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kazu
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4 hours ago, kazu said:

Back on board - no time for free wifi today in the port so let’s see if I can get some posts done before the whole world gets on the internet on board 😉 

 

DH and I are really worn so we got back on board a whole 1 hour earlier than necessary.  Scary 😄 

 

Back to our day yesterday.

 

SERIOUS FOOD PORN Alert - one of a number for Bordeaux.

 

We went to one of the few chateaus that has a terrace on the recommendation of our guide.  She had given me options.  I nixed one and left the rest up to them.

 

The choice was good 😄 

 

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The absolutely delicious butter they have here.  It came wrapped:

 

 

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Our little amuse bouche - a type of couscous.  Kazu is not a fan of this stuff but this one was very tasty.

 

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This is the wine we selected for the meal.  We opted to share with another white wine lover as it was cheaper than by the glass all things considered.  The wine was wonderful.

 

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The cheese tray:

 

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The olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Three thumbs up on these.

 

By the way, there was no surcharge for the bread, butter or olive oil.

 

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The tuna ceviche (mine).  It was really good.

 

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Snails (my roll call friends know that food porn is a must and kindly let me take pics of their food).  They even hold plates up for better angles.  🙂 

 

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Fois Gras.  Absolutely exquisite.  Andrea kindly gave us  all a taste and OMG - it was delectable.

 

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That is a comma not a dot on the price of that bottle of Clement-Pichon. Does it really taste better then a good bottle of $25 wine?

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18 minutes ago, ski ww said:

That is a comma not a dot on the price of that bottle of Clement-Pichon. Does it really taste better then a good bottle of $25 wine?

French do not use dots in currency; they use commas.  So those bottles are 110 Euro and 184 Euro respectively for 300 cl (the size of 4 regular bottles) and 600 cl bottles (the size of 8 regular bottles), or approx 30 Euro per bottle.  Not that much more expensive than your $25 bottle. 😉

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Not sure if it helps you both, but the bottle of wine I showed was 28 euros (which is more than $28 US and a LOT more than $28 Canadian but it was worth every euro).  

 

We were at a Grand Crux chateaux and the wine was wonderful 😄 

 

I was going to buy DH a small bottle of armagnac . Louis, I think you know what I mean.  That tiny bottle was 65 euros. It was barely 375 cl.  I decided DH wasn’t worth it 😉. Kidding, of course 😄 

 

 

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4 hours ago, bobalink said:

Incredible scenery and photos, Jacqui! Your fabulous vacation photos are causing me to keep adding to my bucket list. Keep them coming. 😊 

 

Thanks Bobbie.  There’s lots more to come, sorry to say.

 

I’m still on yesterday.  YIKES.

 

4 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

Jacqui, a bottle of Petrus is only $1300....

 

LOL 😄 😄 

 

I saw the prices.  Some are higher than that - a LOT higher.

 

 

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DH and I are a tad WEARY tonight.  And I do mean weary.

 

Between a full day of touring yesterday and then trying to find our restaurant last night (we succeeded) and then another walking tour today and walking on our own today, we may well roll up the carpet by 10:30 tonight 😉 

 

We definitely want to be in bed before the Bay of Biscay.  Again?  I ask myself.

 

So before I forget, here is the dinner menu for tonight.

 

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I can’t comment on the menu again as we decided to go to the Canaletto.

 

They had a special menu tonight and it sounded interesting so we went to try it out.

 

We’ll be back in the dining room tomorrow though for our last time and then the PG on the night before disembarkation.

 

Did I say that awful word?  DISEMBARKATION???  YIKES, but we still have a very few days.  

 

And, if you can bear with us, we’re not flying out on the first day - too tight.

 

So, hopefully I have scored again and our driver guide will be taking us to Dover with stops at Canterbury Cathedral (I’m excited about this) and a couple of others so we land at our hotels when we can actually get to our rooms.

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Just going to go out of order to tonight for now and tomorrow when I am less tired, I’ll return to Bordeaux.  I can’t risk erring with a sommelier reading 😉

 

So we were intrigued by the Canaletto menu which was lot different than usual.

 

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The amuse bouche.  Dip the bread in and it’s basically a cold bruschetta.  Quite good actually and quite well done.

 

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Our appetizer - they called it a greyfish lobster.  I think they meant crayfish 😉 

 

It was pretty decent and definitely fresh IMO from port today.  There were full pieces on the side.

 

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DH got the fillet and it was very tender.

 

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I opted for the fish.  The artichoke was cooked too much and couldn’t be eaten.  That might have been the intention - not sure.  But it was a pretty presentation and the Branzino was excellent.

 

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DH got the first dessert - the figs.  It was good.  He loves figs so he was a happy camper.

 

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I got the chocolate dessert ( I know you’re all in shock with the no one dessert and two forks 😉 ) but it sounded interesting and even though I’m not a big chocolate fan I enjoyed how they did it.  It wasn’t too heavy at all.

 

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It was a perfect spot for the end of our sail away.  We were outside for the key part but the Canaletto on this ship has lovely aft views and we were lucky to have another great table.

 

I’d definitely give this menu a try if it’s offered on your cruise.  We enjoyed it and I totally confess, it allowed us to eat a bit earlier for a change as we are beat.

 

I’ll be back tomorrow to try to catch up on Bordeaux, our beautiful sail a way and bridges and the great life on board this lovely little ship.

 

I’m going to miss her.  This itinerary has been unbelievable.

