THE QUAINT FISHING VILLAGE OF HONFLUER

WEATHER: 14C and overcast

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: The beautiful village of Honfluer

BUMMER OF THE DAY: If the weather was better I would have stayed longer

BUYS OF THE DAY: A few sets of silver earrings and a silver bangle

WORD OF THE DAY:

MOVIES WATCHED TODAY: Julie and Julia and Eat Pray Love

WHATS ON THE MENU:

Filled crepe with ham and mushroom in béchamel sauce and cheese

Vegetable broth farmers style with barley

Grilled pork tenderloin fillet mignon with Calvados sauce topped on sautéed apple, served with celery mash potatoes, carrots and snow peas

Thin caramelized apple tart with vanilla ice cream

Heading to breakfast this morning at 7.30am, it was funny to see all the red ‘do not disturb’ pillows on the door handles.  Some of the oldies must be having troubles keeping up, but I can understand why.  The weather looks a little dicey today and AJ is always all over the forecasts and lets us know whether we should be bringing our umbrella’s, windbreakers, or leave the jackets it will be a beautiful day.  Well today was definitely not one of those days.  Wet jackets and umbrella recommended.  There are Uniworld umbrellas in each stateroom, you know the old fashioned ones with the wooden hook handle and when opened is massive.  Maybe I am just used to my travel umbrella that is luck to keep my hair dry it is that small!  So again need to bring out my Antarctica jacket.  That was well worth the 25BP I paid last week.

We were off to a cute fishing village today.  Departure was at 8.45, not forgetting your ship pass and picking a coach number we were on our way for the 1.5 hours to Honfluer located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from Le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. Its inhabitants are called Honfleurais.  I have been taking the back seat of all the coaches, as I don’t want to take up any of the ‘easier’ seats for the ducks as some of them just have trouble getting onto the step of the coach, let alone trying to get them to the back seat.  The beauty of that is I am the only one on that back row, so I have plenty of room to spread out if I wanted to. 

Driving through the countryside, it is pretty amazing to see all the different colours of the trees turn.  There are beautiful colours of reds, yellows, oranges and all the colours in between.  It really is stunning scenery to be driving past. 

Arriving into Honfluer at 10am, the village is especially known for its old, beautiful picturesque port, characterized by its houses with slate-covered frontages, painted many times by artists, including in particular Gustave Courbet, Eugène Boudin, Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind, forming the école de Honfleur (Honfleur school) which contributed to the appearance of the Impressionist movement.

So our morning tour of Honfluer included The Sainte-Catherine church, which has a bell-tower separate from the principal building, is the largest church made out of wood in France.  The church is dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria as evidenced by a wooden sculpture above the porch of the bell-tower which separates the two naves. She is shown holding a wheel and a sword. The first nave is the oldest part of the building, dating to the second half of the 15th century, constructed right after the Hundred Years War. It was built on the model of a market hall, using naval construction techniques, which gives the impression of an upside-down ship's hull. Then the bell-tower was built a good distance away, so that parishioners would not be burnt in case of a fire.  We also got to see a 300 year old salt building that has now been renovated and now used for functions and then it was just a general walk around this pretty town.  We were given the option to take the 2^nd bus back at 3.15pm if we wanted to stay, longer and not come back on the 12.15pm bus.  But the weather was cold, overcast and it just would have been dull to stay there for another 3 hours.  So the tour concluded at 11.15am, so I had an hour to power shop at the stores that we had passed on our way to the cathedral.  I ended up buying 3 pairs of new silver earrings, and before I hear you say ‘more’  I have lost earrings from pairs so I only had one earring, which is useless, so these are ‘replacements’ and its nice to have an option for my ears now each morning.  I also bought this pretty slave bangle that sits nicely between 2 Ethiopian ‘promise’ bangles I was given on my trip.  It looks awesome.  Walking around there were guests from Queen Elizabeth and we also saw a Viking ship sail past us this morning as we moored up, so it was a busy little place today! 

So back on the bus for the 75 minute drive back to the ship.  Being down the back you can see all the ducks getting some shut eye and it is also nice to see that no matter what age you are, to see old people together after 40+ years of marriage is just a concept that today’s generation will never achieve or comprehend.  It is so sweet, and coming from a divorced (well soon to be) I hope that someday I will find my soul mate to be able to spend the rest of my days travelling with some-one you love.  Mary Lee found her 2^nd husband at 59 and was married for a wonderful 9 years before he passed away.  So there is still hope out there that being 36 I am not too old to find a partner in the future!

The usual afternoon for me, internet and Facebook.  I am trying to load my Ethiopia photos, but the Wi-Fi doesn’t like loading so many pictures, so I have given up and am STILL trying to complete my Ethiopia blog entries.  I have 4 more days to go for that, then I need to catch up on the River Cruise entries.  Geez a bloggers life is never up to date as the days pass!

Mary Lee and I decided to have a drink with AJ’s port talk tonight.  The cost of the drinks at the bar all seem quite reasonable, with the wine by the glass bottle changing every day the prices varied but you would be looking at 6EUR for a healthy sized glass and the soft drinks were 3EUR.  We then continued drinking out endless supply of wine over dinner and THEN we went back to the Monet Lounge to have one more before bed, which turned into 2 as we changed Mary Less FB profile picture and updated her status.  I have become a bit of the computer nerd in the lounge when the ducks borrow the ships laptops, they need help to switch on (the button in their defence is hard to spot) and then hooking them up to the Wi-Fi network.  So tonight Mary Lee and I got a little sozzled and we had a great night and heaps of talking.  I definitely will be coming to visit you next year in Washington/Seattle and for the record the invite came before we had stated to drink…..

