Started the day at Palais Garnier, the opera House. It was quite amazing. Unfortunately the auditorium portion was closed, so I didn’t get to see all of it… Saved 3€ by showing my ticket for Musee d’Orsay. Below is a picture from the Palais Garnier. From there walked across the…
The Louvre… 12 hours of the Louvre and didn’t even see half of it. 1. Visit on Wednesday and Friday for bonus hours (open late) 2. Buy tickets in advance directly from the Louvre’s website. (Must be printed) 3. If you can not buy them from their website then there is a Tabac shop…
Today will sound less productive, but the first stop Musee d’Orsay is quite large. Once again the early bird gets the worm (which isn’t too early because the Musee d’Orsay doesn’t open until 9:30 AM) and I arrived around 8:35 (my app misinformed me of the opening time of 9:00). Was nearly the first…
Started the day at the Notre Dame Cathedral… Got there early enough to avoid any queue. After visiting inside the queue for the bell tower was massive and it had not yet opened so I went to Sainte-Chapelle. Again no queue, but there was a significant one when I left. This was much…
Eiffel Tower…. There’s two ways to visit. 1. Purchase a lift ticket far in advance (and still wait in queues), however there is no way of knowing the weather on the day you choose. http://ticket.toureiffel.fr/index-css5-sete-pg1-lgen.html or 2. Purchase tickets the day you visit. You can either purchase a lift ticket to…
Early drive from Le Havre to Versailles. Spent the entire day at the palace. On weekends in the summer (this was the last weekend for the year) they have musical fountain shows at specific times. The Neptune fountain only operated once between 1720 and 1728. All the other fountains were operating from 1530-1700. With the…
Well not Omaha the state… But France has a beach in Normandy that was given the code name Omaha… Unfortunately I was not able to arrive before the cemetery closed at 1700. Above is a monument on the beach. Above is a monument just at the edge of the beach. Some of the German…
In the evening I was given a short tour of Deauville and Trouville. Definately a wondeful place to visit if you are in the Normandy region. Below are pictures from Deauville. Had a nice French dinner in Honfleur. As you can see I started with escargot. First time I had them in their shells, and first…
I arrived in Le Havre after navigating the toll roads… Expense report will have many receipts… The Garmin did a good job for the most part. A picture of my hotel room in the Novotel in Le Havre
Unfortunately it’s an automatic…
Only a simple Bonjour and I received my newest passport stamp. Now I wait for my luggage and find my hire car and drive 3 hours to Le Havre…
So, another new stamp in my passport… Not preferred flight routing to France from Houston….
Last day in Venice… Made good use of the museum card today. Visited Museo Correr (another must see), Ca’ Rezzanico, and Palazzo Mocenigo. Wandered around and took a few pictures…. will post them soon, for now a couple from the phone.
Today we arrived back in Venice and disembarked the Vision of the Seas. Getting to the hotel in Mestre was very easy. The ship arrived in port at 7 AM, which was before the other ships (MSC x 2, NCL Jade, etc.) So there wasn’t much of a queue for public transport. After dropping luggage…
Today’s port was Katakalon, Greece. Had a nice excursion with a total of 12 people from our ship. The tour guide was excellent. We visited Olympia and went inside the museum and the archeological site. Photos to come soon… Tomorrow is a sea day, then back to Venice the following day.
Today’s port is Santorini, Greece. Beautiful views. Ate lunch at a nice place, Obelix.
The port of call today was Kusadasi, Turkey. The shore excursion we booked through Shore Fox turned into a private tour. Started the day at the house of the Virgin Mary. Then we proceeded to Ephesus. Also got to visit the terrace houses, which if you don’t see when you visit Ephesus you are missing…
Relaxing day as sea today. Literally just off the coast of Greece at the moment (able to get cellular service from shore). Tomorrow is Kusadasi, Turkey and Ephesus. Second visit, but visiting new places this time. Ephesus is quite amazing and is one place I recommend people to visit.
Today’s port is Dubrovnik, Croatia. The view from the cable car is worth the wait in the queue. The old town is very beautiful. Below is a picture of the cable car. Below picture of thee old city was taken at the lower cable car entrance: Below are pictures from the viewpoint at the…