Sunday in Paris

Just when Ruth had arrived our cabins were also ready.  So while she got acclimated to her new surroundings I unpacked.  One at a time was almost mandatory.  The rooms are very tiny down here on the bottom deck.  But the ship is very quiet and from here we do not have far to go when it is our turn to row!

The Captain was at the door greeting everyone but we did not realize that was who he was.  Very young looking and in his beautiful, crisp navy uniform with sharp white collar and red Viking tie.  Tossed casually around his neck was a navy wool scarf.  So suave.  Sailing our ship is Captain Fantzy.

After a delicious lunch of salad, fruit, soup and small sandwiches which we enjoyed in the lounge, Ruth and I walk up the cobbled street to have a good look at the tower and just stretch our legs after the long flight.  We got back to the boat in time to join the Orientation Walking Tour.  Our guide led about 20 of us through the modern neighborhood which was built by Pompidou in his day.  The few blocks stretching along Left bank just south of the city center seem oddly out of place when classic French apartments are just across the water.  This shopping district is not popular with the locals although I am sure many like the views from the glass high rise apartment buildings and offices.

Back on board there was an indoor Safety Drill where we each tried out our life jackets but mostly we chatted, in our group, with Brian from Glascow – the Hotel Manager.  This was followed shortly by the orientation talk where we met officers and also had explained to us how the daily programs would work.  Mostly we will have breakfast between 7:00 and 8:30 and set out for an included excursion by 9:00.  We will be back on board by 12:30 for lunch and ‘rest.’  The afternoon excursions, some included and others optional, will begin at 2:00, return by 6:00 in time for dinner at 7:00!  Restful river cruising!!??

Today, it was time to change for dinner which was delicious with a nice menu of choices.  Three choices of appetizers, three of main course and four or five of dessert.  I had broiled salmon that was beautifully cooked and excellently seasoned.  For desert there was maple ice cream.  Everyone eats at the same time – from seven until nine.  Not during seven to nine but completely from seven until nine.

After dinner there was music in the lounge but we were just too tired!  A wonderfully strange day welcomed us to our April in Paris Adventure.

Highlights or notes I forgot to mention:
The young man seated next to me on the plane was looking around with surprise when we were boarding.  He was quietly excited and I asked if it was the first time he had flown.  He said, ‘Yes.  It is the first time I have flown (slight pause) in economy!”  Turns out that because his Dad is a pilot he has always gone First Class and had and does so every summer to visit his Grandparents in Germany!

Arrive' de Paris

Je suis a'qui!  I am here.  The sky is grey and deeply overcast but it can not dull my enthusiasm for Gay Paree'.  The non stop flight from Atlanta was uneventful. (Here I was going to begin with a photo of the gate sign saying we were departing on time.  Oops, now I remember why I was packing the external card reader!  Ah well, when I unpack i will find all the appropriate conning cords, I hope!)

Weird, but the 3:44 p.m. flight seemed short and we even arrived twenty minutes early.  The food wasn't too bad and the service seemed quick since they began as soon as we reached cruising altitude.  Complimentary drinks were quickly followed by complimentary wine with my dinner of decent chicken teriyaki four hours later they began the breakfast service.  That was not good food at all but I ate part of my eggs on a muffin sandwich but was much  more interested in two cups of very hot and very strong black tea.  And we landed at DeGaulle outside of Paris, France!

I had my usual window seat, this time row 48, on the right side of the plane.  It was good I chosen it because that way no one could bump my sore arm which I rested on a pillow and I could relax.  I said relax, not sleep.  I just don't sleep on planes. This was a Boeing 777!  I would fly it again in a heartbeat!  Several inches between my knees and the seat in front.  A very tall man I later met, said he was also very comfortable.  Love planes with private viewing screens that work.  I watched The Imitation Game!  Very interesting movie.  Not sure how they figured out what they figured out but thought that since the key was a comment by a friend it gave it an interesting concept.  The best thing and the first time I experienced it was the seat!  When you reclined the seat the back only moved a couple inches.  But, and here is the terrific  innovation.  The seat slid forward!  Not far but a comfortable recline was achieved!  Wow!  Wish I had had that on the 16 hour flights to and from Africa last year!  I hope we have a 777 on the long flight to Honolulu.  Wow!

Seated next to me, in the middle, was a very nice, affable young man from Forsyth who was on a school Spring Break trip with four classmates and two teachers.  So polite and will to chat a little and never for a minute played a video game.  He was watching TED Talks and any we talked about he immediately checked out on his IPad where he had downloaded a hundred articles and maps for his one week trip.  The app was called Minipedia.   I will have to see if there is a version for Android.

Although our flight arrived early, De Gaulle is a huge airport.  First we walked, not too far, and boarded a speedy train and at the second stop was baggage claim.  After a not too long walk we took an escalator down one flight, then walked, then down another flight, then walk, then down, then walk then down maybe six or seven times!  I stopped at the ladies room.  took advantage of the Mother and Baby room so that I would have plenty of space.  I laid down my carry on and opened it to put my travel pillow in and take my  makeup and passport case out in order to get my ship tags and my sticker so Viking would recognize me. When I finished brushing my hair and my teeth I rejoined the rest of the passengers, most of whom had already finished Passport control.  I only had one person ahead of me and then continued on to the baggage claim.

It was nearly an hour from the early landing until my bright purple bag was spit out onto the conveyor belt for a short ride to be reunited with me.  I made my was to the Sortie and exited to find the Viking kiosk and a very nice girl waiting to check me off her list. Jean Baptiste then took my bags and led me and two couples to a very comfortable, limo type, van to whisk us to the ship.  I say 'whisk' but we were driving 7 to 10 minutes when we saw the sign that we were exiting the airport!  It is HUGE!

