Exploring Montmartre

We took a chance on the RER-B train to get back into the city!  Fingers crossed we could get back home on it!  We had the metro stops down pretty good and arrived at the foot of the “mount.”   Montmartre is crowned with Sacré-Coeur Basilica (Sacred Heart Basilica).

It is a lovely church with a circle of beautiful stained glass windows.  The line was fairly long but the kind that just kept moving and didn’t take long to be inside.  We spent time looking at everything and lighting candles for persons who have need of God’s blessings.  

We had taken a furuncular up the bottom part of the hill and our RER-B ticket was accepted.  It was the best bargain in Paris.  

Then there was a train to take you on an hour tour of the area.  It is a “bohemian” area so lots of colorful things to look at.  

A famous landmark is the Moulin Rouge, famous for the performance of the Can-Can.  The music is actually Orpheus in the Under World but in US is mostly identified as The CanCan.

A lively and risqué dance probably of French origin, usually performed onstage by four women. Known for its high kicks in unison that exposed both the petticoat and the leg, the cancan was popular in Parisian dance halls in the 1830s and appeared in variety shows and revues in the 1840s.

We stopped for a pizza, found a pharmacy for Ted who was starting with a cold, a luggage place for Kristin who bought too many souvenirs and a Paris bag for my neighbor who keeps an eye on things.

We were able to take the Metro and the RER-B train back without incident.  We left an order for a bellman at 7:00 and a taxi at 7:15 for the next morning. It was going to be a long ride home.  

The bellman came for our bags, the taxi arrived and luggage was stowed.  It was a nightmare of taxis 3 lanes across at the terminal but somehow he got two carts, loaded up our bags and left them on the sidewalk in front of the terminal without getting run over.  We said goodbye to Kristin as she went right while we went left.  Kara had gone home the day before and she warned us to keep passport and boarding pass handy.  We had to show them at least six times.  I got patted down to the point I thought she would charge for a massage.  Wiped everything including the bottoms of my feet!  Kelly and Pat were leaving from a different terminal.  We had time to grab breakfast at the Air France lounge then flew directly to IAH about 9 hours later.  Kristin got stuck in Boston for 5 hours.  Pat and Kelly were also delayed in Dallas.  But all arrived home safely.

Traveling to and Visiting Paris

As mentioned, we missed visiting Brugge, Belgium where we were set up to make Belgian chocolate truffles.  We could not dock due to a labor dispute leading to a work stoppage.  Ted’s comment “Whatever!”

So Saturday we spent docked in La Havre, not a hotbed of activity.  Pat and Kelly went into town, visited a museum and went to Mass after a wedding concluded!  Kristin, Bill and Kara went to a laundromat!  They saw another wedding!  We sent a bagful of clothes to the ship’s laundry but Kristin didn’t get hers out in time to get it back.  We just chilled!  

Sunday was disembarking day and as stated earlier, it apparently didn’t go too well.  I was so happy to use my purple VIP badge to get off.  The ride to Charles de Gaule airport was fine but they dropped us off at Departure Terminal One.  Except we weren’t departing!   We were going to the Hilton which was “adjacent” to Terminal 3!  So we got two carts, found the connect train to take us there.  We could see signs for Hilton but it kept running us in a circle!  Finally a man walked Kristin to the end of a corridor and pointed across the street on the other side of a bus station.

She got us seated on a bench, standing guard over our two carts so she could walk over and get info on the shuttle.  Surprise!  There is none!  She asked at the desk how we were to get to the hotel and she was told “walk.”  So here we were pushing two carts that probably should never have left the Terminal across the street, past the bus stops, around to the front of the hotel.  The doorman greeted us and I asked if businessmen actually walked over every  morning when they were flying out.   He said, “oh no, they call a taxi!”   So taxis will actually take you across the street!  A fact the desk failed to tell Kristin!  

Our room was great, terrific breakfast, key to executive lounge for snacks and drinks so I guess it turned out ok.  

We took RER-B train into Paris.  No problems.  We had read the route would be shut down on Sunday nights starting the week of 10/13, 10:45 pm for maintenance work.  No worries it was 10/12!    But we were aware because it is the only train out to the airport.  We took a Seine River cruise that was sort of hop on/hop off but we rode it all in one trip.  Then we went to a Cafe for lunch.  We saw the outside of Saint Chappell but admittance was by ticket only and there was a really long line.  So here is a photo of what we missed.

We stopped at the Gates of Justice (where Quasimodo was brought to). 

