Bit of a Blog - M/S Chardonnay - Cote d'Azur to Paris - August 1st 2013

Thanks for posting this thread about your trip. The photos are wonderful! We are considering this itinerary, just not sure which company to go with (Tauck, Vantage or AMA).

 

-Rose

I have not used them but my Travel Agent recommends Tauck Tours over and above most others. They think Tauck is excellent and have used them many many times with great success.

Enjoying reading your blog, which I just stumbled upon today. Hope your foot is better soon!

We arrived in Lyon around dinner time last night.

This morning we have a market visit and will be given .50 Euros to purchase some bread (not baguettes) for dinner tonight. 'Inner Circle' (at least 3 cruises on with GCT) passengers have an event to attend pre lunch. This afternoon we visit the Beaujolais region for a wine tasting. The boat will be moved from Lyon to Macon whilst we are there. Will cut down on our coach time.

I read on the thread about the lock incident that the AMA passengers will be offered 50% credit on a future cruise through 2016.

We had a walk in Lyon this morning. A bit drizzly. Completed the bread purchase task. All the other shops are shut until 10am and I am back on board before then!

It occurred to me that I have missed some pics from Sunday..... so here they are....

After the quarry visit we went to a perched village called Baux.

On the ride back Olivia and the driver determined to get us a field of sunflowers.... we had a bit of an adventure to reach the field.... leaping a ditch and scrambling up a bank.... but we made it!!

Leaving Avignon the view from a porthole :

The restaurant manager, Kristzan, always introduces meals with a clink of a glass and then a description of the menu to be served.

Escargots..... my favourite!

This was delicious!!

No chocolate mousse for me....

Dinner was followed by dancing with a musician in attendance

A print out of news from the US is available daily

Behind the bar....

There's always fruit to help yourself :

Wednesday lunch :

I can have this dessert!!

In the evening there is the Farewell dinner.... with the alternate Captain in attendance

Norbert and Alice get to sit with the Captain as returning cruisers.

Start on the outside and work your way in....

Really tender tenderloin

Introducing the Baked Alaska

Classical music evening with a professional pianist.

Thursday morning breakfast

Selection of teas

Our berth in Lyon... the day is overcast... a pleasant break from the heat

The bell tower commemorates a site where mothers would be able to abandon their babies they could no longer fend for.... they would pass them through a hatch and ring the bell for the nuns to come and take the infant.

Louis XIV

Just received notification that we are being offered $200pp as a good will gesture from GCT for the interruption to our sailing schedule. Valid for 2 years.

That's a nice offer ... if you'll use it. I've truly enjoyed following along with you on this trip.

Just received notification that we are being offered $200pp as a good will gesture from GCT for the interruption to our sailing schedule. Valid for 2 years.

Considering some of the other river cruising threads I have been reading, this sounds like a nice offer.

I have been following a thread labeled "Europe River Cruising worst ever company". What that poor couple from Australia went through sounded awful:eek:!

Long story short - They spent $16,000 on a 14 day cruise (only cruised 7) and they are being sent a check for $550. They haven't received the check yet since it went to the wrong address.

The best remark I have read regarding a river cruising company is "A true measure is not what happens when things go well, but when things go bad".

Thanks again for all the pictures and daily reports. It has been extremely helpful in deciding what we may be doing next spring.

-Rose

In my rush to post I should have made it clear that the $200pp is off a future cruise.

Back from the winery. Never been to a wine tasting before at a vineyard. 4 glasses later and I'm doing fine though I slept the whole journey back!

Beautiful scenery in the Beaujolais region. We also visited a village called Oigne (pronounced One.... with an emphasis on a W at the beginning of the word) made of gold stone it is now an artisan's village with various crafts on display and for sale.

The boat had moved to Trevoux, which is on the Saone, and we are now motoring towards Macon; there are the most spectacular houses on the river, people fishing, the sun is shining and 4 glasses of Beaujolais means I may have to prised off tomorrow with a crow bar!

We will have a full day tomorrow on a coach before reaching Paris.

Oooooh Olivia has just come on the tannoy inviting us all up for drinks..... I'll be back!!

Currently ensconced in a rather nice room in the Novotel Tour Eiffel. Very modern hotel and I must say the room is of a much better standard than the room I had in Nice. The drive here was long and a bit arduous..... I really hate sitting in a coach for hours on end.... We stopped en route at a lovely town called Beaune; Alice toured the Hotel Dieu, which was a hospital specifically built to nurse the poor, whilst Norbert and I had a coffee and a saunter around the town at our own leisurely pace.

We'd debarked around 8am and pulled in to the hotel around 530pm.... we had a reconnoitre of the area with Olivia, popped in to the huge supermarket, and were on our way to the lovely Brasserie Lipp on Boulevard St Germain by 720pm!

Alice and Norbert will take the included tour of Paris by coach in the morning. I am having some free time to shop or whatever and in the afternoon I am taking the optional extra tour to Versailles. Delighted that I can wear trainers again!

Have to say that they call the hotel Novotel Eiffel Tower because you can see it..... not because it is particularly near it.... it is walkable I suppose.... just not by me and mine!! We are right by the Statue of Liberty.

Free wifi in the room. Breakfast is the only meal included during this part of the holiday. Small bottle of Evian provided in the room fridge.

Am back from the excursion to Versailles. I did try to post from the bus on the way back but that post looks like it ended up in the ether somewhere.

