Tuesday Oct. 28 in Vigo, Spain

We arrived in Vigo around 10:00 AM this morning.  After we woke up we decided to have some coffee and tea in our cabin before getting ready for breakfast.  A nice breakfast at Sabatini’s and then we headed out to tour the town.

It is a beautiful city, but just a few things to see close to town center.  We did not feel like taking a long tour out in to the countryside.  The ship was only going to be in port for 6 hours.  We walked into the old part of the city and saw people making baskets and putting them outside their shops for sale.  Beautiful work, but no way to get one home on the ship or airplane.  They fish market was interesting, with lots of fresh fish and other sea creatures for sale.

After touring the old quarters we walked back toward the ship and stopped at a outdoor restaurant for some refreshments.  Judi had a coffee and I order hot chocolate.  I think they took a couple of semisweet chocolate bars and melted them in my cup and them served it to me.  It was the thickest hot chocolate I have ever had, about the consistency of Hershey syrup.

Back on the ship we ordered room service, and ate out on our deck.  Later Judi went for a massage and I took a nap.  Her massage was good and my nap was good until the Royal Caribbean ship, parked behind us, sounded his horn to call passengers back for departure.  Since we are on the back, when that horn sounded I came straight up out of bed.

We ate in the Michelangelo dining room tonight and then went to the theater for the show.  It was a comedian by the name of Kelly Monteith.  It was good, and his humor centered on the old folks and some of our issues.

The sea was smooth as we left Vigo and tomorrow we will be in Lisbon, Portugal.

The computer problems I was having earlier seem to have been fixed.

Fish Market in Old Town

Hand Made Baskets for Sale

Monument  in Center of Town

It is Sunday and our first day on the ship.  It was a smooth ride across the channel to Le Harve last night.  We planned on having breakfast in our cabin as we had to be down in the lounge by 7:30 AM.  Breakfast was delivered on time and we were ready for our tour on time.

We departed the ship and traveled through the port area, which is quite extensive.  This was a major area for the allies to gain control of during WWII.  They needed this large port to support the advance of the troops out of the Normandy region.  The Germans destroyed as much of the port as they could and it took the Allies some time to bring it operational again.  Our guide was informed us as we left the dock area that we would be crossing the longest bridge in France.  It is a very pretty bridge and rose high above the river to allow the ocean going ships to pass under it.

 

We arrived in Honfleur after an hour bus ride.  The village is an old fishing village that has preserved some of it old building and charm.  There are restaurants, souvenir shops, art studios and wonderful bakeries located around the harbor. 

Some the old wooden churches are still standing.  This is unusual, because most wooden churches in France have either burned or decayed. 

St. Catherine church is the largest wooden church with a separate bell tower in France.  The bell tower is across the street from the church.  It was built separately because the wooden structure was not strong enough to support it.  The interior is unique, as it was built by shipwrights (ship builders).  They knew how to build ships, but not how to build roofs on a large building.  So instead of the usual roof design, they built the roof like the bottom of a boat.  This has withstood the test of time and is what makes this church so unique.

There were 3 stone buildings in Honfleur.  One was the tax collection building, one the jail and the third the Mayor’s house.  Honfleur was the town that the King designated to collect taxes along the Seine River. 

We followed the tour and then found a little café on the harbor and had some hot chocolate, as the weather was cool and demanded it.  After leaving the café we started walking back to meet our bus.  Along the way we passed two West Highland Terriers.  I asked permission to pet one of them and the other one came over for attention.  I told the French lady that I missed mine and she said she understood.  The oldest Westie was 14 and the young one was 2 ½. 

The ride back to the ship was through some interesting countryside and small villages.  Returning to the ship, we cleaned up and then ordered room service for supper. 

Tomorrow is a sea day and the waters are supposed to be choppy.  Hope not to rough.

Honfleur, France

The Old Wooden Church

The Bell Tower

We both woke up early today; guess we are excited about heading out on the Emerald Princess.  After cleaning up we went down to breakfast.  Our waiter was from Hungary and we got into a conversation about Budapest.  The Continental breakfast they served was very good and filling.

Back in our room we finished our last minute packing for the cruise.  Then Judi read and I worked on the blog.  I was able to get a couple of days out as I had been too busy and tired to send them before.

Around 9:30 AM we called for the Bell Boy to come up and get our bags.  By the time we got down stairs they were already in the car for our trip to Southampton.  The trip took about 2 hours and the traffic was terrible.  After reaching Southampton we discovered that the ship was at a different dock than the one the driver was familiar with.  As can be expected we got lost, but he was smart enough to ask for directions and we arrived safely with plenty of time to board the boat.  Security was very tight, almost more than the airlines.  We had priority boarding, but when I asked where we were to go, they asked for a red card.  They said you have to have a red card to use the service.  After a little discussion they found red cars for us and we only waited about 10 minutes to board.