ROUEN FOR THE DAY

WEATHER: Sunny and cold 10C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing the amazing wooden buildings of Rouen

BUMMER OF THE DAY: It got cold in the afternoon and an early return to the ship

BUYS OF THE DAY: More postcards

WORD OF THE DAY: Merci Bercu – thank you / or Merci Beaucol – beautiful arse!

MOVIES WATCHED TODAY: The Adjustment Bureau and Rabbit Hole

WHAT WAS ON THE MENU:

Tower of sun ripened tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella in fresh garden herb marinade

Chicken consommé with vegetables julienne and parisienne gnocchi’s

Roasted rack of lamb in mustard herb crusted on Merlot jus, served with ratatouille and potato gratin

Freshly baked raspberry Napoleon

Today was going to be a low key day, which is what a lot of people needed after yesterday and not just physically but mentally for some as well.  We had an included morning tour of Rouen (pronounced Roo-on) and then the afternoon was at leisure.  The ship was located only 10 minutes from the main drag of town, so you could come back to the ship for lunch or do your own thing in town and spend some more time in the city.  You just had to be back on the ship by 6.30pm as we set sale for Caudebec-en-Caux which was only a 3 hour cruise.

Rouen is the historic capital city of Normandy, in northern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Upper Normandy region. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th to the 15th centuries. It was in Rouen where Joan of Arc was burnt in 1431. 

Besides the wooden homes that have been faithfully restored to their former glory, Rouen is known for its Notre Dame cathedral, which is gothic style and dates back to the 11^th century.  It famously houses the tomb of Richard the Lion Heart which contains his actual heart.  The city was heavily damaged during WWII and on D-Day the cathedral was all most destroyed by Allied bombs.  The cathedral was also the subject of a series of paintings by Claude Monet, some of which are exhibited in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris depicting the same scenes at different times of the day.  Other sites we saw included The Gros Horloge which is an astronomical clock (dating back to the 16th century) though the movement is considerably older (1389) and The Tour Jeanne d'Arc, where Joan of Arc was brought in 1431 to be threatened with torture (contrary to popular belief, she was not imprisoned there).

We finished the tour in the center of town next to the Joan of Arc memorial and we were then given clear and concise instructions on how to get back to the ship.  There was till 1 hour to lunch, so I walked around some of the shops, trying to think if I needed to buy anything, with was a big fat no, and with the weather starting to turn I decided to just high tail it back to the ship and chillax for the afternoon.  So after a delicious buffet lunch, I preceded upstairs to the Monet lounge to listen to the resident piano player Gigi (Zshee) and continued to blog for the rest of the afternoon….

After our port talk at 6.45pm with AJ it was off to dinner.  I have to say I am loving this free flowing and FREE wine at dinner. I have been sitting at the same table if not on the same side each night, as George has been awesome and they are his tables and the waitress has also been awesome in keeping out drinks continually topped up all night.  It’s one of those things that you just don’t know how much you have had to drink as your glass is never empty!

So comes to an end a nice restful day in Rouen (Roo-on).  Tomorrow we head into a small fishing village of Honfluer.     

A SOBERING DAY AT THE NORMANDY BEACHES

WEATHER: Windy, sunny and 12C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Learning about a part of history I knew nothing about

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Seeing the 10,000 white crosses at Omaha – sad

BUYS OF THE DAY: A couple of postcards and a magnet

WORD OF THE DAY: Omaha and D-Day

MOVIES WATCHED TODAY: Morning Glory and The Grace Card

WHAT WAS ON THE MENU:

Mixed leaves with oven baked goat cheese, topped with honey, thyme and pine nuts

French onion soup with crouton and cheese

Roasted duck leg confit with cherry sauce, accompanied with red cabbage and rissole potatoes

Bourbon vanilla crème brulee with fruit skewer

Today was going to be the longest day of the week with us heading out to the beaches of Normandy.  Breakfast was at 7am and we were off the ship and into our numbered coaches at 8am.  Rouen is the capital of the Normandy region and it is quite a large city with the 5^th largest port in France also located here.  The kids are currently on school holidays and there is a fair that has set up on the opposite side of the river.  I would love to go if I had some-one to go with, but I just don’t think that it is going to happen with my new ‘older’ cruise friends.  The crazy mouse looks insane and as we pulled up last night, with the riverside park all lit up it looked like a mini Las Vegas.

There was an incident on the ship last night where a lady had fallen over a raised doorway.  She was the talk of dinner last night and we found out this morning that she had broken her ankle and was being taken to hospital to get emergency surgery.  Wow – I guess the stats are high on a cruise like this that there would be a fall of some sort.  Poor thing – her trip is now over.

