Travelers' Intercom

On my trip to Paris in October ’06, I didn’t decide which day to go to Mont-Saint-Michel until I got to France. I decided to book my visit at the office of Paris Vision (214 rue de Rivoli; phone +33 1 42 60 30 01, fax +33 1 42 86 95 36 or visit www.parisvision.com).

The itinerary, at 155 (near $200), included a 7:15 a.m. departure, a multilingual guide, lunch on the Mont at one of the La Mère Poulard places, admission to the abbey, and the return to Paris by 8:30-9 p.m. We had heavy traffic on the way back and still made it back to the Paris Vision office by 8:45 p.m.

(The...

My wife and I (both seniors) spent 12 days in Bali in August ’08. It was the dry season. The weather was excellent, with a high of about 82°F every day.

As we wanted to see all of the island, not just the heavily touristed areas, we engaged a guide/driver, Paul Pranoto (e-mail paulpranoto@hotmail.com), who was excellent. He was knowledgeable and pleasant and spoke perfect English (he went to school in the US).

For $53 per day plus gas, Paul drove us around the island. We spent six nights with Paul; he provided his own sleeping arrangements. We invited him to join us for...

We wish to commend Margo Wilson on an excellent report, “The South of India — a Good Choice for the First-time Visitor?” (June ’07, pg. 44). Also for the first-time traveler, our comments apply mainly to northern India.

My wife, Sandi, and I traveled to both northern and southern India for four weeks, with a one-week side excursion to Sri Lanka, in February and March ’06. This was my fourth visit to India, my travels there dating back to my flight surgeon days in 1957, and my wife’s second. To avoid overlap, I elected to “cherry pick” the areas that I thought were the most...