Our cabin was ready and we dropped off our carry-ons and headed down to the dinning room for some lunch.  Two of our tablemates were from New Zealand.  Strong accents, but nice ladies.

After lunch we went back to the cabin to find our luggage and unpack.  Our room steward, Allan came in and introduced himself.  Very nice young man.  He spent a lot of time talking to us about different cruises and ship captains.  Lifeboat drill came at 4:30 PM and we had to walk down to our muster station.  They are inside on Princess ships compared to outside in the weather on other cruise lines.

After the drill we came back to the cabin and changed clothes and then went down to the Crown Grill for dinner.  It was very good.  They have finally done away with New York strips and now have Kansas City strip steaks.

After dinner it was back to the cabin and get ready for tomorrow.

                  

                                                 The Emerald Princess

Thursday Oct. 23, in Paris

Today is Thursday.  Arriving at the hotel at midnight we were up at 7:00 AM for another adventure in Paris.  After having breakfast we met our guide and started our journey out to Versailles.  We found that we would be with another couple.  Surprised to find they were from St. Louis, so we hit it off right away.  They were also cheering for the Royals.

 The guide passed on information all the way out.  Too much to relate here.  Arriving at Versailles we did a short tour of the city and then entered the grounds of the castle.  I will say up front that the Kings knew how to live. 

King Louie XIII was a warrior and a man with a strong personality.  He was able to control the various factions in what is now France and bring them under the rule of one King.  He was a visionary, who saw the need for a unified land and a castle to impress those he wanted to rule.  He used Versailles to impress his subjects.  He started with his father’s hunting lodge and expanded it into the site we have today.  He expanded the hunting lodge into a magnificent castle.  The construction of the Chateau began in about 1682 and by 1683 there were over 30,000 workers employed.  The greatest obstacle to overcome was the supply of water for the fountains.  There were two, two story stables constructed.  One for the King and one for the Queen.  A separate kitchen building was built because of the chance of fire.  He built a large formal garden down the hill from the castle.  The surrounding land was lowered, so the Castle would be higher than the homes of the common folks.  He put in fountains and formal landscaping.  The fountains worked by releasing the water from the castle and as it sought it level it caused the fountains to flow.  No artificial pumps were used.

Inside the castle the Hall of Mirrors was probably the most impressive room, to us.  In the King’s bedroom he had three mattresses on his bed, so he could be higher than the queens bed.  They had separate bedrooms and only privileged persons could visit them there.

King Louie the XIII did everything as a ceremony.  Getting up in the morning was a ceremony, getting dressed, leaving the bedroom, eating breakfast.  He did this to establish himself as the most important person in the world and to impress everyone who visited him.  To observe these ceremonies was by invitation only and was considered a high honor.  When he was dying, from gangrene, he turned this into a ceremony.

Marriages were for political reasons and were often by proxy.... Probably explain the reason Kings kept mistresses.  The role of the Queen was to bear children, mainly boys.  Since most children died at an early age it kept the Queen busy.  It was not unusual to have 10 to 12 kids, in the hope one would survive to carry on the Royal family.

It is said that King Louie the XIII built the kingdom, King Louie the XIV enjoyed the role and King Louie the XV paid for it, as he and Marie Antoinette lost their heads.

The Chateau deteriorated after the French revolution.  Napoleon hated Versailles and refused to live there.  It fell into ruins and took ten years to auction off all the furniture.  At this time there was talk of tearing the Chateau down.

After WW I, the contribution of a wealthy American helped rescue Versailles and allowed it to be the showcase museum it is today.

After spending the morning at Versailles we returned to Paris for lunch and visit the Louvre.

The Louvre is a magnificent museum.  We spent a little over 3 hours there and barely started to take in all that it has to offer.

We started our tour by visiting the lower area, where we saw some of the original construction of the castle.  Workmen from all over Europe worked on building it.  You could see the different styles of stonework they used and the signatures left by the stonemasons.

Our first stop after leaving the lower area was visiting the pink Sphinx.  It was carved out of pink granite, which we were told is very difficult.  From here we moved to the Winged Victory statue.  It was discovered broken in over 200 pieces and was restored and moved to the museum.  The marble statues of Italy was our next stop.  Here the guide discussed the transformation of the statues, from still with no face expressions to showing movement and facial expression.  The women’s body was considered ugly and was always covered, while the male was almost always sculptured naked.  The first statue of a woman with bare breasts actually had a lower body of a male but still covered.

The tour through the area containing paintings of the masters was very interesting.  We saw the Mona Lisa, and found out that it is painted on wood not canvas, and that the wood is rotting from the back.  Experts from around the world are working on a technique to save this famous painting.

The day was long, but not long enough as there was so much to see and enjoy.  The knowledge of the guide was quite impressive and I wish we could have retained all that she told us.

Red Granite Sphinx

Winged Victory

Mona Lisa

Roman Statues