Our Second Awesome Trip Thru France via KimKim and Tomorrow Travel

France | Jun 8 - Jun 21, 2024

This was our second stay at the Hotel Napoleon and it was exactly the same top experience we remembered from 2022 (we even remembered some of the same staff). The hotel is exquisitely decorated in gorgeous traditional classical French finishes and furniture. No detail was spared anywhere. The breakfast was always wonderful and the woman who works there (I wish we could remember her name) was a delight every single morning when she served us delicious cappuccino coffees and individual orders of poached eggs. She also acted as an informal concierge and provided us an excellent restaurant for lunch and a top chocolatier to pick up gifts to bring home. She made our mornings even better. The bar was another lovely place to have a drink and sometimes snacks. The service was excellent and the staff wonderul (they even tried to teach us some French words). We had two small problems with the toilet and the hotel immediately sent people to repair the problem quickly. We were very impressed and wished we had service like that at home (LOL).

Here's an improved version of your hotel review: --- **Exceptional Hotel Experience in Bordeaux** From the moment we arrived, we were treated exceptionally well at this fantastic hotel. Rodrigo at the front desk checked us in and seamlessly took on the role of concierge, arranging our restaurant and taxi reservations for several days. His dedication, along with the rest of the front desk staff, was outstanding. The bellhops greeted us daily, inquiring about our experiences and making us feel genuinely welcomed. Our room was one of the largest we have encountered in French hotels, both well-appointed and functional. Comfort was paramount, evidenced by a menu detailing the different types of pillows available—all of which were exceedingly comfortable, as was the bed. Breakfast was a delightful experience, served in a lounge-like setting with elegant tables, sofas, and oversized chairs. The staff were incredibly accommodating, keeping us supplied with endless cappuccinos and Americanos. Upon request, they even prepared eggs to our individual preferences. Dining at the hotel's restaurant, Madame B, is a must. We enjoyed an excellent and affordable meal on our first night, complemented by superb service and lovely decor. The hotel's location just north of the city center is ideal—quiet at night yet only a 10-minute walk to the heart of Bordeaux. Additionally, the nearby tram stops make exploring the city convenient and effortless.

Our travel agents, Amandine and Valentine were always available to help us during our trip. At one time they called us to alert us to disruption due to a strike at the museum. They quickly rescheduled everything for us to avoid the disruption. Another time we needed the car service to arrive earlier than scheduled and they made that happen. Lastly, we had problems getting to a cheese making class (rain in Paris, no cars, no taxis, no ubers) so we called them to let them know we could not get to the event.

Vivian was our tour guide and she was lovely, knowledgeable and friendly. She walked us through the entire museum and highlighted many of the more important paintings, all along allowing us to wonder about to other paintings. Having Vivian as our guide made seeing all the art in 2 hours a pleasure.

We never made it to this tour due to rain, no taxis and no ubers. Tried to take the metro but still had too far to walk that we gave up and notified the agency we cannot get there.

We enjoyed this tour and our guide was very entertaining (cannot remember his name, but he was young, had a pony tail and wore his signature Celtics basketball jersey). The ride in the van to and from was comfortable. Our guide provided a good orientation and we never felt rushed and had plenty of time to explore the gardens, the house and water lily pond on the other side. After seeing Giverny, we have a better appreciation for Monet.

Interesting museum but the tour on the first floor was odd and not my cup of tea (too much using your imagination in a very non-vineyard like environment). Second floor was interesting to see so many exhibits, but after awhile it was information overload and we shut off the audio guide and just walked around and looked at various exhibits. The wine tasting on the top level was okay. The best part were the amazing views of Bordeaux from up high. The wine, was meh and not really a place to enjoy a fine wine. You would not be missing too much if you skipped this venue. I would rather have used the time to see another vineyard and speak with the people there.

Very good, large museum with over 5000 items to see, however it can be a bit overwhelming. We decided during the tour that we are not really fans of contemporary art, especially Cubism (it is just a little too abstract for us). We eventually rushed through the museum because we were getting overwhelmed and not a huge fan of this important contributions to the art world.

Beautiful smaller museum in a gorgeous park across the river from the Musee de’ Orasy. We enjoyed seeing the two massive oval rooms of Monet’s Water Lilies (4 massive canvases in each room). It was a peaceful place to enjoy the paintings (although many people kept trying to stand in front of the canvases to take selfie videos which was annoying). We went to the lower lever where a different collection of exhibits existed but by this point we were mentally drained having been to Giverny the day before and Musee de’ Orsay in the morning so we speeded our way through the lower level (which was very busy with patrons)

We enjoyed our gourmet dinner at Madame Brasserie on the 2nd level of Eiffel tower. It was impressive that they sat and served the entire restaurant at the same time and the service was very good. The views were even better as we walked around the 2nd level before and after dinner.

Ben was our tour guide for the day and he was very friendly, personable, and knowledgeable. He provided us great transportation and was informative and entertaining along the way. He made time for dialog on general topics to keep the trip interesting. We enjoyed the one Medoc winery and wished we could have seen more of Medoc. We saw two wineries in St. Emilion and had a relaxing and enjoyable lunch at one with wine pairing.

Dorian was our guide for this walking tour and this was his first time providing this particular tour. He was very knowledgable and informative and attentive to us. He spoke very good English and we enjoyed everything he showed us. We covered a lot of ground and there was quite a not of walking. The food part was minimal at best. We had three food stops: 1. Purchased for us 2 cannellini's to eat while we walked 2. Sat outside at a small gourmet ham/pork shop for some exotic pork charcuterie 3. Cheese shop where we were given two packages of different cheese to take with us while we walked - very minimal information about the cheese and no where to sit to eat it. Overall, we learned a lot from Doreen, and we walked a lot. Just do not come hungry and expecting to eat much.