European Car Rental Issues – Part 1 – Insurance

Renting a car in Europe is not much different than renting one in North America. You will still face the hard sell on insurance at the counter, the quandary of whether to pre-pay for the fuel or spend your own time hunting down a fuel station to bring it back full, and of course the fact that the vehicle you get is almost never the one you selected. Rather, it seems it is always one of the “Or Similar” members of the same class. 

There are, however, a fewcomplicating factors that make renting a car in Europe more of a Pangean adventure. For one, you are almost invariably exhausted from a long flight, often through the night.  You are then faced with unfamiliar accents, signage, and foreign languages. For another, most European rental agencies that this Pangean has dealt with also have a fixation with insurance and deposits.  I suppose it is understandable since they are handing out keys to vehicles worth thousands of Euros to complete strangers. The other complication is that the options and rental policies can vary from country to country, even when you are using the same agency or outlet.
Continue reading “European Car Rental Issues – Part 1 – Insurance”

European Car Rental Issues – Part 2 – Holds and Deposits

In Part 1 (see: http://pangean.org/european-car-rental-issues/ ) we went through some of the insurance considerations that apply to car rentals in Europe. As mentioned in that post, there are some differences between renting a car in Europe and renting one in North America. Foremost among those is the issue of holds and deposits.

This Pangean has never been asked for a deposit or a hold while renting a car in North America. It could just be luck or the location or the timing, but we’ve never been asked for an extra-ordinary payment to secure a deductible or the cost of the vehicle.  We’ve rented cars in Hawaii, Nevada, California, and Arizona and in none of those instances has the rental agency imposed a hold or deposit requirement for anything more than an amount to cover incidentals.  However, the experience in Europe, especially during the several rentals we had booked for our October 2016 trip, was very different. Although the policies varied from country to country and even from agency to agency, all required some form of security. Continue reading “European Car Rental Issues – Part 2 – Holds and Deposits”

No Bourbon For Me

Bourbon Street in New Orleans is loud and brash and a little bit gaudy. Oh, there’s no denying it’s attraction to tourists. The music and bars and restaurants should be experienced by every visitor, at least once while staying in “N’awlins”. However, Bourbon street is not necessarily the only game in town. Not far away from the French Quarter is a much more
authentic music and food experience: Frenchmen Street. Located in the Faubourg Marigny neighbourhood, Frenchmen street is home to some of New Orlean’s most revered live music venues. At least a dozen bars and clubs are squeezed along a short three block stretch in the Marigny section Continue reading “No Bourbon For Me”

Any Time is Cava Time

Many consider champagne and other sparkling wines to be only for special occasions like New Year’s Eve.  Click on the “Continue reading” link below to see why Pangeans think “any time is cava time”.

You can also check out our newest review, on the Artcava Winery and Tour here:

http://pangean.org/reviews/artcava-winery-and-tour/

Artcava Tasting Room – Catalunya

Continue reading “Any Time is Cava Time”

Is ‘Offshore’ on the Shelves Yet?

The Cote-d’Azur has a lot to offer.   Although there are no official boundaries, the French Riviera as it is also known, spans the coastal parts of the Var and Alpes-Maritimes Departments in south-eastern France. From the Italian border in the east to Toulon in the west, it includes the independent nation state of Monaco and Nice, its largest city.  In addition to the beaches, medieval villages, wineries, olive groves, the casino at Monte-Carlo, and mountainside roads with stunning views out over the Mediterranean Sea, the Cote-d’Azur is also home to the perfume capital of the world: Grasse, France.   Continue reading “Is ‘Offshore’ on the Shelves Yet?”

The Greatest Pangean Tree Expedition

Pangeans love natural Christmas trees. There’s something special about the fragrance of a freshly cut natural tree wafting through the house.  That smell, greeting you in the morning, when the house is still dark, tells you immediately that this is Christmas.  Unfortunately, some of the
younger Pangeans consider anything shorter than 9 or 10 feet (3 metres for those scoring at home) to be a Christmas ‘shrub’. Granted – you need Continue reading “The Greatest Pangean Tree Expedition”

Refugees in Collioure

This isn’t one of those weighty stories about the tragedy of boatloads of refugees fleeing a war torn country and washing up on one of the Mediterranean shores in Europe. Rather, and without in any way minimizing or trivializing the plight of those forced to flee their country, this is the story of how a Canadian family came to be refugees in Collioure, France.

We hadn’t initially planned on going to Collioure.  We had booked a nine night cruise to Morocco and the Canary Islands sailing out of Barcelona.  The plan was to follow that up with a driving tour through Provence, central France, and ultimately to Paris.
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The Problem With Taxis in Monaco

The problem with taxis in Monaco is quite simple: they don’t exist. In hindsight we should have expected this. Of course there are no taxis. Why would one need a taxi when you can just get your driver to swing by with the Bentley or the Rolls to pick you up. Yes, of course there are no taxis.  In any event, one of our extended port stops on a recent western Med cruise was Monaco and

Port Hercule with Prince’s Palace on horizon

since we’d been there before and seen several of the sights, our plan was Continue reading “The Problem With Taxis in Monaco”

Check Out Our First Reviews

We’re excited to add our first full review on the Pangean.org website.  And the distinction of being the first goes to the Walsh Whiskey Distillery Tour. Check it out here:  http://pangean.org/reviews/walsh-whiskey-distillery-tour/

We’ve also added a couple of hotel reviews:

Early Entrance to The Sistine Chapel

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There are so many sights to see and experience in Rome and regardless of how much time you have, there always seem to be compromises to make.  On our first trip to Rome we missed out on seeing the Sistine Chapel.  It was in the famous Planning Itinerary there in black and white.  Indeed we’d even planned on seeing it and the Vatican Museums early in the day. However, due to travel complications on the train we ended up flipping the days agenda and simply ran out of time.  We therefore planned our Continue reading “Early Entrance to The Sistine Chapel”