After driving through the beautiful French countryside for 2 hours we got to our first stop Arramanches.  His little town got famous for the fake harbor called Mulberry that was built here in 1944.  The Royal Engineers built a complete Mulberry harbor out of 600,000 tons of concrete between 33 jetties, and had 15 km of floating roadways to land men and vehicles on the beach. Port Winston is commonly upheld as one of the best examples of military engineering. Its remains are still visible today from the beaches at Arromanches.  17 old ships crossed the English Channel under their own steam and were then sunk by their crews bow to stern and formed the first shelter.  115 football field sized cement blocks were towed across the channel and also sunk, creating a 4mile long breakwater 1.5 miles off shore, creating a port the size of Dover.  Then 7 floating steel pier heads with extendable legs were set up and linked to shore by 4 mile long floating roads made of concrete pontoons.  Within 6 days 54,000 vehicles, 326,000 troops and 110,000 tons of goods had been delivered!  In 6 days!!!!

We got given 2 hours here to see the small infamous n/ famous village and also a visit to the D-day Museum.  I have to be honest; I really didn’t know much information about WWII and D-Day, so it certainly was very informative and interesting to see footage, memorabilia, statistics and quotes of the lead up, the events and aftermath of D-Day in particular.  To see the older generation walking around, some with tears in their eyes, it was quite moving.  Most of my cruise companions are around the 60+ mark, so certainly not old enough to have been in the war themselves, but to have their fathers or remember where they were on the 6^th of June 1944, just makes me think that I am just not sure if young people today really do register what was done for our freedom in the wars gone past.  Not just WWI and II.

Besides the harbor being the first prefab harbor that was built in 12 days and an ensuring storm that totally ruined another man made harbor, Mulberry survived.  The second main note is an invading army had not crossed the unpredictable and dangerous English Channel since 1688. Once the massive Allied force set out, there was no turning back. The Allies boasted a 5,000-vessel armada that stretched as far as the eye could see, transporting both men and vehicles across the channel to the French beaches. In addition, the Allies had 4,000 smaller landing craft and more than 11,000 aircraft.

By nightfall on June 6, more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were dead or wounded, but more than 100,000 had made it ashore and secured French coastal villages. Within weeks, supplies were being unloaded at Utah and Omaha beachheads at the rate of more than 20,000 tons per day. By June 11, more than 326,000 troops, 55,000 vehicles, and 105,000 tons of supplies had been landed on the beaches. By June 30, the Allies had established a firm foothold in Normandy. Allied forces crossed the River Seine on August 19.

There is no official casualty figure for D-Day. It is estimated that more than 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded, or went missing during the battle. That figure includes more than 209,000 Allied casualties. In addition to roughly 200,000 German troops killed or wounded, the Allies also captured 200,000 soldiers. Captured Germans were sent to American prisoner-of-war camps at the rate of 30,000 per month, from D-Day until Christmas 1944. Between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed during the battle in the end, the invasion of Normandy succeeded in its objective by sheer force of numbers. By July 1944, some one million Allied troops, mostly American, British, and Canadian, were entrenched in Normandy. During the great invasion, the Allies assembled nearly three million men and stored 16 million tons of arms, munitions, and supplies in Britain.

I love statistics, but those numbers are just amazing and really hard to comprehend.  War sucks. 

After lunch we boarded the coach again for the hours’ drive to Omaha Beach.  The beach was just beautiful and very hard to imagine over 70 years ago there was so much blood shed on the very sand that we were walking on.  There was a massive memorial on the beach in honor of those who lost their lives during that invasion that lasted 2 months.  There were people from the tour collecting some sand and putting into bags or bottles.  There was an air of respect and no one was yip yayying or being crazy on the beach, not just our coach.  We stopped here for 25 minutes before then heading to the main stop of the afternoon at The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. 

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War II cemetery and memorial that honors American soldiers who died in Europe during World War II.  On June 8, 1944, the U.S. First Army established the temporary cemetery, the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. After the war, the present-day cemetery was established a short distance to the East of the original site.

Like all other overseas American cemeteries in France for World War I and II, France has granted the United States a special, perpetual concession to the land occupied by the cemetery, free of any charge or any tax. This cemetery is managed by the American government, under Congressional acts that provide yearly financial support for maintaining them, with most military and civil personnel employed abroad. The U.S. flag flies over these granted soils.

The cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion) and the English Channel. It covers 70 ha (172 acres), and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. Included are graves of Army Air Corps crews shot down over France as early as 1942.  Only some of the soldiers who died overseas are buried in the overseas American military cemeteries. When it came time for a permanent burial, the next of kin eligible to make decisions were asked if they wanted their loved ones repatriated for permanent burial in the U.S., or interred at the closest overseas cemetery.  All the marble crosses face westwards towards the United States of America and they had name, rank and the US State they came from.  No ages were engraved on the stone, as there were a lot of men who were signing u that were under age and it is up to the country whether that information goes on the inscriptions which the US declined solely for that reason.  To see rows upon rows of white crosses was super sad and see men’s names on the crosses.  We were all given a flower to go and pay our respects to some-one.  It is an initiative of 2 men, who didn’t want any of the men to be forgotten and Uniworld is an advocate for the programme, so we got to place our flower where ever we wanted to pay our respects.  I walked to the very last line of crosses and chose one that I like the sound of.  I rekon the last row would be too far for a lot of the older people who come here.  I have to say I shed a few tears, for the lives lost, but it also reminded me of my mum and I had planned to see her grave before I embarked on my trip, but due to cyclone Carlos it was cancelled, so I didn’t get to see her before I left.  I haven’t been in a graveyard since her funeral, so it was all a little too much for me.  There were also a number of crosses that read “Here rests in Honored Glory a Comrade in arms known but to God”    

The names of 1,557 Americans who lost their lives in the conflict but could not be located and/or identified are inscribed on the walls of a semicircular garden at the east side of the memorial. This part consists of a semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing maps and narratives of the military operations. At the center is a bronze statue entitled Spirit of American Youth. Facing west at the memorial, one sees in the foreground the reflecting pool, the mall with burial areas to either side and the circular chapel beyond. Behind the chapel are statues representing the United States and France. An orientation table overlooks the beach and depicts the landings at Normandy.