16/17 of us made the trip. We had a timed entry to the Palace at 335pm and arrived in plenty of time to see the gardens which are magnificent. My overwhelming after effect of the trip was that of extreme disappointment however. The interiors are beautiful, please don't get me wrong; it's the crowds. We had an amazing guide, the best so far, and she did a brilliant job of describing the rooms to us but it was so difficult to really appreciate what she was saying as there were many many others doing the same thing. By the time we got to the Hall of Mirrors I was nearly in tears and more than ready to leave.... I had already left the group by then as the crush was overwhelming in some of the smaller rooms.

The queues outside for individuals to enter were extremely long around 2pm when we got there.... winding around the courtyard out front. I do recommend going with a group to get the timed entry.... however.... this is not for the faint hearted or for anyone mildly claustrophobic. I didn't get that sense of awe I was expecting as the noise of all the others and the pushing and shoving to get a view was just not something I am used to or can tolerate well. I got some people free shots of ceilings.....

I intend to post the rest of my pics when I get home on Monday. Will be much faster than using the system here.

Am praying Giverny tomorrow will not follow suit. I couldn't bear to be disappointed again.

I hope that you are the first bus to Giverny. Avalon got us there soon after it opened and we were thrilled. Very few others there and by the time we were through wandering and it was time to reboard there were masses of buses coming in. I actually have pictures of the bridge with no one on it!!!

I hope that you are the first bus to Giverny. Avalon got us there soon after it opened and we were thrilled. Very few others there and by the time we were through wandering and it was time to reboard there were masses of buses coming in. I actually have pictures of the bridge with no one on it!!!

Thanks :) We leave here at 730am so do hope to be first there.... so upset earlier I never got to tell you about the amazing meal we had last night at Brasserie Lipp..... and we had an equally amazing dinner tonight at a local restaurant (Champetre) recommended by the concierge. There are pics!!

So sorry to hear about the disappointing tour at Versailles. I am imagining that there was such a crush since it is summer? Anyone? I was able to see Versailles many moons ago, but missed out on the Louvre.

Just wanted to let you know that we booked a cruise similiar to your itinerary for May 2014 on one of the Vantage's ship - ms Discovery II. Someone here on this thread confirmed that Tauck is wonderful but it is a bit pricey. Kept going btx AMA & Vantage - Vantage finally won out with their "personal travel guide specially prepared for...." and their online videos. I'm sure AMA is wonderful from the great reviews they get here on Cruise Critic. Maybe someday we will find out personally ;).

Thanks for your help in making our decision. Enjoying your pictures and thanks also for selling my husband on the whole concept! Hope the next tour will be more pleasant.

Will also write down the names of the Paris restaurants you are visiting :)

-Rose

Hi,

I just wanted to thank you for your wonderful blog. I learned a lot, and I'm really looking forward to my upcoming river cruises--one on Viking and one with GCT. Reading your blog made me feel like I was there with you. Great job!

Judy

Had a fabulous morning in Giverny. We were the first through the door to Monet's house and gardens and headed straight to the water lily pond. Simply stunning. I could have spent all day just sitting there and absorbing the beauty of the environment. We weren't alone there for very long but were able to savour the moment.

The gardens are also simply stunning..... it's not so much the layout..... it's the chaos of colour and the overall setting that makes this so unique. In fact the whole of the village is just prettiness personified. We went in to the house..... it's just lovely..... the sense of the artist, Monet, pervades of course, an artist's home not just a show piece.

His workshop, where the water lily series of paintings were accomplished is now restored and is the gift shop. I bought a watch.... I wanted cushion covers but there were none....

We then went on to the Impressionist museum just down the road. Currently there is an homage to Monet's water lilies by Japanese artists. I'm not prone to sit and look at paintings but I did today. Large screens of impressions of an impressionist.... stunning.

There was also a self portrait of Monet there.... I got the sense that he was in a hurry when he painted it..... bold strokes around tired eyes. There was also a late water lily oil on canvas that was clearly lacking his earlier finesse but was a glory of colour and passion.

Definitely do this excursion if you can be assured of an early entry..... the disappointment of yesterday was offset by achieving something off my bucket list today in a very acceptable fashion. I may very well go back under my own steam and stay in a B&B there one day....

We had yet another fabulous meal in Paris this lunchtime. Laduree, which is on Champs Elysees. It's a world renowned tearoom and restaurant. You can have brunch or lunch, or dinner there. They also sell the most fabulous macaroons. Bookings recommended; we hadn't reserved and didn't have to wait long but the queues did become quite long, especially for just the macaroon purchase..... pics to follow!!

We meet up with a cousin from England who had the foresight to marry a Frenchman and lives in the capital. We now have a couple of hours to spare before dinner with the whole group! The diet starts tomorrow!

Laduree has little Kiosks at Air France terminal 2 if folks don't have the opportunity to get to the main shop there is still the opportunity to try them on the way home. Great blog. Thanks for sharing

NorbertsNiece: You visited Giverny exactly as we did. First arrival in the morning and everyone else in our group went to the house and we took off for the bridge. For about 3 minutes we were the only ones there! We took amazing pictures (well, we think they're amazing but then again it's hard to take a bad pix there) and as more people came in they must have liked our photo spot for as we turned around there was a line of about 6 people patiently waiting their turn!

Then we took off for the house and wandered the gardens and sweet town.

Arrive early, arrive early, arrive early. That's the mantra for Giverny!