Mother /Adult Son Trip England, Croatia and France

My Son and I have been traveling to Europe for the past few summers.
Here is a summary of our latest adventure.
Booked flight to London with a "Codeshare" between American Airlines and British Airways.
Mistake. I had faith in this itinerary but have since discovered each airline has it's own rules and fees, and they do not match up. I know this info has been discussed but I fell into the midst of it, and will not do this again. I booked a
"MAIN CABIN " Category seat on American, which allows seat selection, and found out I needed to pay for seat selection with The British Airways company for the long flights where seat selection actually matter, unless you wait until 24 hours ahead when you chekc-in to choose. The food on British Airways was really bad, and I usually don't have any complaints about airline food in general. The middle seat row on our plane had no air vent at all, and it was incredibly hot.
ANYWAY, for the first 8 days we stayed in the London area and our first lodging with the Linton Hotel ( B and B) in Victoria in a shared bath room, up four flights of stairs. It is a great location, and less than 100 pound/night-cash. NO air con which can be challenging but there is a cool courtyard you can sit in and excellent full English breakfasts to order. Fun brothers who own it. We also went to "Wicked" our fist night there got great seats just walking up to the theater box office about 2 hours before the show.
The third day we took the National express to Winchester, for 2 nights. Went on the local city walking tour which again was excellent, booked at the Tourist office. We stayed at an air B n B, which was just so- so. Not a huge selection of lodging in Winchester, but it is am amazing city to visit. Our second day we took a local bus to Chawton, one of Jane Austen's homes and that was really worthwhile, especially if you are a fan of her work. The small village was a treat in itself.
The cathedral in Winchester is really an amazing site as well.
We came back to London after Winchester, ( via train, bus tickets sold out for the week-end, book early, much cheaper) this time stayed in the Premiere Inn St. Pancras, which I honestly think is a great deal. Air conditioning and very close to so many options for transportation.
We were able to get tickets for the Harry Potter play, a whole day affair, and the other highlight was the "London Walks" Cambridge tour-outstanding !!! Also went to the Churcill War rooms-excellent. Was a line to get in.
After the UK we took at Ryanair flight from Stanstead to Zadar, Croatia-and stayed in a studio near the bus station and the host ( did this through booking. com) picked us up at the airport. VERY HOT.
Next day took the bus up to Plitvice National Park, and stayed one night at the Bellevue Hotel in the Park. Please note that busses in Croatia charge for each piece of luggage you stow-approx. 7-8 Kuna each, cash. Did not know this. Also the Bellevue hotel at entrance 2, DOES have a luggage storage. available. There is not any other place at entrance 2 for travelers without lodging for luggage storage that I could observe. The hotel was very nice except for no air-con. The cafeteria serves local dishes, and the park hiking was one of our highlights of the whole trip. Stunning, and so well maintained.
From Plitvice we took a bus into Split, and stayed at the Base Rooms ( one of rick's) which is really a find.

From Split went on a 7 day traditional Dalmation cruise tour for 7 nights through the Katalina line. Amazing ports but very small cabins, and no con. it was a challenge. at the end went o a day tour to Mostar in Bosnia. The border crossings on the tour are very time consuming.
From the cruise to Dubrovnik, stayed another Air Bn B which was excellent, in the old city walls. Walked the walls, took the cable car, swam.
The grocery stores in Croatia are really limited I think for picnicking sadly, but we made do.
Part 2 next topic.