK · Sep 22, 2017

turtlemichael said:
OZDUCK, we were there from 9.30am until noon and there was no peak hour that day.

We flew out to Dublin at 0815 and left the Schengen lounge earlier to wait in the Non-Schengen lounge so obviously the numbers drop away quickly.after about 0830.

turtlemichael · Sep 23, 2017

It's good to be back in Paris. This time it is only 6 days which is a pittance compared with other times. In the last 6 years we have been here each year for a minimum of 6 weeks and a maximum of 5 months. And my French is still very schoolboy.

The flight from NYC to Helsinki was only 8 hours but went through 7 time zones. Consequently, it left us feeling stuffed after a bare minimum of sleep. So yesterday was a quiet one with just a walk from the Louvre to the Arch de Triomphe to loosen the cobwebs. We are staying at Hilton La Defense for the first time so most places we go will be on the metro or RER. The weather is okay but cool.

I'm not sure what this was about?

turtlemichael · Sep 24, 2017

For a while we have been sort of groupies of a Parisian chef/owner called Guillaume Poupard. We came across him at a restaurant called Miel et Paprika which was in the 11th, He moved a couple of times until he set up a restaurant, a a one-man band, called Sixieme Sens in Rue de la Roquette near Bastille. The restaurant took off and it got to be number 6 on the TripAdvisor list of 17,500 Paris restaurants so he was doing something right. As a one-man band and with only 16 seats he cooked, welcomed, served and cleaned up! The waiting time for a reservation stretched out to a couple of months. He shut the restaurant last year and was, unsurprisingly, basically exhausted at doing everything himself.

We were pleased to find that he has now opened a new one out in the near eastern suburbs of Paris, at Neuilly-Plaisance, called again Sixieme Sens. It is a bit of a hike to get there but we went out for Saturday lunch yesterday just two weeks after he opened. It's a different concept - 30 covers, and with a waiter to assist. Although it was quiet it had the same high standards and excellent food. Our three courses for two and a bottle of wine came to 84 euros so it is a good deal. Good luck to him but I think it will be a struggle out there.

Swordfish cerviche.

Duck carpaccio

Goose magret

Coeur coulant

The local town hall. Looks like it should be way out in the country rather than just a few kilometres from central Paris

turtlemichael · Sep 25, 2017

It's Day 88 and another day in Paris in beautiful weather. It got to around 23C and, as it was a Sunday, the streets and parks were chockablock. As well, it was aday for another visit to a market, this time Le Marche d'Aligre in the 12th Arrondissement. It is the market we used most when we had 6 months in Paris in 2011. After that we headed for a walk along the Promenade Plantee which has now been renamed Coulee Verte. This is the tack of the train which used to run from the eastern suburbs into Bastille and was converted to a walking track some years ago. The length is about 4.5 kms It inspired the High Line and several other conversions in New York but, in my opinion it is much superior, Then we wandered about Bois de Vincennes outside the Boulevard Periferique. Not bad for geriatrics if I do say so myself.