There is also a museum on the grounds, but there is always a lineup and takes up more than half your time to line up and walk through it, so I just decided to walk around the grounds and took a seat on the many benches that are around the gardens and just think back to 1944 and just horrific that time must have been and now looking at the tranquility and peacefulness of the area and knowing time passes but it will certainly never forget.

So after 2.5 hours at the Cemetery and Memorial it was time to hit the road back to the ship.  I got a lot of people asking me what I thought of the afternoon, being an Australian and not having any Australians in the cemetery.  But we did lose lives as well in both wars, they may not have been in that particular cemetery, but at the end of the day it is all the same thing, no matter what country these young men came from.  They died young, they died for our freedom and they died with comrades in arms fighting in a common cause.

Dinner was served a little later tonight, to give us all a chance to freshen up after being out all day.  It is a BIG day for anyone, let alone for some of the older passengers.  It was a French themed dinner, and I must admit I passed on the escargot.  I just couldn’t do it, and they were in garlic sauce and already de-shelled, but even knowing that it was a firm no from me. 

The day was not quite yet over with AJ getting in his port talk after dinner at 9.15pm.  he good thing is he is aware of how tired we all were.  He recaps the day’s events, goes through the next day’s events and timings and then we were let loose for the remainder of the evening.  Yeah, well off to bed for this black duck.  It was a rewarding, sobering, informative and emotional day for us all and we hope that those who fight and lose their lives in war will never be forgotten.

RICHARD THE LION HEART

WEATHER: Cool and 15C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Getting to see some French countryside – it’s beautiful

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Having to use my Antarctic jacket all ready

BUYS OF THE DAY: Some postcards

WORD OF THE DAY: Bonjour

MOVIES WATCHED TODAY: Flipped and Unknown

WHAT WAS ON THE MENU:

Maki of smoked salmon with avocado and cream cheese wrapped in a crepe with horse radish sauce

Dauphine raviolis with tomatoes cancasse and parmesan shavings

Homemade grapefruit sorbet with sparkling wine

Grilled fillet mignon of veal in creamy morel sauce, served with seasonal vegetables bouquet and pommes Argenteuil

Almond sponge layer with espresso mousse and Valrhona chocolate ganache

Today is the first day off the ship.  They are breaking us in slowly by having out tour start time at 10.30am!  Nice.  Get to have a sleep in and with breakfast at 8.30am this is truly what it feels like to be on holidays. 

I have to say the staffs on Uniworld River Baroness are amazing.  They are kind, patient and everything is made quite clear, in simple terms on what is happening and what is to come.  All the announcements are clear and simplified, and it sounds like I am being facetious but they know their clientele and they know how to handle them to avoid confusion. 

We had a presentation this morning at 9.30am of the optional excursions offered on the cruise.  We basically have a tour included as part of your cruise package but when the afternoons are free they offer an optional tour and you can then decide just how busy you want to be with your time.  AJ is our cruise director, a young fella of 33 from the UK but he seems pretty switched on and is very narrative with his speaking.  The included tours are each numbered 1, 2 and 3 and on the morning of the tour you just select a number out of one of the baskets yourself and then that is the group you will have for the day.  The day tours are run with what are called Vox Boxes.  They are basically a headset with one ear piece so you can hear what the guide is saying without actually having to be standing directly beside her.  It is a great idea and these wonderful machines need to be charged each night for the following day.   

We also have boarding passes.  They have your room number on them and every time you leave the ship you must collect this from the front desk and then return it back to them upon your return.  It is their security check and the only way for them to know if you are on board at the time of departure.

Les Andelys was out first port if call this morning and out tour to Chateau Gaillard.  This was a walking tour directly from the ship, there was a bus offered for the ‘older’ clients that wouldn’t be able to climb the ‘small’ hill to get to the top of the bluff and where the castle ruins were located.  They wouldn’t get to actually see the castle up close as the road didn’t take them that far over, but they still would have got a view of the castle.  Les Andelys is a small country village located in the valley of one on the Seine loops. 

So after disembarking the ship, getting our vox boxes onto the right frequencies we set off for the Chateau.  AJ made it quite clear that it was a small hill that had to be climbed and once at the top it would be easy going for the old folks.  Well I tell you we only had to walk 5 minutes to get to the hill, and it was a little bigger than he made it out to be.  We were walking slower than a snail, keeping the pace, well there was no pace, to a very minimum to get to the top, and in the oldies defence it was a tougher climb than he made out and once at the top you did have to walk over some loose stones to get to the level of the castle.  We had a few people drop out, it was just too much for them, but we made it to the top and it was a glorious view and you could see what the spot was chosen for the castle. 