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Very nice Canaletto menu.  Hope they start offering that menu on other ships soon.  May be a step towards turning Canaletto from a disguised "Olive Garden" restaurant into a real Italian restaurant more like Sabatini's on Princess.  And then, we wish, moving it out of the Lido into the space previously occupied by ATK (now Club Orange) on the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam as we believe that space has not seen its last transformation yet!  

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9 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

Very nice Canaletto menu.  Hope they start offering that menu on other ships soon.  May be a step towards turning Canaletto from a disguised "Olive Garden" restaurant into a real Italian restaurant more like Sabatini's on Princess.  And then, we wish, moving it out of the Lido into the space previously occupied by ATK (now Club Orange) on the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam as we believe that space has not seen its last transformation yet!  

 

It was a nice menu.  They only did it once this cruise that I know of.  

 

It was a ‘special’ menu.  Not sure if this is a Prinsendam thing or not.  I’ll ask and see if they know if it is fleet wide or not.

 

Good morning from a rainy day at sea.

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22 minutes ago, kazu said:

Here is today’s When and Where.

 

I got it focused as best possible - moving ship and all that 😉 

 

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Good to read 2 minutes silence to remember all people who persihed during World War 2  will be held on board. In Holland everything stops between 20.00 and 20.02. Public transport/airport operation everything will come to a complete standstill.

 

Checked with HAL this week if any news on last cruise festivities June 17 July 1 cruise but nobody could tell me anything. We will be happy and fortunate to be able to sail on the ship for its last voyage under HAL flag. So sad. Peter

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I have been sitting back in awe every day reading your blog and enjoying the fantastic pictures. It has been totally awesome.I am not sure where and when you find the time to do all this but it sure is appreciated. Miss you and looking forward to pizza and wine. 

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2 hours ago, Rotary said:

I have been sitting back in awe every day reading your blog and enjoying the fantastic pictures. It has been totally awesome.I am not sure where and when you find the time to do all this but it sure is appreciated. Miss you and looking forward to pizza and wine. 

 

 

Wow !  You posted 🙂 

 

Definitely pizza and wine HAS to be on our agenda when I get home 😄 

 

 

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16 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

Very nice Canaletto menu.  Hope they start offering that menu on other ships soon.  May be a step towards turning Canaletto from a disguised "Olive Garden" restaurant into a real Italian restaurant more like Sabatini's on Princess.  And then, we wish, moving it out of the Lido into the space previously occupied by ATK (now Club Orange) on the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam as we believe that space has not seen its last transformation yet!  

 

6 hours ago, kazu said:

 

It was a nice menu.  They only did it once this cruise that I know of.  

 

It was a ‘special’ menu.  Not sure if this is a Prinsendam thing or not.  I’ll ask and see if they know if it is fleet wide or not.

 

Good morning from a rainy day at sea.

 

Ran into Yudda in the Lido and when he said he missed us last night - told him we went to Canaletto.  

 

Told him we really enjoyed the dinner and asked if it would be offered again.  He said yes, next cruise for sure.  It’s tricky to do in some Canaletto’s but he did say it was going fleet wide 🙂

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Good news on the new Canaletto menu.  Thanks for asking.  Look forward to trying it out when we have a chance.

 

p.s. I keep seeing Daniel is the piano player in the Crow's Nest... any idea was his last name is?

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1 hour ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Oops. Did the proofreader get off?

(referring to When and Where)

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Weather fior St Peter Port/Guernsey for Sunday looks very promising. Gentle breeze, sunshine and maximum around 10C. Bit chilly.

Peter

 

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7 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Did they pre-announce the special menu?

 

Just by word of mouth from the Lido people that were Canaletto and it was posted in the Lido. Nothing in the when and where.

 

So glad we heard about it as it was very different and nice 😄 

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7 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

Good news on the new Canaletto menu.  Thanks for asking.  Look forward to trying it out when we have a chance.

 

p.s. I keep seeing Daniel is the piano player in the Crow's Nest... any idea was his last name is?

 

I don’t know his last name but I can ask him tomorrow night 😉 

 

I really like him.

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6 hours ago, samsonmo said:

Weather fior St Peter Port/Guernsey for Sunday looks very promising. Gentle breeze, sunshine and maximum around 10C. Bit chilly.

Peter

 

 

For the little time we have there, whether we get there or not is irrelevant.

 

Late today, we got a notice that we have to do immigration tomorrow.  

 

Seriously?  We’ve been in the EU all the time.  Even the Brits on board have no explanation.

 

Immigration should be done by 9:30 - we’re only in port until 5 and it’s a tender port.  YIKES. It will be a zoo unless we can get off when we have done immigration.

 

NOT impressed and NOT a happy camper.

 

Our old itinerary was MUCH better stopping at Le Palais today and having a sea day tomorrow.

 

It is what it is but I don’t have to like it 😉 

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Sorry I couldn’t get on CC today.

 

Not because internet wasn’t working but because it was and DH could get soccer games. !  😄 

 

so, I sacrificed to let him get his games.  I wasn’t about to buy a second package and besides he earphones only work with this IPad which has the pics and not the other one.

 

It’s a rough life but I will catch up between tomorrow, Dover for a bit and our long, very long layover in Toronto.

 

But for now, here is tonight’s dinner menu

 

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It's hard to believe your wonderful cruise is soon coming to an end - I'm going to miss all the wonderful photos and descriptions you've provided.  Re: food porn - I'm a definite addict!

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

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