Not always ..outdoors

Now, I don't want you to think that we always have stayed in a tent when we travel... we did that a lot, but we stayed in Hotels and Motels as well.
One of the memorable stays was New Orleans.
Of course we live in West Texas, where there is hot... hotter, and hottest, so when we were offered a trip to New Orleans for a week stay, we grabbed it. I thought that it would be wonderful, to be by the Gulf, to be in a wonderful city, and I completely forgot what it was like in New Orleans, or for that matter, the whole South, in the Summertime.
We had received this trip from my aunt and uncle, who in turn got the trip when they bought something-or-other. They didn't want to take the trip, since they had another trip planned, so they offered it to us. It included a day of golfing, 5 nights in a nice hotel, and maybe a couple of meals? It was free... we jumped at the chance to get away from what I thought was oppressive heat, and we got to be pampered for a week. What could go wrong?

So we had the long drive. It was really a long way, we borrowed my mother's car, since ours were either gas guzzlers or ancient... so the trip was not so bad, her car was not old, and it had air conditioning, and was pretty smooth driving. We made good time and ended up on the border with Louisiana on the first night, stayed in a motel that had huge rooms and a nice pool. What a nice start to a trip. The second day, we drove into New Orleans, right on time to check in, even though it was raining cats and dogs, and the streets were flooded, we still got into the Hotel without being drowned. When we stepped out of the car, I suddenly was transported back to my childhood trip to that lovely state, I then remembered that it was also hot in New Orleans, even after a rain, and the most remarkable thing is the heat and the humidity are a combination that can kill...Yet we survived that first moment of realization that we weren't in the desert anymore...and made our way through to the Hotel and the luxurious lobby to the counter to check in... and the desk clerk tells us that we are a week early... Really.
REALLY, a week early for our reservations?
How on earth did that happen. I read the confirmation letter, my husband had read the confirmation letter... and we ended up taking the wrong week off?
Oy vey!!!
So they were very nice, they had a room that was acceptable with the offer, and they were very accommodating. Very!

Hotel room near Le Havre

So we do stay in hotels, sometimes they are nice, sometimes they are like the one in France that was... well... cramped. It was clean, very sparsely furnished, thankfully... because it was somewhat cramped...The bathroom was something else... The hotel itself was near Le Havre, I am sure they get tons of visitors every day, and they are prepared for them with rooms like this one... it was cheap, and it was clean... and, well, who can complain?   The bathroom was what got us... we still joke about being able to sit on the toilet, take a shower, and brush your teeth all at the same time... it was like a closet, I suppose it was a closet, there was no closet in the room, just the bunk bed, a counter with a tv, and the closet, er, bathroom. Quaint, and we slept well.

 This is one of the rooms in the Hotel du France that we stayed at in Insigny-sur-mer. I loved that hotel. The room opened into a small hallway, with the bath off to the right, you walked into the full room, bed, table and chairs, and off to the left was a little room with bunk beds in it, and a wonderful view of the street. That is where my son slept, and he really enjoyed it... it had full drapes cordoning off the room, which he thought was enchanting, like it was his stage and he enjoyed playing on the bunks... I was impressed with the bathroom...
That is always my concern, how the bathroom is, is it clean? Is it maintained?I have to say, it was old but very charming. It also had all the conveniences and... and had a wonderful large window! I had a hard time trying to shut the blinds, but after my son showed me how... I was cool!



The hotel in Dunkerque was really nice, small but nice. It had a small sleeping niche in it similar to the one in the other hotel, but it was small, just the size of the bed. My son enjoyed it as well. That hotel didn't have air conditioning.  I am totally not used to that, but it was actually nice. Our room looked over a courtyard and with the window open, it got a nice breeze.

Sleeping Alcove in  Dunkerque

Staircase in wing of L'Hotel du France