Château Gaillard is a ruined medieval castle, located 90 m above the commune of Les Andelys overlooking the River Seine, historical Normandy.   Construction began in 1196 under the auspices of Richard the Lionheart, who was simultaneously King of England and feudal Duke of Normandy. The castle was expensive to build, but the majority of the work was done in an unusually short time. It took just two years, and at the same time the town of Petit Andelys was constructed. Château Gaillard has a complex and advanced design, and uses early principles of concentric fortification.  Richard the Lionheart inherited Normandy from his father, Henry II, in 1189 when he ascended to the throne of England. There was rivalry between the French king and Richard as the King of England was more powerful than the King of France, despite the fact that Richard was a vassal of the French king and paid homage for his lands in the country.  I made my own way back to the ship via the small town and took some pictures and bought some postcards to send to the gang.

We departed at Les Andelys at 12.30pm and cruised for the rest of the afternoon.  I had a light lunch of salad and pasta in the Monet lounge but there was also a full buffet lunch served in the Van Gogh restaurant as well if desired.  I set up a possie next to one of the large picture windows for the afternoon and watched the River Seine pass us by as I internet’ed for the rest of the afternoon – 2 more blogs up and trying to get some photos onto Facebook from Ethiopia.  The internet is free on the ship, but you need a password and code which is only valid for 2 hours.  They do it this way, so that it gives everyone a chance to jump on the internet and avoid people staying logged in and chewing up all the speed.  They also provide 4 laptops for people to book out and have access to the internet while away from home, which is a pretty good idea.  I had to duck back to my room a few times, to get a book, my camera and then back for my charger to plug in and I just left everything where it was, with my bag and purse on the chair with no fear that it would get stolen. 

Watching the river pass us by and going through a lock reminds me of the Black Sea Cruise I did last year, but on a better ship, with better facilities, and I have to say I enjoy the concept.  It is so relaxing and as they are river boats, they public areas and cabins are closer to the water and you just feel so peaceful.  It is hard to explain, but I would love to do a few more but it is a shame it is set for the older market, I think younger people would enjoy this experience as well.  Maybe they should have a departure for 18-35 year olds?  Something to think about if not if you got a group of 6 or so I think that could also work.  It is a great way to travel that is for sure. 

Afternoon tea is served every afternoon between 4-4.30pm in the lounge which generally consist of finger sandwiches and sweets / cakes of some sort.  You just help yourself and it is located right next to the cappuccino maker that is always stocked 24 hours a day with coffee, tea and hot chocolate always at the ready.  There is also an ice dispenser there and a cold water tap with access to purified water to refill the bottles that were given to us yesterday, their part in trying to help with the plastics and environment. 

6.30pm was our Welcome Reception where we got to meet all the staff on board and the Captain.  There are 32 of them and 108 of us, so that’s a pretty good staff to passenger ratio.  90% of the staff was from Romania and from what I have seen in 24 hours they are all very friendly and have smile on their faces.  AJ while he had us also went through the next days programme and what was expected timings and information.  He really is a great speaker and all the old ducks just love him.  Tomorrow is a BIG day and an emotional day for some of the passengers with us heading to the Normandy Beaches, the D-day Museum and then the American Cemetery at Omaha that has nearly 10,000 graves form the D-Day landing and consequent 70 day battle.  AJ quoted a poem to conclude the talk and it was really a very sobering moment.

Dinner was great.  As I am an odd number there is always a spare chair at my table.  But I am getting to know some of the older people and they are really great bunch of people.  Tonight I spoke to a couple that used to be a Chaplin on Holland America ships in the 90’s and I met another 2 solo travelling women on the cruise.  The strange thing is that they are all from South Carolina and they don’t know each other.  Talking D Day and what it means to them.  Art’s 6^th birthday was on the 6 June 1944 and he can quite clearly remember when they declared D-Day. 

Not many Australians I think there are only 5 of us – 90% are American passengers, but I guess when you think about it, heading to the Normandy Beaches, there would be a lot of American making some form of pilgrimage for family members, especially concerning the landings on Omaha Beach.

So once again after dinner, I headed home and watched another movie before closing my eyes as I hear the water pass by my window.    I know it sounds like I am heading to bed early but by the time the 5 courses of meals comes out it is already around 9-9.30pm, so even for me that is getting late, let alone a ship of 70+……so don’t judge us, I am still in keep with my Intrepid rule of no bed before 8.10pm.  The Africa crew would be so proud I spread that rule on every trip I do……

TRAVEL TO THE CITY OF LOVE CALLED PAREE

WEATHER:  13C in London and 18.5C in Paris

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Looking out the taxi window and seeing the Eiffel Tower in all her glory

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not feeling so great – itchy throat and blocked / runny nose

BUYS OF THE DAY: My Eurostar ticket for 140GBP – now that is not a bargain let me tell you

WORD OF THE DAY: Bonjour – hello

MOVIES WATCHED: The Tourist and Just Go With It

WHAT WAS ON THE MENU:

Traditional quiche with bacon and cheese, served with a fresh salad bouquet

Cream of potatoes with egg custard, leek and green beans

Pink roasted roast beef with Bordelaise sauce, spring vegetables and baked oven potatoes