We then took about a 20 minute ride into the city itself.  You think you are in Paris but it begins at the at Boulevard Napoleon.  Our driver said welcome to Paris.  Now you are here.  Since my seat was facing forward I could see and easily recognize L'Arc d'Triomph.  It was still early Sunday morning and he circled it slowly so we had a fantastic, up close view of the massive size of it and of the depth of the carvings.  The Eternal Flame of the Tomb of the Unknown blazed brightly through the misty morning light.

And circling back to be opposite the Boulevard we were then on Le Champs Elysee'.  Wow!.  If you have a few hundred thousand dollars and want to spend it in one day here is the place to be!  Cartier, Bulgari, Rolex, Luis Vuitton flagship stores glittered with invitation, beautiful to see but I would not even know how to behave in them!

We passed the scale  model of the Statue of Liberty and crossed the Seine to board our boat, the Viking Pride at the foot of  La Tour Eiffel!  Unbelievable.  I LOVE river cruising!

We never touched our bags as Clara, our Program Director, greeted us and introduced us to the Hotel Manager who led us to the dining room for breakfast.  I was not expecting anything until lunchtime or I would not have touched the nasty muffiny sandwichy thing on the plane.  We could choose from the daily breakfast menu but I opted, as did my new friends, for the buffet filled with fresh fruit.  I did have a couple of rummaki made of bacon wrapped plums1  A little different.

And about my new friends.  Karen and Larry and Kathy and Jerry!  Larry and Jerry, older than me, have been friend since high school.  Kathy and Jerry were married this past October although Larry was quick to point out that she was his second wife.  I murmured something about being sorry for his loss and then brightly added, but I bet Kathy is as wonderful or even better.  He replied, "Way better!"  True love on the downward slope of life!

Ruth should be arriving soon so I while I wait for her and for our cabin to be ready I am going to step outside and look around, help myself to hot chocolate with a shot of caramel and see what they are planning for lunch.  I noticed that as clean plates came from the kitchen in the dining room that they were carried to the lounge for the light lunch that is offered to arriving passengers.

The Calendar of Expectations

Whenever I am taking a 'big trip' I create a calendar to keep in view on the hotel or cabin desktop so I know what I am doing it each day.  I know that the powers that be in charge of everything will tell me the night before but so often we have so many privately made plans that I prefer to have it all in my own language.  This helps me know what to put in my day pack, how much cash to carry, whether to bring a snack, and who to meet where when!

For a river cruise it isn't that important and especially this time as we have no pre - paid tours that we do not want to miss out on.  I always give a copy to my family.  In my head they check it out every day to see where I am and what I am doing.  Then they do a little googleing to see what I will be seeing.  But that is in my head.  Maybe when the grand kids were little they might have talked about it or shown the kids on a map, but I am pretty sure that now before the end of the trip, this calendar is covered with school lunch menus and permission slips!  But, after all, life is all about perception, so if in my head they are traveling vicariously with me - then, they are!

So enjoy your vicarious journey with great anticipation!

Pardonnez-moi

Parlez-vous Francais?  Well, me neither.  Although I do have some high school French stored away in the deep recesses of my brain topped off by a couple of years of studying it in college.  I have the important phrases near the tip of my tongue: Ou est la bain?  Quelle heure est-il? Quelle est La direction pour Cimetière du Père-Lachaise?  So I can get directions to the nearest bathroom and ask what time it is.  Then, if I have time, I can find out the best way to get to the most famous cemetery where notables such as Sarah Bernhardt, Jim Morrison, and what's left of Maria Callas are buried.  Oh, and lots of famous Frenchmen as well.

My friend, Ruth Hunter, and I will rendez-vous at Charles De Gaulle airport early, very early, Sunday morning, March 29, after flying out on Saturday evening.  Me, non-stop, from Atlanta and she from Dulles in D.C. by way of Minneapolis!  Gotta love the air carrier hub system!  Our Viking Cruise Line representative will shepherd us through the city to the Viking Pride docked in the famous Seine within sight of La Tour Eiffel!  We will begin a back - to - back journey along the rivers of France.  On Easter Sunday we will travel by luxurious motor coach (read bus) stopping for lunch in Dijon and joining the Viking Hermod in Chalon-sur-Saône in the famed region of Burgundy.  I think you can guess how we will be spending much of our second week!

This trip will be a first for Ruth who, although an avid cruiser, has not yet experienced river cruising.  I love it!  I find it less stressful than all the planning involved for ocean cruising.  We will just go where they take us to the wonderful sites and famous locations of northern France, like the Beaches of Normandy and the Palace of Versailles in the mornings.  In the afternoons we will wander the small villages and towns seeking a fragrant boulangerie to enjoy a fine baguette avec jambon et fromage and watch the world go by.  But what a world it will be!

We will greet April in Paris and then seek out the grape vines of Southern France which will just be beginning their season of growth.  I know it will be a challenge to sample all the fruits of the last harvest but Ruth and I will do our best!  We will visit several classic wineries and of course some Abbeys and schools and villages and Cathedrals.  And, yes, as lovely as Atlanta and Maryland are in April, we will be reluctant to leave the elegant, pampered lifestyle that we will quickly become accustomed to!

Join us here for our travels.  I will do my best to keep you updated but do not promise to add all the right accents to the French until I figure out the keyboard a little better.  But you will know what I mean and I would love you to become a follower and post comments or questions!

AuRevoir!

France's Finest!