Well, this port was one of the primary reasons I choose this itinerary. I have wanted to go to Santorini as long as I can remember. I had read that it is too crowded, etc., but I didn’t care. Santorini was on my bucket list. I found out that the Irish pub on the ship,…

Woke up to my alarm going off and I realized there was another sound….the hotel fire alarm was going off!!! I opened my door and ventured in to the hallway and no one was around: no smoke, no smell of smoke, no noise at all. The fire doors had closed but otherwise, nothing. So I…

I bought the “skip the line” tour tickets and we really did speed past a whole lot of folks. While in line, I started talking to a family ahead of me and it turns out they live about 15 minutes from Nicholas, ALana, and Miles in Arvada. Our guide was very nice but his accent…

Well, I guess life just has to keep on moving. I have grieved for the past 10 months and have reached a place that I don’t cry all day and have even started feeling some peace. I booked myself a Mediterranean cruise months ago and just got back this week. I travelled solo; it is…

In Paris and all of Calvados and Normandy we saw has so much graffiti! It really bothered me. It is literally everywhere. It is like the taggers are having a contest as to whom can paint the highest and the most. The streets here are confusing. Stop lights and stop signs are small and don’t…

I have to admit, the hectic schedule got to us and we crashed right before Rouen. There was a guided tour that Robin and Neil took but we just needed to sleep in a bit. I headed out to Rouen after lunch and did some shopping. Robin said that the most “interesting” thing they saw…

The highlight of Conflans was Auvers-sur-Oise, the place where Vincent Van Gogh spent his last 70 days. Vincent spent some time in a mental hospital and afterwards headed north to Auvers-sur-Oise where Dr. Gachet, a physician specializing in melancholia, resided. The town was also only 18 miles from Paris where his beloved brother and promoter,…

Most of our voyage has concentrated on Normandy but today we ventured out to the department ( or arrondissement, can be compared to our counties) of Calvados . Oh my, what a lovely village. So French. This is the first place I really, really felt like I was in France (except maybe for the Eiffel…

Montmartre is the artist district of Paris. I was really hoping to see all the painters in the Plaza and get a caricature done but it poured all day when we were there so that didn’t happen. This was really the only day that it rained hard enough to curtail our plans. The Basilique du…

Caudebec is another charming riverside town. We traveled to the Jumieges Abbey. The Abbey was built around 654 and was pillaged by the Vikings in the 9th century which basically left just ruins. It was rebuilt on a grander scale and consecrated in 1067. Enjoying the patronage of the dukes of Normandy, the abbey became…

Claude Monet lived in Giverny for 40 years, 1883-1926. His flower gardens and Japanese Garden are so gorgeous. They were still in bloom at the end of October!! A little disappointing was the fact that there are no original paintings at Giverny. Muse d’Orsay has the largest collection of originals but the museum of modern…