Avalon’s Grand France- 30th June to 15th July 2014

We returned last week from a fantastic trip to France, plus a week in London.

We flew to Nice 8 days prior to our Avalon Grand France cruise, we had a night in Nice and a week further along the French Riviera close to Italy at Menton, absolutely beautiful, we’d go back there in a heart beat.

Our Avalon cruise started with a night in Monte Carlo at the Fairmont, a large hotel right beside the Monte Carlo Casino, while the hotel is nice I thought it was very impersonal, we were only there overnight and then breakfast as we went on the optional evening tour which included a sightseeing tour by coach of Monaco, a walk around the area of the Prince’s Palace, into St Nicholas Cathedral, the resting place of Princess Grace and Prince Ranier, then dinner at Vista Palace Hotel, perched on a hill high over Monaco, dinner was nice, 3 course with wines, but the views were sensational, ladies you need to check out the view from the toilets as well! The tour was around 100 euros each, but we hadn’t planned on doing anything else that night and eating out in Monaco is very expensive anyway, so we thought it was a nice way to start our Avalon experience. (We had already been to Monaco for a day during the previous week, so we’d seen many of the attractions, but it was nice seeing the Palace area of a night when its so much quieter than of a day)

The Grand France cruise is actually made up of 2 separate cruises, therefore 2 ships, 2 crews , just 25 of us did the whole cruise so we had almost a whole new ship of passengers , so you get to meet a lot of people on this cruise, but only the 1 CD which is great, our CD was Jerome he was with us the whole time, he did a great job and we were very happy with him, he was approachable and very well organized. Avalon crew were all fantastic, we found the food and wines very good, the onboard demonstrations were very good too, we had cheese, local foods and wine tastings, a pastry demonstration with tastings, this was a Jazz cruise on the southern part and we had some very good entertainers come on board.

We were on the Scenery from Cote D’Azur to Paris, then the Creativity from Paris to Rouen then back to Paris, These are the 2 oldest ships in Avalon’s fleet, being built in 2008 and 2009, but both ships are very well maintained, layout is very functional and the crew both fantastic. In 2015 there will be 2 new ships on the French rivers, I believe they are on the Rhine this season in preparation.

There were quite a few optional tours available on the 1st cruise, but the only ones we took apart from the evening one in Monaco, was the trip to Pont Du Gard and Uzes, Pont du Gard was on my bucket list so this was one tour that we were definitely doing, it was absolutely breathtaking, its just amazing to think it was built over 2000 years ago and its still in such remarkable condition. We were there early so there weren’t a lot of tourists around at all, we stopped at Uzes on the way back, a charming city, after a short city walk we had plenty of free time to look around the many shops or have a coffee, the inside of the food shops around the fountain are well worth a look, I took loads of photos inside them, staff were great, we were given samples to try as well.

On the 2nd cruise we took the Lights of Paris tour and then the next night the one to the Moulin Rouge , although it get so crowded in the theatre, its amazing how many people the squeeze in there, it was still a very entertaining and fun night, the meal was set (with an optional for the main course if I remember correctly) although we didn’t think it was up to the quality we had been experiencing with Avalon on the ship, it was still quite good and we had about 4 bottles of wine included for 6 of us at our table, but we were mainly there for the show which was fantastic, it didn’t disappoint at all.

We didn’t do the included Normandy Beaches excursion, but opted for the Taste of Normandy option, we visited the magnificent Bayeux Tapestry, had a 4 course local meal with cider in a lovely little town, went to a Calvados tasting which included a slice each of the best apple pie I’d ever tasted and we travelled through some beautiful countryside as well, a very relaxing day.

We were onboard for both Canada Day and American Independence Day, we thought it was a great touch to have the dining room decorated of an evening honoring both these countries with celebrations including anthems and birthday cake. I know the passengers from both of these countries appreciated it too.

We actually got to celebrate another national day , as we arrived in back in Paris on the ship for Bastille Day, so got to see the flyovers during the day, plus the fireworks on the Eiffel Tower from the ship, we went to Moulin Rouge that night but were back in time for the last 15 minutes of the display, a lovely end to a lovely night and a lovely cruise as this was our last night onboard.

Overall we saw some amazing things, visited beautiful towns, saw some magnificent scenery, met some fantastic people, had wonderful food and wines and treated so well by a great crew and CD, it was a very memorable experience and we thank Avalon for their professionalism.

We had cruised with Avalon previously, from Budapest to Amsterdam in 2012, and they didn’t disappoint again, their attention to detail and service is fantastic , they have a very good product! We will definitely be back….I only wish they did cruises in Russia. There was one thing that we hadn’t encountered before on their ships, but on the Creativity, the Captain and 2nd Captain were on either end of the gangway when we left the ship on excursions and again to welcome us back, I thought this was a lovely touch.

We had 2 extra nights in Paris on our own before catching the Eurostar to London for 8 nights, were away from home for 5 weeks, we had a fantastic holiday.

Just a warning, I would never book a cruise starting on the day I arrived in the country, we missed our first night in Nice, we were put up at a hotel in Melbourne because of a flight cancellation, arrived 24hrs later, then on the way home we were put up at a hotel at Heathrow airport and again in Dubai , both because of a cancelled flight from London to Dubai., so what should have been around 28hr trip home for us, ended up as 60.5hrs…a very long time, but we were well looked after and this just added to our experience rather than spoiling it.



I gained so much information from CC prior to our cruises and hope I can help someone too , please feel free to ask any questions. It was nice to catch up with Fran, Rachel, and Heather plus their partners that I’d met here through CC.

