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April 4th 2016
Published: April 4th 2016
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It's dessert
Oh, yes it is and it gets harder each year. Still, with each journey I shoulder this burden with joy and a few more aches and pains.

To add to my travails, this year Delta inexplicably changed my outgoing flight from Newark to Amsterdam by 1 1/2 hours later than previously scheduled. This necessitated a change in my connecting flight from Amsterdam to Nice. Instead of arriving at 11:30 a.m. I pulled into my hotel at 5:40p.m. just in time for the first meeting with my group.

This is my 10+ trip with Grand Circle/ Overseas Adventure Travel and my first to France. It is a small ship river cruise up the Rhone ending with 5 days in Paris. There are 38 very pleasant travelers and a wonderful tour director named Olivier. He is efficient, caring, and has a great sense of humor. For days he teased us with the burning question: "What is the national dish of France?". The winner got a Michelin map signed by all the crew members. It generated many guesses and lots of laughs.

We started in Nice on a cold, rainy day. The only blue skies and topless bathers to be seen
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Street in Nice
were on post cards. But with rain hats, ponchos, umbrellas, some winter hats and even gloves, we followed Olivier through the city. Safe to say we did not have to fight our way through hoards of other tourists. So my plan for avoiding the masses and extreme heat worked!

Just to let you know... Wifi along the river can be spotty or non existent. I will send updates when time and connections permit.

Okay here is the basic itinerary: Nice, Arles, Avignon, Viviers, Tournon, Lyon, Macon (where we disembark the ship.) We then take a bus into Paris. There I will do a side trip to Versailles, another to Monet's house in Giverny. Olivier has promised us that in addition to a walking tour of Paris he is going to take us to Montmartre. Some of the group will leave to go home but I opted to stay a few more days. My plans are free with the only goals being to visit the Rodin museum and the D'Orsay. After that it is parks, pastry shops, possibly the Eiffel Tower and maybe(if the weather clears up and warms up), a night cruise on the Seine.

Let me
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Nice- still raining
tell you a bit about Nice. One guidebook says that 400,000 years ago elephants roamed the area. i always wondered how Hannibal found an elephant to ride over the Alps. That mystery is now solved. And those great conquerors the Greeks were here and called the area Nikaia. And you know who came next, the Romans. Ruins from their rule, about 17 centuries ago, are still evident with a stadium, a theater, an aqueduct, and thermal baths. I never tire seeing the magnificent structures the Romans built that are still standing today and, sometimes, still in use.

This is my 4th cruise with Grand Circle (Danube, Russia, Turkey/ Greece). I have a health issue and have always kept it low key. I tell the guide or waiter that I do not want to be served desserts. I've always been served a plate of delicious fruit instead. But it seems the pastry chef on this ship has taken this as a personal challenge. I am being served the most spectacular sugar free desserts with a special flourish from the head of the dining room. I've sent a few pictures of them to my daughter. In response my grandson said I
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Yep- more rain
should be on Instagram because that's where people post pictures of food. Well, duh, no idea how to do that and I do NOT usually post food pictures. Yesshh- give a granny a break.

Here 's hoping this will send,

Carolyn/ Gunga


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Yummy!
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Lovely lady with bright flowers on a gloomy day
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Colorful but empty street
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Baked apples just for moi
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Another special creation


4th April 2016

Yay! Paris!
Carolyn, I'm deliriously happy that you're going to two of my favorite museums in Paris. Sit out in the sculpture gardens at Rodin and read a book for a while; you won't be disappointed. I would have suggested Monet's Gardens but didn't know if you had that kind of time. L'Orangerie has Monet's gigantic water lily paintings and is situated in Tuileries...just saying. My entire 2-month trip with then 4-year-old V to Paris and beyond was inspired by the book "Linnea in Monet's Garden." She goes to Marmottan first and then they take a train to Monet's Garden. (The book is how we learned that you are not allowed to picnic inside the museum grounds. ;-p We went about the same time of year in 2010 and it was just stunning with a riot of flowers and plants. A word of advice about the transportation from Vernon to Giverny, if you are going solo by SNCF from Paris. We misread the shuttle schedule and ended up on an hour-long walk (with two strollers and three whiny kids [and three whiny adults, by the end]!) back to Vernon in the blazing sun. Be sure you note the shuttle schedule BACK to Vernon or arrange for a taxi to pick you up again at a predetermined time. The museum might be able to call for a taxi? I wouldn't rely on it, though. It's a long walk back; I don't recommend it on your knee. This is one of those times that the bus tours from Paris direct to Giverny might be advisable--just ditch the guide while your inside. ;-p Bonne chance!! Je suis si jalouse! Vive la France! By the way, we are painting rainy days in my watercolor class right now. I'm officially stealing your colorful but empty street photo for educational purposes. :D (If I get it right, you can have the painting.) Bon voyage!
4th April 2016

So nice
So sweet that you are using my nice Nice photo. Taking a tour to Giverny. Yes, I know I probably could have figured it out on my own but with so little time I just booked the tour Grand Circle offered- same w Versailles. Thanks for your tips. I'm sure I will come back to Paris on my own and take things more leisurely
4th April 2016

Now that is customer service!
I love your chef. He will not be defeated by health issues and he will not allow you to be denied the taste treats he can create. We stayed in a B& B in Giverny and the food was extraordinary. I'll look up the name if you have any interest. It was a meal to remember. If you've read any of our blogs you know we love food photos. Food is love, Food is art. Food is part of each culture.
5th April 2016
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Fabulous cruise!
You're visiting some of my favorite cities in France, and how wise to do it in the off season. I'd take clouds over tourists and heat any day. Great also that you're staying extra days to take in some lovely sites and just saunter about. I love that you have found a way to travel and enjoy the world even with health problems--you're an inspiration!
5th April 2016
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Thanks,Tara
Are you still in Peru? My group is amazing...one woman is 88 and uses a cane but is right in the middle of everything. Another guy, probably 80 ish is recovering from a stroke but walks all over with the rest of us? It's easy to travel around when one is young and healthy. It's inspirational to be with a group of 'creaky' travelers who are as addicted to travel as I am and determined to keep on keepin on. Good to hear from you.
5th April 2016

"I love Paris in the springtime...!!!"
So what is the national food?!? (I guessed escargots!) Do try and see Napoleon and Josephine's home outside Paris at Malmaison and the Cathedral at St. Denis (similar to Westminster Abbey with all its royal tombs) - the site of the guillotine in the French Revolution - the ibuprofen will be worth it! Bon voyage, Ruthie
5th April 2016

I don't believe it !
Steak and pomme frites- really none of us could believe it eirhe

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