Several weeks ago, Bill arranged to take Thursday and Friday off from work. As I mentioned in the first post in this series, he was planning to get his teeth cleaned by our Stuttgart area dentist, Dr. Blair. Wiesbaden does have good dentists. Bill even goes to one up here, because last year, he broke a tooth and needed treatment while Dr. Blair was on vacation. However, I am very picky about healthcare providers. If I find one I like, I’m willing to travel. I like Dr. Blair and trust him, and it’s fun to visit our old stomping grounds. We have spent six of our married years living in the Stuttgart area, so it will always have a place in my heart.

We took Noyzi and Charlie to the Hundepension. Noyzi was delighted to be there, as you can see in the video below. He’s probably one of their favorite clients, too… he’s so sweet and friendly, and never causes any trouble. I’m sure Charlie will love it, too. This was only his second time there.

Once we unloaded the dogs, we enjoyed a fairly uneventful trip down to Stuttgart. It was lunchtime when we arrived, so we visited the Paulaner am alte Postplatz, which is a German restaurant very close to Dr. Blair’s office. We’ve been there a few times over the years, and we’ve never been disappointed by the hearty food or the friendly service in this Paulaner themed bar that is situated in the old post office.

This time, Bill had fried sole, which was a special. I had the “Fitness Teller”, which was supposed to be healthy. I guess, in retrospect, it kind of was, although I washed it down with beer. The dish came with a small piece of chicken breast, a salad, and a baked potato with Schmand (German sour cream with herbs) on the side. I don’t really like sour cream that much, so that was good for me. Bill helped me eat the salad! His dish came with Spaetzle, which is a local favorite.

When we got to Dr. Blair’s office, he was at the reception desk, talking to a couple about an implant for the wife. He let us in, and told us to take a seat, since he knows us very well. I waited about fifteen minutes for a hygienist to call me back. Unfortunately, she started the appointment by annoying me. She asked me to swish some very strong antiseptic for a minute. Usually, they have a timer so it’s easy to see how long you’ve held the very strong stuff in your mouth. This time, there was no timer. I spat it out when it started to burn my mouth. She scolded me for not swishing long enough and had me do it again. And again, she said I didn’t swish long enough, although I probably did, since I didn’t rinse after the first swishing.

Her scolding irritated me, so I told her that I spat it out because it was burning my mouth, and I don’t want to hold substances in my mouth if they burn. She might not know it, but a lot of women who are menopausal have problems with burning mouth syndrome, as I do sometimes. But honestly, if she’d just put up an egg timer, I would have tried to swish for as long as the sands were flowing through the glass. I do have an Apple Watch, but it wasn’t convenient to time myself with it. I probably sounded kind of bitchy, but if you read about my recent experiences with German medical care, you might know where that attitude comes from. Anyway, we’re paying for the treatment, and it’s my mouth. I figure I can spit if I want to.

I waited for awhile for Dr. Blair, but then had to change rooms because the hygienist needed to clean someone else’s teeth. When he came in, he was his usual friendly self. He asked why Bill wasn’t getting a cleaning. I told him he was originally supposed to, but the appointment was canceled because of a lack of hygienists. Dr. Blair apologized profusely, especially since he knows we travel to see him. It was no big deal, though. Even if Bill didn’t have a local guy, he’s got to visit Stuttgart again on business in a couple of months. He could always slip in to see Dr. Blair when he’s down there for his conference.

When we were finished with the dentist, we headed southeast toward Bad Wörishofen. It was a pretty easy drive, once we got out of Stuttgart. By the time we got to our destination, I was really glad I didn’t choose a destination that was further away. It was about 6:30 PM when we arrived, and pretty dark outside. Bill and I were definitely ready to relax with a drink. It would take awhile before that would happen.

As we drove into the spa town, Bill found his way to Hotel Fontenay, which has its own parking garage. He tried to turn into the garage, which was locked, of course. It was pretty awkward to back out of there, even with all the assistants on our Volvo. He finally managed to turn the car around and get us to the front door. A young woman behind the desk welcomed us and told us she’d park the car for us after we unloaded our bags. Then she came back with a trolley and took us to room 220.

