Kicking Off 2025 in France and Spain

An opportunity came up to visit parts of Spain I haven't been to yet with one of our preferred suppliers - and the answer when trips to Europe come up is nearly always yes. Especially when it means seeing great colleagues that I don't get to spend much time with. The flight routing was better to Paris for all of us, so we met up there. The best part of travel day? Clearing the upgrade list to business class on an international flight for the first time ever. Even with a 'bed', I still can't sleep on planes. But it was a more comfortable seat for watching movies and House of the Dragon, without any strangers touching me.

Since we were only in Paris for one night and had an early morning flight to Spain the next morning, we stayed at the Courtyard by Charles de Gaulle. Easy peasy - and super easy to get to on the tram from the airport. We took the RER into the city to hang out for a few hours (we walked from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower along the river and got a bite to eat).

Next up, time to head to Spain. With an early morning flight to Malaga on Air France, we bopped back over to the airport and did our best to find something to eat in a terminal without a lot of options. Flight was uneventful. Shera and I spent the night at Moon Dreams Torremolinos. It's not a fancy hotel, but we had a great little patio and the location is great. We did some walking around, enjoying the beautiful weather and the lovely boardwalk along the ocean and found something to eat at La Caleta. We grabbed a few tasty beverages on the walk home and took advantage of our private patio for an afternoon in the sun. We had some dinner dinner at Ellen Restaurant (great vegan options) and called it a night. We split off for a bit in the morning, so I went and found some amazing breakfast at Blooming, and did some more of the walk along the coast (and found a cat sanctuary, so I had to visit with some cats!)

Late morning, we moved hotels to the Occidental Fuengirola - the official starting hotel for our Collette adventure. We met up with Amanda for some strolling around in the beautiful weather and some lunch. Early evening, we had a welcome meeting with all of the group with some snacks, and then we went out for another walk to wrap up the day.

Official tour day one - onto the bus and off we went to explore Malaga. After a few photo stops and a short walking tour, it was time to visit the Picasso Museum. I'm a big fan of art and I dig the paintings that came from some of Picasso's periods - very few of which were at this museum. I'm glad I've been, but it's a one and done kind of museum for me. A bit more walking around, including a stroll through a local market, and then we were off for a lunch adventure with a local family. It was so fun getting to sit and talk with locals over a lovely meal. We had some free time in Fuengirola after dinner and then a nice supper at La Plaza.

Day two - off to visit Setenil de la Bodegas. This is a really charming village of white-washed houses built into a cliff. We had some time to explore around and also did a wine and local snack tasting. After that, we headed to Ronda - a town built high above El Tajo Gorge. We had some free time for lunch (Shera and I found delicious coffee and treats at Black Coffee and did a bit of exploring, before we met a local guide for a bit of a walking tour). The views from Ronda - amazing! I'd definitely go back. Free time in Fuengirola for the night, so we found some tasty eats and walked around.

Day three - we spent the morning exploring Marbella before joining a flamenco workshop with the talented Charro. We had a delicious paella lunch beside the ocean at Los Mellizos. With a bit of free time in the afternoon, some of the group deciding it was time to jump into the ocean (photographer was good enough for me). Mid-afternoon, we headed out to explore Mjias, another charming hillside town. We wrapped up the day with a group dinner.

Day four - Alhambra time! I was looking forward to this stop most of everything on the list and it did not disappoint. I've always wanted to visit and I am so glad I had the chance. The grounds are beautiful and architecture of the fortress and palace are fascinating. After our visit, we had some free time in Granada (Shera and I may have found an amazing local coffee shop again - La Finca) to explore. Our last night in Fuengirola was free, so Shera and I had a bite to eat and did a little walking around and shopping (for delicious things).

Day five - time to move locations to Madrid. I love the train, so I was happy we took the train to Madrid instead of the bus (our luggage went on the bus). After we arrived, we had a short orientation tour of the city before checking into the NH Principe de Vergara (nice hotel, location is great, but I hate when hotels use overly scented products and this one definitely did). A bit of free time and then we were off for a walking tour and dinner at Los Galayos. Many thanks to our amazing tour director Carmen who went out of her way to find a vegan treat so I could have dessert that wasn't fruit.

Day six - off to Segovia. It's fantastic and I knew nothing about it. We had some free time when we arrived, followed by a walking tour through town to the castle (and into the castle). Free time after that, where we had some lunch with Kateryna and Michael at Jose Maria Restaurant and explored a bit more. Free time in Madrid (it was beautiful out, so I just went out and randomly walked around), and then a final group dinner at Restaurante Cazorla.

That's a wrap on the Collette portion of the trip. I'll be honest - coach tours are not really my jam. I don't love packing up every night, spending long days on the bus, sticking to someone else's schedule, or going at the pace of the slowest walker. This was a very pleasant surprise! I loved that we only had two hotels, took the train between Malaga and Madrid, and didn't spend long days on the bus. There was a good amount of free time and the stops were mostly all really interesting. I'd do another Collette tour happily. Carmen, our tour director, absolutely one of the best I've ever had. We switched hotels for our last night in Madrid to the Westin Palace (very snazzy, great location). Our room wasn't ready yet when we moved over, so we found some coffee and did some exploring. We also decided to go and check out the Prado. We had a late lunch at Mad Mad Vegan and then wrapped up the day with a tapas tour with Devour (great tour, highly recommend).

Back to Paris for one more night before it was time to head home. Shera and I landed mid afternoon, dropped our stuff off at our hotel (Au Palais de Chaillot - small, tourist class hotel - probably wouldn't stay there again, but it was fine), and then we were off to the Louvre. We just did a quick spin through honestly, it's huge, you can't see it all in one visit. Some final exploring, dinner at Le Poincare, a stop to find some wine to take home, and that's a wrap.

After a little walk and a quick breakfast at Cafe Kleber, it was time to head back to the airport. The section of the airport I was leaving from only had McDonalds as a place to get food, so I went into the Air France lounge instead. Flight to Montreal was uneventful (cleared the upgrade list for Premium Economy - a very night treat) and spent watching movies. Pretty much my day was working in lounges and flying (Paris to Montreal to Toronto to home), and I finally made it home after midnight. Another fab adventure. Ange out. Shameless promotion: Need help planning your next adventure? Reach out anytime to ange.f@gotravelcompany.com.