Happy cruising, Deb

Glad you had a great trip, and the right attitude to roll with the punches! [Of course, being put up in hotels was a whole lot better than sleeping on airport benches...]

Glad you had a great trip, and the right attitude to roll with the punches! [Of course, being put up in hotels was a whole lot better than sleeping on airport benches...]

lol exactly..the flight from Heathrow to Dubai was cancelled due to technical issue.....Would rather the inconvenience of a delayed flight and a plane thats technically ok, rather than the alternative!! :-)

Deb, thanks for the report. So glad everything worked out as you planned.

Hi Deb, glad you enjoyed ur trip even with the long delays.Only 415 days till our Grand France trip! Can you tell me if they offered an optional trip to Honfleurs from Caudebec & if they did any feedback from other passengers? Did you do the tour to Giverny and Monets garden? Our trip is the reverse of your trip, so we are looking at staying a few days in Nice after the cruise have also been looking at Menton as an alternative, were you happy with the hotel you stayed in there and was it easy to get around without a car? Did you go to the markets over the border in Italy? Sorry for all the questions.

Hi Deb, glad you enjoyed ur trip even with the long delays.Only 415 days till our Grand France trip! Can you tell me if they offered an optional trip to Honfleurs from Caudebec & if they did any feedback from other passengers? Did you do the tour to Giverny and Monets garden? Our trip is the reverse of your trip, so we are looking at staying a few days in Nice after the cruise have also been looking at Menton as an alternative, were you happy with the hotel you stayed in there and was it easy to get around without a car? Did you go to the markets over the border in Italy? Sorry for all the questions.

Hi, yes they did offer the the tour to Honfleurs, we didnt take it as the weather wasnt too good, but a few people I spoke to enjoyed their day despite the weather. In the north of France we had some days that wer drizzly, beautiful weather everwhere else.

We did go to Monets Gardens, they are beautiful and it was a nice tour with plenty of time to look around as well, we had a coffee in Restaurant Baudy a lovely place on the main street (rue Claude Monet), when we were there there were artists working in the lovely gardens behind this restaurant, you are able to walk the gardens.

We loved Menton, we stayed at the Quality Hotel Mediterranee, found it on trip advisor, we were very happy with that, very central, buffett continental breakfast was included. We had the week there and didnt miss a car at all, Menton easy to walk around, anywhere along the Riviera was only a 1.50 euro bus ride away, we bought a day train ticket once and went to Cannes, then stopped at a couple of towns on the way back, I think that might have been about 12 euros, cant actually remember if that was each or both of us, either way it wasnt expensive. We didnt go over the border to the markets, we had planned on it, but it was quite warm when we were there and decided we wouldnt be bothered because we'd heard how crowded they are, plus how crowded the trains are getting there on a friday. It was great having a few days where we just wandered around Menton, or had a couple of hours on the beach swimming in the Med Sea, we bought foods one day and had a picnic too. We found everywhere along the Riviera very easy to get to by public transport, very safe, beautiful and with very nice people. Oh we did walk to Italy, well the border, its just 2kms from Menton, i we went of a night and it was just lovely seeing the lights of Menton on the way there and back. As I said ask as many questions as you like, or can email me, it's tas_debbie at hotmail. :)

Deb, thanks for the report. So glad everything worked out as you planned.

Thanks yeah it was great, cant think of anything I'd change :)

Great to read about yours too...so where are you off to next? :D

Thanks Deb for the update on your travels it sounds great. I definitely have to do some research for our travels next year. At the moment are getting ready for a trip to Hamilton island for a wedding early September then off to Vietnam/Cambodia and Mekong trip end of September/October, so I will send you an email when we return. See that you are also interested in a Mekong trip so hopefully will be able to provide you with some info on our trip on the heritage line RV Jahan. Thanks again.

Thanks yeah it was great, cant think of anything I'd change :)

 

Great to read about yours too...so where are you off to next? :D

Haven't booked yet but want to do Venice and Greek Islands next. It will have to be an ocean cruise though. Maybe throw Istanbul into the mix too. Then stay afterwards in Venice using Monograms which is part of Globus so we will get the discount. Have fun planning your next adventure.

If you have not booked your cruise yet....Windstar is a wonderful way to see the Greek Islands and Istanbul.

Thanks Deb for the update on your travels it sounds great. I definitely have to do some research for our travels next year. At the moment are getting ready for a trip to Hamilton island for a wedding early September then off to Vietnam/Cambodia and Mekong trip end of September/October, so I will send you an email when we return. See that you are also interested in a Mekong trip so hopefully will be able to provide you with some info on our trip on the heritage line RV Jahan. Thanks again.

Thanks Debbie, look forward to reading about your Mekong adventure, enjoy!

We are off to Melbourne for a wedding in January, then a week on a houseboat with a week in Adelaide in February, so not sure when we will be travelling again, I would like later next year, hubby reckons 2016 lol, I bet I win :)

Haven't booked yet but want to do Venice and Greek Islands next. It will have to be an ocean cruise though. Maybe throw Istanbul into the mix too. Then stay afterwards in Venice using Monograms which is part of Globus so we will get the discount. Have fun planning your next adventure.

All places I'd love to see too...we plan on using Globus or Avalon, or both for our next trips, we have been very happy with them :)

If you have not booked your cruise yet....Windstar is a wonderful way to see the Greek Islands and Istanbul.

Ohh I looked at this too...so nice, I want to go !!! :-)

Here is a link to my cruise review

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=260619

Deb :)

Tassietravellers:

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts and post a review!! We're grateful to you and look forward to cruising with you again. Until then, best wishes.