Thursday June 5th – Antwerp and Chris

Thursday June 5^th – Antwerp and Chris

What a great day! We had arranged to meet Janice’s Nephew Chris at the dock. He lives in Brussels and came to Antwerp to see us.  We got off the ship hoping we could find him and there he was walking toward the ship.  We wandered through town and found a coffee shop for a croissant and coffee and a good long natter and catch-up.  It was drizzling rain outside, but we decided to walk some more and he showed us the amazing railway station. He wanted to take us to the Diamond Museum in town and after much futile searching, Chris asked at a diamond shop and they said that the museum had closed 2 years ago… shoot! 

We enjoyed taking in the sites and sounds of Antwerp before finding a restaurant for lunch. It was great. Derek and Chris ordered ribs and we have never seen such a huge portion. It was enough that Chris was able to take some home for his boys (Gabriel and Adam) … it was a pity that Maria and the boys couldn’t make it today but it was a Thursday and Maria had a big project on the go and boys were at school. Hopefully it won’t be long before we get to see them again.

Chris had to leave to pick the kids up at school and we continued exploring the town and found a great café with fast internet to allow us to catch up on emails. As the weather had cleared up we wandered around some more and found a commemorative plaque dedicated to the Canadians who fought to liberate Antwerp during WW2.  Of the 13000 Allied troops who died in that battle 6500 were Canadian.

Derek and I sat on our balcony as the ship departed our last port of call and suddenly spotted a few forlorn looking people on the pier who looked like passengers. Turned out they were!!! The ship left 6 passengers in Antwerp who were too late getting back to the ship after they got lost in their rental car.  We had a drink with the cruise director in the bar and he explained that there is a small window of opportunity in the tide to get into Dover, so we couldn’t wait any longer for them… I cannot imagine how they felt helplessly watching the ship with all their possession on board, only feet from the dock, but it might well have been a million miles away!!

We had our last dinner onboard and said our goodbyes to our wait staff, put our bags outside our room and had an early night. Ready and excited to see Janice’s sister and brother-in-law, Sue and John, tomorrow in Dover.

Wed June 4 – At Sea

Wed June 4 – At Sea

Our last sea day.  Red legs unchanged, we headed down to the med centre thereby not breaking Janice’s habit of visiting it on every cruise so far!! This trip was short and sweet. As she lifted her pant leg to show the nurse at the desk, the Dr. came out of his office, looked down and said “ I know exactly what that is, you don’t need me.. come in and I will show you on the computer”. So we tottered in and he explained that I had “golfer’s vasculitis”, also known as “Disneyworld syndrome”. It always occurs on the inside of both legs and nowhere else and stops abruptly at the sock line. It is caused by exercise in a hot climate followed by stasis and is very common (and I reluctantly admit “as we get older”) MOVING ON……….. wallets intact…. 
Janice’s legs discreetly covered and glad of the cooler weather, we lolled around, did most of our packing and got gussied up for the last formal night. It started with a Captains cocktail Party, where we enjoyed a few drinks with our Aussie friends and then headed in to dinner… Beef Welly with a side of Lobster…. YUM!! 

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

 

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