We went to Notre Dame and there were two lines, one extremely long and requiring a ticket.  The other one was short and for people attending Mass.  That’s what we were there for.  It was beautiful pomp and circumstance with amazing music but we didn’t understand a word.  You can tell by the cadence of prayers what is being said such as the Lord’s Prayer’s and the Creed. 

Afterwards we went for an ice cream and then on to a park to watch the Eiffel Tower twinkle on the hour.  

We left at 9:05 to go to the Metro Stop that would take us to RER-B line back to the Hilton at the airport.  We navigated that fine but when we arrived at the RER-B line, the gates were down and locked!  We knew the next Sunday it was to close down at 10:45 pm but it was not to start until 10/13!  We were not alone in our shock.We didn’t trust reading the directions to take 3 different buses so we went back up and took an uber, the second most expensive taxi ride I have ever taken.

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Highclere Castle, Commonly Known as Downton Abbey

I mentioned previously our need for early morning departure for this trip.  David got us down first, the Brit's were a bit late, but we got off first, found our driver and took off.  It took just about two hours, the most expensive limo ride I ever took!

The countryside was beautiful and we saw many row hedges along the way.  Some roads appeared to be one way but they weren’t.  It was a matter of move over and let one pass.  No specific side to do the pulling over!  The driver said you get used to it!  We were not allowed to take photos inside.

Front Gate 

Waiting for our tour to begin

Lady Mary’s Garden Bench

High Tea

Front Doors

This was THE HIGHLIGHT for Kara and Kristin!  We enjoyed it too but not as much as those two!  

The tour was of the house included the halls and rooms that appeared in the TV series and 3 movies.  Everyone had seen all the films and series.  The downstairs kitchen scenes were shot in London but the grand hall, library, sitting room, bedrooms were all featured.  Pat and Kelly took the train into London because they had never been there.  Kara and Bill had flown over two days earlier than us stopping in London before continuing on to Stockholm.  

One thing I was unaware of was the castles connection to Egypt and King Tut’s tomb.  There was a small museum of sorts of replicas and artifacts found in the tomb in a space we would call the basement.  

Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England, is now famous as the shooting location for Downton Abbey, but one of the estate's real-life lords funded the search for Tutankhamen's tomb. George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earrl of Carnarvon, was born on June 26, 1866 and inherited the title and the estate in 1890.

Like the fictional 7th Lord Grantham (and a lot of English peers in the 1880s and 1890s), the 5th Lord Carnarvon married rich to bail himself and the estate out of financial ruin. Shortly after his 1895 wedding to heiress Almina Victoria Maria Alexandra Wombwell, her father, the millionaire banker Alfred de Rothschild, paid off Carnarvon's standing debts and bestowed a modest £500,000 (equivalent to about $81 million in 2019) settlement on his new son-in-law. Lady Carnarvon's fortune is, in part, how the Carnarvons funded archaeologist Howard Carter's excavations in Egypt's Valley of the Kings -- although he also spent a fair chunk of it on racehorses and fast cars, which makes it pretty easy to figure out how he got into so much debt in the first place. Arguably, several years of archaeology were a better investment than an ill-fated Canadian railroad venture.

We hit some traffic on the way back but arrived in plenty of time to make the All Aboard time.  We ate at the specialty Mexican restaurant but it didn’t come close to any  Mexican restaurant here in Texas!  

Amsterdam

The girls had set alarms for 9 am Amsterdam time six weeks before our trip to get tickets for the day we would be in The Netherlands to visit Anne Frank’s house. We stopped by there years ago when it was not such a huge complex, very well run and so sad but informative. It is the first museum where I was given an audio recorder that worked simply and correctly. No buttons to push. Tap it on the number at the door or wall and listen. Worked every time. 

The famous Anne Frank sign listing Rules for Jews.

Jews have to wear a Jewish star; Jews have to hand in their bicycles; Jews are not allowed in the tram; Jews are not allowed to ride in cars, not in private ones either; Jews are only allowed to do their shopping between 3 – 5, except in Jewish shops.

Front door of the house where the Frank family lived for two years.

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Timeline of the Frank family from 1929-1945.  It struck me as an entire lifetime as my mother was born in 1927 and I was born in 1945.

The kids were going to the Van Gogh museum but we had visited it on our previous visit.

