@BethRags, thanks for sharing about your son's and your lovely experiences in France. It's nice to read about others' appreciation for French culture and towns. I was a bit shocked why my pdoc was so negative. LOL! Maybe you're right about pdoc being scorned by a French woman 😁. Or another theory is that pdoc's German/Austrian wife has some bias against France. I know Europeans can be like that.

Your point about my Czech husband likely knowing a little more than my pdoc about European life is surely right. Thanks for making that point. Nevertheless, I know we do need to do more research.

I loved staying in hostels, too. I kind of feel that experience feels even more like being among the locals than staying at hotels. This time we will check out staying in Airbnbs.