Honeycomb ice cream with raspberry sauce

After trying to pack my bag yesterday, I had a few items left over that I had to try an squeeze in somewhere this morning, so I got a little earlier to get all that sorted out.  The problem is I have packed dresses for the cruise and with my new jacket, socks, beanie and ski pants for Antarctica this has taken up valuable room in my backpack.   I packed and stuffed everything I could in, hoping the zips would hold and then I had to pull out one of my Intrepid cloth bags to be able to fit the last of my stuff in.  Not ideal when I am about to travel on the London Tube with 4 bags, but I just had no option.  I also had to go through the bags that I left 4 months ago at the hotel.  I have left a fair bit of stuff right down to my original toiletry bag I bought back in Brisbane (new one is smaller) some makeup and around 8 tops, 2 skirts and a bunch of other stuff that wouldn’t fit in or I just didn’t need.  Hopefully the cleaner will be able to snap some of the stuff up.

O at 8am, with my big backpack on, my handbag, my small backpack and the additional Intrepid bag I set off for the Tube Station and saying goodbye to London for the last time, well at least for the next 6 months at least.  I do transit through here in a few weeks’ time heading to South America, but my time in the UK has now finished and once again I have had great weather here.  I have been so lucky.

The Victoria and Circle tube lines have been closed all week-end, so I ended up catching the tube one stop to Elephant and Castle changing lines and then catching the Northern line to Kings Cross St Pancreas.  I was hoping that there wouldn’t be too many people on a Sunday morning moving around on the tube and it wasn’t too bad.  Every time I am on the tube, you see people struggling with bags and suitcases and I just didn’t want to get in the way or look like an idiot.  I didn’t take my big bag off my back the whole time, I rekon that thing would have weighed 25kg, if it came off I am not sure I would have the room to get it back on. 

It only took 45 minutes to get to St Pancreas and it wasn’t as bad as I thought.  The station is massive though, but well sign posted.  So I just followed the signs to the Eurostar office to purchase my ticket that I had tried to do online yesterday.  I was just hoping that it was still the same exuberant prices of 140GBP.  I should have booked these ticket weeks ago, but in my defence I had not internet, so I guess I didn’t have much options.  Well the ticket was the same price, so armed with it I decided to grab a quick bite before heading into the Eurostar departure lounge.  I had to choose an eating establishment where I didn’t have to take off my bag, so I ended up getting a Caesar wrap and pulled up a few seats out the front and proceeded to eat.  You can imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw SADIA walking up to me.  RANDOM – it was amazing to see her and I know the first thing I had was a smile from ear to ear!  She was at the station taking her sister to Kent I think, but man it was awesome and totally random seeing her there!  So after 30 minutes catching up with her, it was time for me to get going and saying goodbye to an old friend and a promise of keeping in touch.

The Eurostar process was pretty steam lined.  You scanned your ticket at the main entrance like an airline gate and that got you through to the security screening where all your bags were screened and this was the first time my backpack come off my back in 1 hour and 45 minutes!  Once through the screening there were 2 booths for immigration which was done in 2 minutes flat and then you found yourself in the departures lounge.  They had a gazillion TV screens with a list of the departures on them.  Seriously when I sat down I could see at least 5 screens looking at me from where I was!  Maybe they are worried people will miss the train?  Anyway the backpack came off again for the second time and I did what I knew I was not supposed to do and I left my 3 bags unattended and went and used the ATM I could see and got out some Euro’s  for my week in France.  I could see my bags from where I was using the machine and then I saw a security guy swoop on the area and pull out his walkie talkie, so I hoofed it back and let him know they were my bags to which he nodded and walked on.  The boarding call came 20 minutes prior to departure and we all had to heft our bags up the escalators and then find the appropriate carriage number and seat number.  The first carriage at the top of the escalators was 8, so it was a 50-50 chance in which way the numbers went, so I chose straight ahead and found myself at carriage 9, so I had to swim against the current and head back the other way to 5.  There was plenty of baggage room at the entrance, so I left my big backpack there and took my other 3 bags with me into the carriage.  Well as it worked out my seat number 88 was right next to the doors, down the other end of the carriage.  That would be right; well I certainly wasn’t going to be moving my big backpack, with only one stop on the way I had little doubt that the 25kg brick would be stolen!!!

I had a very nice lady next to me for the 2.5 hour journey and I managed to pump out a blog entry and then enjoy the last 40 minutes of the French countryside as we pulled into Paris du Nord station.  I did find the channel crossing a little precious on my ears due to my cold/cough thing the I had to keep trying to pop my ears due to the pressure but I love train travel and it is a great mode of transport and for me made a nice change after 24 flights and over 20,000km in the last 2 months on the road.

Once exiting the station the taxi line up was 150 people deep.  But it is one of those things that firstly I didn; t have any other option and secondly the line moved surprisingly fast and I was only in line for 20 minutes before getting into one.  I had my Uniworld voucher at the ready with the address on it, as my French is nonexistent, and the taxi driver seemed to know where he was going.  After 35 minutes we found ourselves at a port, but I could for the life of me see the river boat.  I wasn’t getting out of the taxi till I knew I was at the right place.  The taxi driver was telling me this was it, but with no ship in the port, I’m telling you this is NOT it.  So we did a lap, which obviously cost me, we stopped and asked a canal restaurant and then we stumbled onto the ship further along the quay costing me an additional 5EUR!!!  Anyway I was here now, and I had to pinch myself as we had driven past the Louve and with the Eiffel Tower to my right, man I was in PARIS!!!!!  This city is amazing and I would love to come back with that some-one special one day.  It does have that romantic vibe about it.

