really enjoying the photos
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really enjoying the photos
Robin, loving your trip reports and all the fabulous photos! Glad the sun finally came out for you!
I've always wanted to do one of those Viking River Cruises. Maybe when you are home you could give us more details about the ship, room, etc. Would be really interested. Keep on enjoying!
Every port typically has at least one included tour and optional ones which are extra. When we did the Rhine River a few years ago, we did a few optional tours. Today's tour was the only optional tour we did this cruise. There were no included tours today as we started here on Saturday and Sunday. Also, Covid has canceled some optional and included tours.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrea J.
Pictures don't do it justice. So many of the buildings predate our country!Quote:
Originally Posted by cpjones
Today we had the morning free here in Bordeaux. We walked around and tried to do some shopping, but something really bothered my eyes so badly that my contacts got cloudy and seeing was difficult, so we headed back to the ship before lunch. I really regret not purchasing the two items I really liked when I first saw them-a nice tote bag and a shawl. I guess it wasn't meant to be.
After lunch, we packed as much as we can as we get off the ship tomorrow morning and head for Paris. At 230 we went for Master Wine class aka more wine tasting. It is truly amazing how expensive some wines can be. We walked back to the ship and Stu headed out to meet our friend for another round of non wine tasting. Since we both have the drink package, they decided one day to taste test all the whiskeys or bourbons, then cognac and today they got through 5 of 10 types of scotch. After a farewell toast, we went to dinner hung out until the lights came back up(a clue it was time to leave). Tomorrow, we will be up at 6:00 for breakfast at 7:00 and off the ship by 8:00 to go to the train to take us to Paris.
We had a great time and meet a lot of nice people from all over the US and the UK. There were only 98 or 99 people on board and we probably got to talk to most of them. Everywhere we went, people we so grateful we were there. Many places thanked us for coming.
BTW, it was announce this week that for the first time Viking was voted the BEST in Both the Ocean Cruises and River Cruises by Conde nast Traveler in the 2021 Readers' Choice Awards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LisaGrn
Sure. Just let me know what you want to know.
Enjoy the rest of your trip and I'll send you a PM when you are home and recuperated from all that walking and wine tasting (very jealous!). I've got my eye on their Douro/Portugal cruise in 2023 (since Aruba 2022 is already booked).
Quote:
Originally Posted by robin
We were up early today as we were being picked up at 830 for transfer to the train station. We boarded the fast train to Paris. What craziness. The 12 of us were in first class and had to go upstairs on the train=with our luggage=up narrow, steep stairs and we ended up in the wrong car because that was where we were instructed to go. There was very little room for luggage, so they ended up in two different cars. The ride was great. Getting off the train, we formed a "luggage brigade" and it worked. We made our way to our bus to the hotel. It is really charming! I was so surprised to find roses in the room from Hubby and champagne and chocolates from the kids.
We had tickets for the Eiffel Tower at 3:15, so Stu and I made our way toward the tower, stopping in a cafe for lunch. It is was a beautiful early fall day and the city was very crowded. We discovered that there is a 20 km marathon in Paris tomorrow morning-31,000 runners. Next weekend they have a full marathon of 57,000 runners.
The Eiffel Tower was amazing! The views on this beautiful day were stunning! It was cool and windy at the top, but so worth it. The tower is under major restoration work. They are removing up to 19 layers of paint and repairing and repainting it for the 2024 Olympics. I learned a lot about it, like it was supposed to be temporary structure for the 1889 World's Fair. After we left, we walked down the Seine and stopped for an early dinner at a cafe. We were both just too tired to change and go out to a nice place for dinner.
I'll upload new pictures once I edit them this week. We need to be up early for a Gourmet food tour and getting there with road closures could be challenging.
Paris is great. I have been a few times and I need to return. So many museums so much wine such delightful food....ENJOY!
I don't know when I will get caught up with the pictures.
Today we took an Uber to Montemarte for gourmet food tour. It ended up being just us with the guide and it was awesome. After the tour we wandering to Le Marais area. The streets were so busy-people out shopping, walking, biking, enjoying the day, sitting in cafes and another protest with lots of police in riot gear. We ended up at the holocaust memorial. It was nice because it also honored those who helped the Jews. Most of the info was in French so we just walked around and headed into the Jewish Quarter where we had lunch. This area has kosher restaurants and the area was very busy-lines out of every restaurant. After lunch, I wandered into one of the kosher bakeries and found a treat from my childhood. Oh, so good! We decided we try to walk back to the hotel, but detored to Notre Dame. By the time we left that area, we were tired and decided to take an Uber back to the hotel. What a mistake. The traffic was awful and instead of a an 11 minute wait, it was over 30 minutes. The driver was awful. He was not originally from France and for almost 30 minute(traffic was horrible) heard that vaccines were no good, Americans, especially the presidents just kill people for money, gold and oil and how the cowboys did the same thing. Americans don't want peace. People are bad and that is why the world is bad. Also they created the virus in a lab to kill people and get rich. I so wanted to get out the cab, but my feet hurt. We came back and rested before heading to dinner. After dinner we walked closer to the Eiffel Tower to take nighttime pictures and video part of the hourly light show since we can see the top of it from our French Balcony.
Tomorrow is the Lourve. Most of our friends go home tomorrow.