I booked us a deluxe room with a balcony. It was a large room, and the balcony was very nice, as it looked over the hotel’s lovely backyard. The one thing it lacked was furniture. They probably don’t keep that outside when the weather turns cold. I did see a balcony that had chairs, but most of them seemed to be bare. As for the rest of the room, well… it looked kind of like a relic from the early 1990s. The bed was large, but the mattress was extremely firm. We neglected to bring our own pillows this time, because we figured such an expensive hotel would have decent pillows. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I suppose we could have asked for extras, though. We had split duvets, which was okay with me. I got a kick out of the upholstery on the couch and chair. It reminded me of the old arcade game, Q-bert.

The bathroom had a tub and a rather disappointing shower, although the water pressure was good. I did like that the bathroom was in its own room, rather than part of the room. The television was small and tucked into an armoire with a safe and the minibar. There was also a built in desk, which I might have appreciated if we had stayed longer than three nights. Below are some photos:

There was a door in the room that could be closed, which separated the bathroom and closet from the bedroom. There was a bright light that operated by motion detector. It was a little annoying, as we would get up to go to the bathroom and get hit with a bright light. On the other hand, it made getting to the bathroom somewhat safer. The door had a window in it, so even with it closed, that light would shine in the room, which might wake up light sleepers.

We decided to have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. It was here that I noticed some bumbling among the staff. I have sympathy for them because I used to wait tables myself, and people have to learn somewhere. But this was supposed to be a five star hotel… Granted five stars doesn’t necessarily mean excellence. The stars are awarded based on amenities. So you can go to a pretty mediocre five star hotel that has every amenity and service you could ever want. Or you could go to a one star place with stellar service.

Anyway, we were directed to a table in the corner. It wasn’t fully set, and the candle was never lit. I think we were the only ones in the restaurant without a lit candle. It’s not a huge deal, but I did notice it… as well as the lack of bread plates and silverware. The waiter spoke English, and mentioned that he’d only been at the hotel for about two months. He was working the whole room pretty much on his own, as the bartender was a shy young Asian woman who seemed quite inexperienced.

I got the sense that they don’t get too many Americans or English speakers at Hotel Fontenay, which would make sense to me, since it doesn’t seem that well known among English speakers. Most of the clientele appeared to be older than Bill and me, although we did see a couple of parties with younger folks… including one that had children.

I decided to have the turbot dish, which was priced at about 58 euros. Bill ordered shrimp and scallops, which was 49 euros. They had another fish dish that was priced according to the weight of the fish. We thought the restaurant was just expensive, given the price of the room. We also ordered wine and sparkling water.

The waiter brought us an amuse bouchée of duck ham, which I didn’t want to try until I had liquid. Sadly, we had to wait awhile for that to arrive. We tried to order sparkling water from the bartender who seemed to hear us, but apparently didn’t… and then it took the waiter a long time to get to it. The sparkling water and wine were finally delivered by the very friendly and enthusiastic manager (I think), an older German man who seemed intent on presenting a welcoming image. He was sweating a lot, and I was a little worried about his health at first. But he smiled and served the wine, and we started to relax… until the turbot came out.

It turned out the turbot, like the other fish on the menu, wasn’t parceled out into small portions. I had ordered a whole fish, and it was enough for two people! I was shocked as the manager cut the fish, wondering if the other portion was for someone else. No… it was all for me, and Bill had his own dinner! Thank God we didn’t order starters! It came with spinach and basmati rice.

Naturally, we didn’t have room for dessert, so we decided to have after dinner Irish Coffees. That too, was a bit bumbling. The bartender brought out the drinks with the cream on the side. The manager saw that, and apparently, that wouldn’t do. He swiped the drinks and had the kitchen put cream on them. The drinks were good, and by the end of dinner, I was really glad to have them.

The bar at Hotel Fontenay isn’t exactly hopping, or at least it wasn’t when we were there, so we decided to go to bed after we ate. My gums were hurting after the dental visit anyway. Before we left the dining room, the waiter, who seemed kind of nervous about us, told us that when we arrived for breakfast, we should sit at the same table in the corner. I’m not sure why some hotels do the assigned seating thing, but I find it kind of annoying. I’m sure there’s a good reason for it, though.

I took a shower and a couple of Advil PMs. Soon, I was fast asleep.