March 30
Departed Minneapolis at 500PM
for Paris via non-stop flight.
March 31
We arrived in Paris, went
through customs, found our hotel shuttle and arrived at our airport hotel.
It took 3 hours to accomplish
all of this. We just relaxed, read and had
an early dinner and went to bed.
We are trying to get on Paris
time schedule.
Steps: 3,756 steps or 1.69
miles
April 1
We woke up at our leisure and
planned to head to downtown Paris and to the Eiffel Tower. The hotel had a problem with hot water, so we
had to forego the shower. It was a
pat-down shower instead. We taxied in
and had to wait in line for an hour (not too bad) to get our tickets to go up
the Eiffel Tower. Once we arrived on the
2nd floor, we were able to get beautiful views (pictures). It was quite cool though, so we were glad to
get down.
We wandered over to a place
where they had a bunch of white tents.
In these tents, there were little shops and food vendors. We stopped and had a hamburger and french
fries as our first food of the day. It
tasted awesome! We also bought lavender
and soaps and roasted nuts at this location.
Next, we took a bicycle taxi
from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre.
Well, it was a great ride, but I thought the pricing was for both of us,
but it was per person. Ouch! More than we really wanted to pay – oh well.
We bummed around the Louvre
and walked around Paris until it was time to head back to the hotel.
We took time to relax, shower and get ready
for tomorrow and meeting our cruise director, spending another day in Paris and
then a transfer to our ship for dinner.
Steps: 5,460 steps or 2.46
miles
April 2
We left the Marriott Paris
Airport Hotel and headed back to the airport (800AM) to meet up with our Avalon
Cruise. We got to the airport and it was
easy to find our way to the designated location. There was a bag problem, so it slightly
delayed our departure from the airport, but soon we were on our way to meet our
Avalon representative at the Pullman Hotel
At The Pullman, we were able
to get something to drink and our Avalon representative gave us some options
for the day. We chose to go to a tall
building (like the IDS) to get a 365 degree panoramic view of the city of
Paris. It was located about 4 blocks
away from our hotel. The office building
had 56 stories and did have a wonderful view of the city. I would have loved to have seen it at night. We could see a long way in all directions;
however, it was an overcast day so I could not get the clearest picture. We took our time enjoying the view, but then
it was finally time to grab some lunch and head back to the hotel.
We found a great pizzeria on
the way back and enjoyed sharing a Margherita pizza. The place was quite busy, so I assume it must
have been a great local hang out for the people of Paris. Just outside the pizzeria we spotted a
farmers market. We wandered about 3
blocks through the market displaying their fruits and vegetables (white
asparagus) and meat/fish markets too.
At 430PM we headed to our
ship – The Tapestry II. It was only a 15
minute transfer and we were quickly onboard and settling into our cabin #203. That
evening we enjoyed a great dinner.
Met: Jim & Sandy from Colorado at the airport / Dianna
& Ali from California / Diane from Albany & Bonnie from Ft. Worth
Steps: 10,093 or 4.54 miles
We learned: Ami – means “friend”
April 3
Today was a morning trip to Giverny to see Monet’s
garden and the “Water Lily Pond”. The
gardens were absolutely beautiful.
There were flowers everywhere we turned. We were also able to see Claude Monet’s home.
We headed back to the ship for lunch and then we
cruised down the river to the town of Les Andelys.
In this town, we took a walking tour up the hillside
along the banks of the river to see the Chateau Gaillard.
This Chateau was built as a fortress by Richard the
Lionheart back in 1196.
In the afternoon on board our vessel, we had a cooking
demonstration done by a pastry chef.
They asked for volunteers
and I pointed out Pat as an excellent choice
for a volunteer. Pat was able to don a
cooking hat along with 2 other cruise
members and assist the chef. They had to cut paux choi in half and then
pipe carmel whip cream inside to complete the
sandwich.
We had dinner tonight with our friends from California
(Diana & Ali). We shared many
stories and laughs this evening.
Met: Tom from Colorado
/ Joe & Mary from the Viking Ship
Steps: 12,479 or 5.62 miles
We learned: Claude Monet’s real name was Oscar. Monet never used the color black in his
paintings.
April 4
We were docked in Caudebec for the day.
