Travelin' Road Show

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Tues June 3 – Rouen - Giverny

Tues June 3 – Rouen - Giverny

5:30am on-deck. Sailing down the Seine

Beautiful views from the ship

We set our clock to be up at 5:30am as we knew that we would be sailing 50 miles up the famous Seine River to Rouen. We went up to the panorama deck and grabbed a hot chocolate to sit and enjoy the lovely French countryside either side of the ship. It is the first time a Princess Cruise ship has come up the Seine, so I imagine the pilot was a very important addition to the bridge.

Despite our hesitance to book any more excursions with Princess, we decided on the morning we docked, to take the tour to Giverny to see the home of Claude Monet and his famous gardens. Tracy and Chris were on our bus, so it made the trip more fun though Tracy was feeling a little under the weather.

And on to Giverny

Part of Inn habituated by Impressionists

Art studio at the Inn

Poppies at Giverny garden and Museum

Back of Inn

Speaks for itself

Claude Monet family grave

Random artist in village

Our Lunch spot

Sights in Giverny

Giverny is a typical French ‘village’, though it is a bit spoiled by the fact that it has become a tourist attraction. The buildings and streets though, speak for themselves, and one can imagine the days when it was merely a town with a reasonably wealthy painter living a very private life, yet ultimately attracting many other artists and sundry bohemians. We were given a short walking tour of the village and visited the grave-site of the Monet family before having an hour free to wander and have lunch. We chose a nice restaurant with an outdoor patio and were lucky enough to get a table for the four of us outside. Well sated with food and French wine, we joined the group for a tour of the Monet house and gardens. Well worth the visit if you are in the area. It was busy, but the multitude of flowers (in excess of 200,00 varieties) and water lilies made up for any crowds. It really is quite beautiful. One can imagine how Monet was inspired by his garden and the ponds, and it is understandable how devastated he must have been as his sight failed him toward the end of his life. The trip there and back meandered through rustic and rolling French countryside.
The ship was not scheduled to depart until 10pm, so we arranged to go into the town of Rouen with Chris. Tracy stayed behind to rest up. There was a shuttle bus but it had just left so we walked along the River most of the way. We went to get some cold meds for Tracy and then met Chris and Tracy’s daughter Lucie from the shuttle. (She had been to Paris for the day). The four of us, after much searching, found an outdoor restaurant and had a great meal and some good draught beer and many laughs.
The last shuttle was supposed to be at 9pm, but the ship arbitrarily decided to reduce the number of shuttles and stop them at 8:30. We thought we would get a cab and started walking, but there were no cabs to be had and time was running low. On the way we caught up to Jonathan who is confined to wheelchair and his nurse/companion, Candace struggling to get back to the ship. Chris took off ahead of us at great speed to ‘hold’ the ship. Part way there a bus containing some entertainment crew and the ‘Excursions Manager’ came by and spotted us. All of us except Chris got on board. By the time we got back to the ship (15 minutes late) Chris had made it on foot and was colourfully (and rightfully) berating the people on the ship for their stupidity in changing the shuttle times without warning, and pointing out the difficulty it had caused, not just for us but for Jonathan. I think they will hear more about this in our review at the end of the cruise. That evening Janice was quite alarmed to see that the inner, lower area of both legs had turned a very bright scarlet colour. They weren’t itchy or lumpy or bothersome, so she decided to wait and see what it was like in the morning before taking further action.

Claude Monet garden and famous Japanese bridge

Lillies in Monet's Garden pond

Claude Monet's house

Walking through the village - lovely

Back in Rouen

Inside cathedral in Rouen

Dinner in Rouen with Lucie and Chris

Monday, June 2, 2014

Sat May 31- Monday June 2 – At sea

Sat May 31- Monday June 2 – At sea

Atrium on Ocean Princess

After leaving Ceuta, we were very happy to have 3 glorious, lazy days at sea. We have a distinct sense that our African Adventure is now over. We spend hours re-living this past month that has been filled with dreams fulfilled and exceeded. Whatever thoughts we each had of this continent when we made our plans may have been different than reality, but it mattered little.

Stores on Ocean Princess

Africa is so beautiful and yet so tragic. It is a cornucopia of wild colours, spicy aromas, exotic tastes, unimaginable vistas, diverse wilderness and mysterious cultures. Yet so much of it is unavailable for us to see because it is fraught with danger, unimaginable poverty and political unrest.

Club Bar - Ocean Princess

We head North with a mixture of gratefulness and sadness. Gratefulness for all we have, and for all we are able to do. And sadness for this war torn, poverty stricken continent owning a history that has seen it robbed of it’s precious natural resources and millions of it’s precious people.

Casino and Bar Ocean Princess

Back to the trip… reading, relaxing and socializing with those we have come to know on the ship. We are looking forward to getting to Rouen our penultimate port of call.

Rough seas for a day or so

Guest Talent night (Pianist who was blind)

Another Passenger having a go!

The Crew hamming it up

Friday, May 30, 2014

Friday May 30th, Cueta

Friday May 30th, Cueta

Rock of Gibraltar - Early morning

Mt Cueta

Downtoen Cueta early.

Beautiful backdrop for the city

More downtown

View across the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean

"Soota" is the correct pronunciation, apparently. As we sailed into Cueta (which is a Spanish enclave on the African side of the straights) early this morning we were really excited to see the rock of Gibraltar across the straights pf Gibraltar which connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean sea. What a beautiful sight. As legend has it Hercules stood on the two rocks (Gibraltar and Mt. Cueta) and pushed the continents apart. When we docked Cueta, we disembarked and wandered into town, opting to go it alone today rather than an organized tour. Easy walk into town and we strolled around window shopping and generally seeking out the local sights. The central market, cathedral, town hall, Spanish legion museum etc. We wandered along the road besides the Ribera beach...a beautifully pristine sand with great photo ops and views. We tagged on to the back end of the city walking tour for a few minutes and then found a suitable cafe for a cafe-con-leches. Then on to Macdonald's for the free WiFi...and a beer!!!! Just because we could!!! Decided we would get some "contraband " for the ship and brought it on-board before going back into town. We returned into town to go to a street festival with tapas, bars, music etc. .. packed and fun. In the middle of the crowd we spotted Chris and Tracey and Lucy parked in one of the open air bars; we joined them and indulged in a few sangria and Grand reserve Cruzcampo beers, chatting and laughing and people watching. We tottered to the shuttle to get back to the ship with just 30 minutes to spare. Much laughter and silliness on the way back.

The Med-side view of Mt Cueta

Outside Spanish Legion Museum

Leaving port was very memorable as we sailed west through the Straits of Gibraltar. The sun beaming down on the rock, in a crystal clear evening. We were told that often the rock is in cloud so this was even more enjoyable. After dinner we went to watch a Celine Dion impersonator/entertainer, not a bad singer but rather cheesy impersonating even her accent when she spoke. Then on to join Sammy's music trivia game in the casino bar. Hee hee hee!! we won a bottle of Champagne, (we were second but the winners had won earlier and declined their second bottle! Very nice of them.) What a great end to a lovely day. We really enjoyed Cueta, its quite a modern small town with that Moroccan Spanish mix and a young but mature crowd. Pretty Chic and lots of fun.