Memories of France

My wife and I wanted to express our appreciation to The Times Travel section for two articles that we used in planning our completed trip to France.

The first was an article and picture of Jim and Karine Marett’s barge, the “Bateau Mary” (News, Tips & Bargains, March 13). We were already planning a trip to France when we read the article and thought it sounded like something worth looking into. We decided to take a weeklong trip through the Vosges foothills near Epinal in eastern France. We had a wonderful time and would recommend this barging experience to anyone interested. The Maretts are now in Holland building a new barge. Jim says it will be built to their specifications based on all they have learned sailing the “Mary.”

We also booked the newly refurbished Mansart Hotel in Paris after reading “The New Wave of Small Paris Hotels” (Sept. 19, 1994). For 800 francs we had an exceptionally large room with the largest bathroom I have ever seen in a European hotel. The staff was outstanding. As an example, when we arrived by taxi we were greeted by an individual who took our bags to the front desk, checked us in, and then took us to our room all in under five minutes. There was a little traffic noise which was easy to overlook.

BOB and JUDY DIDLOCK

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