We took the Thatched Roof Cottage Road Tour with stops
in Vieux Port, where we were able to see the homes with
thatched roofs. A thatched roof is less expensive than a
standard roof ($20,000 euro versus $30,000 euro; however,
there is more
maintenance. It will last 40 years, but
every 10 years it needs to be sprayed and combed (remove the
moss). If the moss remains, the roof will double in
weight and the cottage could possibly collapse from the weight of
the roof. We also stopped in Pont Audemer (town of
8,000) and had the chance to walk their market (clothes, fruits,
vegetables,
etc) down their Main Street.
In the afternoon we visited the town of Honfleur.
It is a fishing town (8,000 residents) located
near Paris and during the
summer months they can have up to 80,000 people in
town. It has the nearest beach to Paris. Sure sounds like
Minnesota with our escape to
our cabins up north!
St. Catherine’s Catholic Church was built in the 15th
century by ship carpenters. The ceiling looks like a upside down
boat and the
church has 2 sanctuaries and a large pipe organ. The pews are made so the back can be switched
if you
are there for church service or reverse to face the organ (back of
church) for concerts. The salt factories
are located
here and the salt from the area is used in their famous salted
butter caramels.
.
Met: Jean Loup (our cruise director) / Jay & Carol
from California
Steps: 10,216 or 4.6 miles
We learned: We
viewed the English Channel (in Paris they call it “La Manche or the Sleeve”). The Seine River is 483 miles long and is the
2nd longest river in France.
April 5
Today we were taking a tour of Normandy (the American
Landing Beaches – Gold – Omaha). It was
2.5 hour drive to
the beaches. The Omaha
beach is approximately 4 miles long with white cliffs on both sides of the
beaches. Our tour
guides provided us
with a good history lesson on the war and just how it all unraveled.
We also went to the US Cemetery where there are just
under 10,000 soldiers buried. They had
combined and moved the
graves to this 1 location and at that time families were
asked if they wanted the remains sent home or buried in
Normandy. There were 14,000 more soldiers that their
remains were sent home. The cemetery
land is provided by
France; however, the memorial is built and maintained by
the US. When we have government budget
cuts it can also
affect the maintenance of the cemetery. It is a beautiful memorial to the soldiers
that fought for all of us.
It was an emotional tour that reminded us of all the
young soldiers that gave their life (and continue to do so) so that we
can have
freedom.
Met: Fran from British Columbia / Elaine from
Saskatoon
Steps: 10,466 steps / 4.71 miles
We learned: “ Real Heroes Never Stop”
April 6
We visited the town of Rouen today and on our walking
tour we stopped at the Cathedral of Our Lady.
This church was
very ornate and quite large. It was hard to capture 1 good picture.
We also stopped at the site where Joan of Arc was
burned at the stake. This was located
across the street from the
restaurant that Julia Child ate at and inspired her
to cook.
This was a quieter day and we did not have an
afternoon tour off of the ship. We did
have a Normandy Cheese Tasting
and were able to tour the Galley with the
Executive Chef.
Met:
Steps: 7,688 steps / 3.48 miles
We learned: 500 million Camembert De Normandie cheese are produced each year, 2 billion
baguettes bought per year
April 7
Today our morning tour was of “La Malmaison” – Josephine’s
17th century chateau. This is
the chateau where
Napoleon governed France.
We were able to tour the chateau and learn about Napoleon and Josephine.
In the afternoon we took motorcoach (45 minutes) to
see the Palace of Versailles where King Louis the 14th/15th/16th
ruled from. The Palace of Versailles is
located on 2,000 acres (back in its day it was more like 20,000 acres. The
Palace is beautiful, but it is so over
the top in its expense. Gold, numerous
statues, immense gardens, marble,etc.
The
Palace of Versailles took 50 years to build and 36,000 workers.
Met: Roger from Brisbane, Eric from California (17 –
youngest on ship)
Steps: 7,652 steps / 3.44 miles
We learned:
Josephine bought/had made 150 dresses per year (1 every 3 days), owned
700 pair of gloves and 500 pair of shoes
April 8
In the morning I took a tour of Notre Dame Cathedral,
located in the islands at the center of Paris.
Notre Dame is beautiful with its numerous statues and
stained glass windows (including the Rose window).
In the afternoon we took a train ride up to
Montmartre, to overlook the city of Paris.
It is quite a view!
We were also able to take time to shop and view
painters selling their beautiful pictures.
Met:Meredith from Vancouver
Steps: 10,259 steps or 4.62 miles
We learned: Paris has 2 million residents
April 9
Departure day!
We are heading for home with a departure from our ship at 600AM.