As my taxi pulled up out the front of the ship, 2 young men came over to take my bags for me and deposit them directly to my room as I checked in and handed over my passport to reception.  I was given my room keycard and Ellie came from nowhere to escort me to my cabin and my home for the next 7 nights.  My cabin is actually in a pretty good location.  It is the closest one to the restaurant which is on the same floor and right near the steps that has reception at the top and then the lounge just past there.  Keeping in mind there are ship only holds 120 passengers, I guess everything is going to be pretty close to everything.

So I had a free few hours, so I walked around the ship and took some photos and then went back to my cabin for a rest and watched a few movies till 6.15pm, where we were required to attend the Monet Lounge for a welcome and safety briefing by our Captain, Hotel Manager and Cruise Manager.  They went through the basics of the cruise, what their duties were and then we headed down to the Van Gough Restaurant for dinner.

Dinner is an ala carte menu each night with a choice of 3 options for starters, soup and entrée (main meal)  Uniworld have a sit anywhere option each night, so I just had to pick a table that had a few spare seats and asked if I could join them and then dinner was served.  My first introduction to the passengers was a mother-daughter team from South Carolina and Barbara and Ron.  There will probably always be a spare seat, as I am travelling on my own, so there was just the 5 of us and I have to say I had a very enjoyable evening.  It is also quite handy that the wine over dinner is FREE, yes people FREE, so this is an extra bonus in the evening over dinner.  FREE WINE!!!!!

After dinner I went straight back to my cabin, watched another movie and was tucked up in bed by 11pm.  The cabin itself is a little on the small side.  I would hate to have 2 people in here, as the storage is not what you would expect, but in saying that the cabins are beautifully appointed and all the fixtures are all shiny and new, this is going to be just what the doctor ordered, with me not feeling 100% I will use this time to re-cooperate and recharge my batteries. 

LONDON TOWN FOR 3 DAYS

WEATHER: Sunny for the 3 days – very lucky again

Well I had 3 nights and 2 whole days in London.  The most important things I HAD to get done was a new stock of Malaria tablets for my South America portion of my trip and to get some cloths for Antarctica where I will be in 17 day’s time!  It is hard to believe I am at that part of my trip already and to conquer the last continent is going to be a pretty amazing experience.

My Antarctic shopping was relatively simple in the end.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find pants to fit me was my main concern, but I headed to Kensington High Street, where they have 6-10 camping travel shops all next to each other, so it was a one stop shop for me and I just started at the first shop I came to after leaving the tube and entered.  The guy behind the counter was super helpful and I just couldn’t get embarrassed about sizes etc…  I needed this stuff.  So I pulled out my trip notes and told him what they suggested I bring and we went around the shop picking and trying things on.  The pants, which I thought would be the hardest was the first thing and the dirt pair fit no problems – what a relief!  I also then bought another windproof jacket, 2 pairs of socks, a beanie, 2 new shirts, a pair of inner gloves, a pair of ski gloves and a torch to replace the one I left in Dorze.  The bonus was that they had a sale that started that morning that gave me 25% off everything I bought and the shirts were buy one get one free and the gloves were on the same deal!  So in the end I saved 79GBP in total on my shop and I got everything I needed!!!!  AWESOME!!!!!  While I was there, I wanted to get a Budget Expeditions brochure and I walked into a Trailfinders Travel Agency and I swear you have NOT seen an office as BIG as this one.  They had a receptionist, which is no biggy, I know Australian agencies that have them, but behind him there would have to have been 50-60 agents all at work stations, working.  This office was MASSIVE!!!!!  I had to wait a few minutes for him to go downstairs to retrieve the brochure and it gave me a chance to observe them all.  I miss my job, it is a pretty cool job and I also miss my work crew. 

My clothes shopping afternoon on Oxford Street was not so successful, which is a little disappointing as last time I was here I had so many options.  Unfortunately being October, there was a lot of winter stuff in the stores and not much summer gear left.  I think buying cardigans and sweaters will not cut the mustard in South America.  I did manage to buy a new skirt, the 2 shirts from the camping, some new underwear and a new woolen scarf.  I would have to make do with whatever is in my storage bags and what I currently have.  I will also not have the opportunity to restock my clothes (that I know of anyway) so what I have when I leave London will be what I will be wearing for the next 6 months.  Geeze that puts the pressure on!!!   Between all the shopping I also got to squeeze in a late lunch at….Kentucky Fried Chicken!!!  This was a stop for Bobby, as we were talking about fried chicken in Ethiopia and we were drooling over how good a Kentucky burger would have been.  So I had Kentucky for lunch and it was AWESOME!!!!

