Swissair Updates
• Fredy Girardet, whose restaurant in Crissier near Lausanne is regarded by many as the finest in the world, and his top cook, Philippe Rochat, have been signed on by Swissair to enhance the airline's business and first class in-flight meals.
First class passengers will be served a three course menu that begins with Velout Safrane de Truite du Lac En Gele a L'Oscitre and ends with Genoise de Guanaja Aux Oranges Confites. Business class passengers will enjoy a Girardet chocolate dessert. Economy class passengers will be served wine and food from the Vaud region, the canton in which Restaurant Girardet is located.
Passengers can also take part in a drawing by leaving their business card or boarding card with their name and address. Prizes include flights to Switzerland, dinner at Girardet and entry to the Olympic Museum.
• Gemütlichkeit subscribers are also reminded that they are eligible for fare reductions on Swissair. The program, now in its third year, has been extended again through March 31, 1995. The fare reduction on Swissair sale fares is $50 per ticket for all members of the traveling party, $400 on business class fares and $600 on first class fares. Booking must be made directly with Swissair (800-221-4750. Ask the reservationist to access "G-star, QL2JLQ"). For more details you may phone the Gemütlichkeit office at 800-521-6722.
• Readers in the Washington DC area should know that Swissair, Austrian Airlines and Delta Airlines have jointly introduced service connecting Washington, Geneva and Vienna. Five times each week the Austrian Airlines A310 Airbus service will originate and terminate in Vienna. Each of the carriers will maintain the rights to a certain number of seats on the various legs of the journey.
Hotel Discounts
The Sofitel hotel chain has announced a winter sale through February 26 at its 48 properties in several European countries, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Rates are as low as $110 per night per room. At Vienna's Sofitel Belvedere, for example, the rate is $130 for a double room including buffet breakfast, service charges and tax an excellent price for a four-star hotel in Vienna. To book, phone 800-763-4835.
Drive to Russia
Because it is almost impossible to rent a car in the western part of Europe and drive it into the east, independent driving vacations that include eastern countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia are difficult to arrange. However, Overseas Motorhomes Tours now offers a 33-day drive to the east and into Scandinavia via motorhome. The drive begins May 31 in Frankfurt and ends July 31 back in Frankfurt and includes stops in Prague, Wroclaw, Krakow, Warsaw, Kobryn (Belarus), Minsk, Smolensk, Moscow, Torzhok, Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Goslar.
Berndt Hess of Motorhome Tours tells Gemütlichkeit he expects a caravan of some 15 of his full-equipped vehicles (hot/cold water, shower, toilet, refrigerator, stove, bedding, crockery, etc.).
The package includes roundtrip air to Frankfurt, first and last night hotel, transfers, the motorhome, ferries including first class cabin Helsinki to Stockholm, guided sight-seeing including a Russian-English speaking guide to accompany the caravan in Russia, all sight-seeing admission fees, campground fees and 27 meals. In Moscow, the tour includes a visit to the Space Museum, the Moscow Circus and an optional ride in a MIG fighter jet. Accompanying the caravan will be experienced "wagonmasters" plus two security officers and a mechanic.
The cost per person for the To Russia With Love tour is $6,395, double occupancy. Phone 800-468-3876.
(U.S. Dollar prices quoted in this issue of Gemütlichkeit may be inaccurate for these reasons:
* Prices in local currency have not been updated since the date of publication of this newsletter, and...
* The dollar prices shown were obtained by using exchange rates in effect at the time of publication.)
November 1994