We decided to give the HoHo bus another try.  We located the closest stop which was very near the ship.  We had taken a 10 minute taxi drive so it was not real close.  Not only not real close,  it was on the other side of the water and we had to walk to the cross over.  By that time we were closer to the ship than the bus so we just got back on board.

Next up was Highclere Castle, better known to US citizens as Downton Abbey.  THIS WAS THE HIGHLIGHT!  I'll give it a page all its own.  

Settling Into a Rhythm.

Riga, Latvia was up next.  This is the home of the Olympic Latvia Bob Sled team and is its training facility.  They happened to have arrived that day to begin training.  The kids were going to take a run down the training track, driven by a professional woman driver, at 85 mph through the twist and turns.  Ted, Kelly, Bill and I chose not to go.  I got stuck in a bobsled at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Sorings with my friend Eileen.  Two old ladies unable to get out and were helpless laughing our heads off. You need upper body strength to lift your body straight up because you can’t use your legs!  The four of us have enough aches and pains to chance causing more!  So we watched.  Apparently it was exhilarating according to Kara, Pat and Kristin, who went twice! 

Back in town we met our arranged guide to show us around the city center of Riga.  Such beautiful buildings with so much history.  This country was occupied by several neighboring countries at different times and they are working hard to recapture and maintain their culture and language.  We ended up quite a distance from the ship, which we could see, but knew it would take a while to be back before all aboard!  Our guide still had more to show us but we had to leave.  She sang a Happy Birthday song to me right before we left.

We had a rocking and rolling night and were advised early in the morning we were not going to be able to dock in Germany.  The seas and wind were too dangerous for the maneuvers needed for docking.  We celebrated my 80th  birthday, the reason for our trip and also a delayed salute to our April 60th wedding anniversary.  I received two birthday cakes!  

On to Copenhagen, Denmark and our only rain day!

We found Denmark delightful but very expensive for eating.  First thing we did was take a canal boat cruise to see the beautiful new buildings nestled between the ones that have been there over a century.  It wasn’t a great hair day but lots of fun anyway.  We had to stop at the Lego store to buy something you can only get in Copenhagen, and buy some treats from St. Peter’s 400 year old bakery, visit St. Frederick’s Church and a shot of the Little Mermaid from the back.  It reminded me of visitors’ first comment when seeing the Alamo, “that’s it?”

Parliament was starting that day and many dignitaries were in the city.  A motorcade flew by, horns blaring and sirens going off as the King passed by coming or going.  It enabled us to see the Changing of the Guard at Amalienborg Palace.

My comment about expensive to eat was based on our “snack” of nachos and a Coke for me and a pastry and coffee for Ted was $65!  Kara had no drink, only water, and she was charged $5!  They said Oslo is worse!

Oh Boy!

This will take some time so bear with me over the next few days!

Our car arrived, right at noon, driven by a young man in white shirt and tie!  He loaded our suitcases and off we went.  No trouble checking in but a tour must have arrived right after us because when we turned to leave the counter there was a very long line!

We went to the Delta lounge until we were ready to board.  It was an uneventful flight and we arrived in Amsterdam with 3 hours to kill.   We had to do passport control and get to our next gate but figured we would avoid the very long line and do it later.  We wanted to go to the KLM lounge but there are several and we wanted to go to one near our gate and passport control.  We stopped at Assistance to inquire and just like that they took us by cart to the lounge, put us right through passport control and then returned later to drive us in a cart to our gate very far away!  What service!  They would not accept tips!

We arrived in Stockholm on time and took a taxi to the Hilton where we met up with Kristin.  We went out to dinner at a pizza place “an 8 minute walk on mostly flat ground!”  A 4% grade is NOT flat!  The next morning we sought out a crepe restaurant to start our day. 

Kara and Kelly and husbands were due in later that day so we all boarded the ship that afternoon. We, however, had a bit of a dust up when we were denied access to the priority embarkation we were entitled to by staying in the Owner’s Suite.  

We showed her the cabin number provided to us at the check in counter and said it was the Owner’s Suite and she pointed us to a long line that didn’t look quite right. So Ted went back and got the  same answer.  She only asked if we were VIP (he didn’t know what constituted that) and she asked if we had Platinum status and he said no, Gold!  Again, sent to the long line. Kristin sought out another employee who said “Follow me and took us to a small line being led by a gal carrying a VIP sign. We were taken to a special elevator and immediately to a Specialty restaurant for a free welcome lunch!  We were given our room key cards that said VIP!  When Kara arrived she said the lady only looked for their names on the list and they were directed to the VIP line!  What a novel idea!  They were adjacent to our suite in a Penthouse, a suite which connected.  We had a balcony off the front and one on the side.  The girls went to the spa several times while at sea.