I also tried Friday night to purchase my Eurostar ticket for Sunday.  Nothing like leaving it till the last minute and I guess the price also reflected that at 140GBP for the journey that I know if I had of booked further out, being a Sunday would have probably got it for 89GBP.  Never mind, I need the ticket, so I will just have to pay.  Well I had a problem with the stupid ‘Verify Visa’ right at the end of the transaction.  I couldn’t remember the password to complete it, tried it 3 times and then declined saying they could not complete my request.  I also tried with my second credit card and again I locked myself out with a forgetful password, so short of catching a train to Kings Cross to purchase the ticket, I am just going to have to try my luck on Sunday and purchase it on the day of travel.  I have never booked anything like that before, but I just couldn’t be fagged getting on the tube again, so risk it I will.  I was actually starting to feel pretty lousy, with a sore throat and getting a runny nose.  I haven’t been sick since Rwanda in July, so I guess I was due for something soon.

I also made the post office and sent my 14^th package home of the trip.  I sent some dresses from my storage package home and a few bits and bobs that have been collected over the last few weeks.  I need to try and make room for everything in my bag, as I need to add back in some dresses for the river cruise and also make room for my Antarctica clothes, so stuff I haven’t been travelling with for the last 4 months.  Damn – where will it all fit?  I’ll worry about the packing tomorrow (Saturday).  I was off to meet Paps and Em for dinner and a few drinks after with Paps brother for his birthday.  Nothing like gatecrashing a party!!

I met Paps and Em at Banks Tube Station and man they were a sight for sore eyes.  I have missed them so much.  We went into a bar for a drink, as we had a dinner reservation that we were early for and then I had the best Indian meal I have had since, well India in 2007.  It was amazing.  I haven’t really had Indian since coming back from there, but this was delicious.  We also sunk a few more beers over dinner and by the end of the meal we were ready for a few more.  Pap’s brother had picked a club that had 3 sections to it, and we were in the 80’s/current music section and even though it wasn’t a place that Paps would pick, it was great to have COLD drinks, western music and not standing out of the crowd by being the only white person in the joint.  So we drank and talked the night away till we had, had had to leave to catch the last tube home.  Paps, Em and I were on the same line till Elephant and Castle where I had to get off and change to travel 2 stops on the Bakerloo line.  Paps was not happy I was going to be getting off and not knowing I made it safe onto my connection, but I told him I would be fine and after lots of hugs and kisses to both they pulled away and I ran for the connection.  Well when I got to the right platform there was nobody there but a station master to which she informed me that I had missed the last one by 2 minutes!  BUGGER.  So I exited the station and there were a million people waiting for taxis’.  How far can 2 stops be right?  So I drunkenly asked some workmen which way was Westminster and set off on my 20 minute walk.  Nothing like a crystal clear night to help sober up.  But what great night and I have now met the whole Addelton Family!

The one thing I really needed to do was get to the travel doctor and get my malaria tablets.  Friday was just too busy, so I Googled on Saturday morning some clinics to which the third one could take me at 12 noon.  I was feeling so bad that I hadn’t done this, so it was a huge relief to be able to get into one and on a Saturday as well.  While I had the doctor I also asked him about giving me a yellow fever certificate based on the photocopy that I had received from my travel doctor in Australia, to which he said no, but I could get a new Yellow Fever shot, as I only had 2 years on my last one and then he could give me a certificate.  Bastard.  He wasn’t very nice to start with this guy and it is a pretty important document that I would need to South America, so I had to pay an additional 80GBP for a new yellow fever job.  Since he was such a dick, I also asked him about my sore throat to which he looked at and said my tonsils were up, but to keep taking the doxy (malaria tablets) and this would help with the swelling.  So because he was such a dick again, I also asked for a pill prescription for the next 6 months, well while I had him I may as well get everything done in one hit right.  I just wish I had of thought of this while I was there, but I should have gotten him to look at my Bunyonyi leg.  It is still sore 3 months later and still has some discoloration and still hurts.  Well next time.  So I got 154 day’s worth of Malaria tablets, a yellow fever jab and 6 months of contraception tablets.  That is what I call a productive doctor’s appointment!!!  The medication wasn’t that expensive and the doctor’s visit was 150GBP, but I had to do it. 

So after my doctor’s appointment I decided I need a piece of home and caught the tube to Convent Gardens to visit the Australia shop.  I needed to re-sock on my vegemite, I bought 3 boxes of BBQ shapes, a packet of Twisties, a packet of Burger Rings, a packet of Allen’s Freckles and a packet of Tim Tams.  So 29GBP later, yes people that is like 40AUD for 8 items, but I really felt like something of home.  I LOVE THE AUSTRALIA SHOP.

So back to the hotel and the tough job of sorting through all my clothes, storage and what I have, what was to be left behind and what was to be taken.  It was a massive task, and after going through what I wanted to take and what would fit was 2 entirely different things and I had to cull the culled pile then as well.  I seriously don’t have enough room for everything.  Luckily I have my trusty Intrepid bag and I am not flying tomorrow I was travelling by train, that I was able to put my toiletry bag in that along with some other things, but I am going to have to rethink the packing for my next flight day.

So at the end of it all, I left some make-up, my original toiletry bag, a pair of shoes, 8 tops and goodness knows what else, but I left it all in a bag near the bin, maybe the cleaner might be able to use some of it.

I was still feeling like crap, so I had to pass on my second date with the Addletons and I went to bed early with my thoughts on how the hell I was going to catch the tube in the morning with my 4 bags and not look like a total loser!!!! 

I LOVE London – I will miss you after 4 visits this year and I have been blessed with the weather and friends whom I have here now and know that I will return next year at some stage.