It’s A Wrap
I have been home for a week and the time has come for me to sit down and reflect upon my travels (and also share some of the many photos I was not able to post during our trip).
To start with - This was - without a doubt - the ~BEST~ vacation I have ever had!! Twenty-two (count em 22) days is a long time to be away from home but I loved every, single, minute of it. I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing Europe for the first time by ship and I highly recommend it (especially for anyone who wants to get the flavor of many different places all at once). The Celebrity Century is a beautiful ship and the new friends we met on board helped to make this a most memorable occasion (a special "Thank You" to our new friends - you know who you are). Our ship arrived in port around 6:00 am every morning, As the engines loudly signaled our arrival, I could hardly wait to throw open the curtains to view each new port. I would stand out on our balcony in the early morning sunlight and behold the panoramic beauty before me. It was quite a sight. My first moments of "awe" are captured in the “Welcome to…” photos that I shot from our balcony, posted to the blog and I shared with you each day.
My plan is to now highlight the highs and lows of each stop along our journey.
So, let’s get started with our first stop (pre cruise) and also my most FAVORITE place Yep, you guessed it!
PARIS!
And there are so so many reasons why..
First of all, if you think about it, Paris is really one ginormous museum. A magical, cosmopolitan city steeped in history. Paris is a visual feast and a photographer's wonderland. The 5-6 days we spent there did not give us nearly enough time to take in all that this enchanting city has to offer. Something about being there, just felt right to me, and now that I am NOT there, well, it feels as though something is missing. If the ticket didn’t cost so much and the plane ride wasn’t so excruciatingly long, I’m sure I would pop over to Paris every chance I got.
I was very pleased with our HOTEL suite at the Hotel Le A (a very nice boutique hotel centrally located in the 8th arrondissement). We have some photos which I cannot seem to locate among the multitude of pictures we took. At any rate, the staff was pleasant and more than helpful. The hotel provided a very nice breakfast in their lobby each morning. The only draw back (if I should have to name one) was that our suite was on the 4th floor and shortly after our arrival (approx 15 minutes to be exact) the elevator broke down and was not fixed before we left. Every time we went in and out, we had to climb the narrow winding stairs to our room (usuallly stopping briefly on the 3rd floor to catch a second wind).
I found the PEOPLE of Paris to be friendly and helpful. I observed no hint of rudeness. It is true however, that there are lots of Parisians who do not speak any English. In those cases there was usually someone close by who could do an adequate translation, and my high school French came in handy as well.
The METRO was a little unsettling at first, but once we got the hang of it, we were off to the races. The stations are pretty old but each one has its own charm. Kind of felt like I was in an old French movie.
The FOOD was good too. I know most people rave about it but I am not really that in to food so I was more taken by the atmosphere. We went to several nice restaurants but we really liked an Italian place, called La Cavallina, which was very close to our hotel. We ate there twice. On our 2nd visit, the waitress even remembered what I had ordered the first time - which was very helpful (as I could not recall my order - en francais). The meal even included a complimentary glass of a fine French champagne (yum) The patrons were nicely dressed, the dog was under the table and the air was buzzing with conversation......all in French.
Of course in Paris, Desserts were everywhere. Need I say more? But what I enjoyed most was sitting out at the sidewalk cafes and watching all the people go by. In Paris you can make a day of just watching people.
SHOPPING - I think you really need a ton of cash to shop in Paris (OK, maybe I just need a ton of cash to shop in Paris). One day I walked to the Champs Elysees (which was dangerously close to our hotel - I might add) anyway, I strolled in and out of many of the shops and little malls along the way. I found the cutest little boutique and stopped in to find no other customers in the shop. I spent the next 2 hours there, trying on clothes (I bought 4 items which cost me more than I care to say) but the experience was one I will remember for some time to come. Oh, and BTW French women are very tiny and the European sizes are different from ours. if you want to buy clothes there and you are bigger than, say a size 6 - get ready for salesgirl to go into the storage room to find you the BIG clothes sizes.
ah... The City. What can I say? The buildings, the river, the museums, the flowers, the trees. Tres magnifique! I highly recommend the red double decker tour buses. The cost is reasonable and tickets can be purchased for 1-2 days. This tour will give you a good cross section of the most popular sights. I will say that June is the beginning of tourist season and there were soooo many people in the city that we were not able to easily visit many of the attractions. But, It's all just so FRENCH! and I loved it anyway!
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