 We are now only 4 points away from Platinum!  And that IS VIP regardless of your cabin! 

Since the ship was not sailing until 3 pm the next day, we all visited the VASA museum.

The Vasa was a 17th-century Swedish warship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 due to instability caused by a top-heavy design and the placement of its heavy gunports. After being lost for centuries, the ship was salvaged in 1961 and is now a well-preserved museum exhibit showcasing 17th-century life and shipbuilding. 

A replica in its original colors

Later that evening the kids all went to the ABBA museum where they danced and sang and afterwards they went to the ice bar. 

My idea of having a drink does not include sitting on a block of ice at 7 below but they thought it was great. 

In the morning we had arrived in Finland for a day in Helsinki.

We took the HOHO bus (hop on hop off) with our first stop at the Church in the Rock.  It was beautiful rock, impressive to look at but certainly didn’t impress me as being a church.  It was very large and is popular for weddings and concerts. But there were no church trappings at all!  We inquired about a restroom but there was none available to the public for health and safety reasons!  Huh?  Thus began our two week search for toilets!  

We stopped at a small cafe in our quest and were told they were downstairs (they were ALL downstairs) free to customers or 2 euros just for use!  We had a cup of coffee and peed for free!

Back on the bus I fell asleep.  I woke up when Ted told Kara we were just going to ride the complete route and return to the ship.  Jet lag caught up with me.

We all had dinner together every night.  Specialty Dining was for 5 dinners and the other 7 nights were in the Main Dining room.  The food was just as good there as the Specialty restaurants so I am not sure I would pay for them if it wasn't part of a good package.  We were able to purchase 5 dinners each for $200 but were expected to tip 20% against the normal price of $40-60 each.  So $16, $20 or $24.  Added to the $20 each to purchase it would be more worth it if the food was better than the free, no tip MDR dinners.  But it wasn’t.  

Next up was Estonia.  We were on the lookout for fat Margaret!  We toured a beautiful city center, ate delicious local food and bought some woolen things from a local artisan store.  We found the three Sisters Hotel so had to have a photo.  

We found Fat Margaret!

Fat Margaret, or Paks Margareeta, is a robust cylindrical tower located in Tallinn, Estonia, built in the late 15th century as part of the city's fortifications. Named after a local legend, this historic landmark served as a cannon tower and now houses the Estonian Maritime Museum. Visitors can explore the museum's extensive exhibits on maritime history and the coastal traditions of Estonia. The tower provides stunning views of the city and the harbor, making it a popular stop for tourists.

And a Texas Cantina!

We returned to the ship and had dinner and saw a magic show.  Kara was invited on stage for one portion.  But they put a talking mask on her and it was funny but other than selecting cards she didn’t have much to do!  It all blends together and we did not go to every evening’s entertainment despite the fact we had Specialty seating as a VIP.  

I learned booking Concierge level certainly has its perks!  Breakfast brought to our room each morning by Richard.  Excellent steward, Michael, kept things tidy and clean.  Richard kept our bar stocked and brought a treat each afternoon.  Sometimes finger sandwiches, some times cookies or chocolate covered strawberries.  

David, our Concierge, handled all the reservations for meals, excursions, special requests.  He was instrumental in getting our dining room reservations in order and mostly seeing we got off the ship in England to get to Downton Abbey in time for our tour.  There was face to face England Immigration starting at 8 am.  We had a 10:30 tour and a 2 hour limo ride!  We made it, first in line when the UK folks showed up a bit late.

On debarkation day it apparently turned into a cluster XXXX because people did not wait for their level to be called.  We were Priority Pink 1 bus departing at 6:30 am.  It was a 2.5 hour ride to Paris and everyone was wanting to get there as soon as possible.  We were led through areas not assessable to the public and were taken past a host of unhappy people who should not have been there at that time.  There was a lady trying to tap out in front of me without that purple VIP card and was refusing to move.  They threatened to call Immigration on her.  She moved and my purple VIP card was the magic ticket after David wove us through that maze.  Glad we missed the rest of the commotion.

Ted, Kristin and I were on Bus 1 when we received word Kara’s luggage was not there.  Turns out a cart for Priority One folks was not brought to the hall!  It put them on Priority Bus 3 but we arrived at CDG about the same time,  much more about that later!

Life was good!

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