Barcelona SOS Mediterranean Greek Isle Cruise w/Paris and Copenhagen Review

[crvng4mr]

You are a trooper! Can't wait to hear the rest of the story...

 

Ciera, Hope your adventure to Auburn is wonderful. Two of my friend's children got their MD there. God bless you on the rest of your life journey.

 

Ayasha, it gets better after the shock of leaving them at school. Tears all the way home. You have done an amazing job of raising them!

 

;)

 

Thank you!

[crvng4mr]

What a fantastic review. I am booked for a 12-day for my birthday next year. Leaving out of Barcelona. I cannot wait. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Thank you! You are going to love it!!! I am excited for you.:D

[crvng4mr]

Loving this, can hardly wait for Paris, and Copehagen. Thanks again, for

the great review and pictures.

 

 

I didn't know how much better this trip could get but it definitely did! Thanks for following my review.

[sr4mjc]

I just spent 10 days in Europe, half of it in Paris and didn't have anything that interesting happen in the metro lol.. Nor did we ever feel unsafe, but I definitely kept an eye on my belongings. Too many pickpockets.

Edited August 10, 2014 by sr4mjc

[crvng4mr]

Aleysha this is such a funny coincidence for me. Last time we were in Paris we sat at a cafe/bar directly opposite your hotel wondering what it is like and thinking it might be a nice place to stay next time we're back. Well because of you I guess I know what its like now and heck even how to get there ! We are unfortunate enough to use Ryanair a lot of the time and yes most of them sound like your experience. :D

 

Wow! That is a coincidence! I will never stay at any other hotel in Paris but this one form now on. That is how much we loved it and it's location to everything.:D

 

Okay maybe I won't try Ryanair again :eek:. How do you do it? What drugs do I need to take?

[crvng4mr]

I just spent 10 days in Europe, half of it in Paris and didn't have anything that interesting happen in the metro lol.. Nor did we ever feel unsafe, but I definitely kept an eye on my belongings. Too many pickpockets.

 

You mean you weren't lucky enough, lol. It was of course an isolated situation but to my daughter who hates metros anyway it was the reason never to ride one again. I definitely never felt unsafe in Paris or the entire vacation.

[crvng4mr]

Woke up and guess what...............WE ARE IN PARIS!!!!! Well of course we are because that is where we went to sleep last night, duh, but can you feel my enthusiasm.

 

I wasn't prepared to fall in love with Paris the way I feel in love with Paris. I wasn't ready.

 

We woke up refreshed, happy and ready to take on the city. I mean didn't I tell you we were in Paris.....oh I guess I did. The hotel offers breakfast for an additional 13 euro per person but there is so much to eat around it really isn't necessary.

 

We are staying in the Latin Quarter and after much deliberation with myself and the help of another travel site and those members I am glad of the location and hotel I chose. The young lady at the front desk, Caroline, was extremely helpful with suggestions for breakfast and going over my tentative schedule for the day. It was raining a bit that morning and the hotel has many large black umbrellas for you to borrow. As we only had one small one we took one with us as well.

 

We headed to Paul to grab some much awaited croissants and some coffee for myself. I didn't realize at the time Paul was a chain but was happy to see them in other locations around Paris throughout our stay.We grabbed our breakfast and an awesome coffee and headed to our first stop Notre Dame.

 

Now Paul's is about 2 short blocks away from the hotel and in the opposite direction 2 blocks away is the Cathedral. When we turned the corner and could see Notre Dame was so close it was like the sun was shinning even though it was still raining off and on. There was a line when we got there to get in but it was only about 5 minutes long.

 

This was a big moment for me and as luck would have it mass was going on so the kids and I sat for mass. I took communion but the kids felt a bit uncomfortable doing so. Then we walked around and tried to see every intricate thing and lit candles. I wish I could have brought home something from there but I definitely will return.

 

I will say there were many people being very disrespectful there and obviously tourist. I do not believe they were doing it on purpose but caught up in taking pictures and talking that disrupts others who are trying to pray or listen to mass. This one dad for at least twenty minutes, maybe longer as we had moved on by then, was blocking access to some of the candles by the cross so he could take a million pictures of his kids. He was directing them and placing them in different poses and the kids were about 4 and 6. I really had to pray not to say anything.

 

Then we walked down the side street that has tourist shop after tourist shop and plenty of items to take back. Our plan was to get to Rue de Rivoli, then find a place to grab lunch, continue walking down to the Louvre, walk over the lock bridge, then on to the Rodin Museum and see what happens after that.

 

Will we make it? First some pictures.......

[crvng4mr]

 

Paul's

 

 

On our way to Notre Dame

 

St. Michel

 

[crvng4mr]

 

 

 

 

 

[crvng4mr]

 

 

 

 

 

[crvng4mr]

 

 

 

 

 

[crvng4mr]

[Iamthesea]

We headed to Paul to grab some much awaited croissants and some coffee for myself. I didn't realize at the time Paul was a chain but was happy to see them in other locations around Paris throughout our stay.We grabbed our breakfast and an awesome coffee and headed to our first stop Notre Dame.

 

Hi, I have been following your wonderful review because it reminded me of some of my past travels where we have visited each of your destinations. Not until you mentioned Paris, and how much you loved it, where you stayed, and Paul's!, have I felt a need to post. :)

 

The Spring before last, my DH, my brother and his wife rented an apartment on Quai du Marche Neuf, right at the corner of the Saint Michel Bridge and across the Seine from your hotel. We were a hop and a skip from Notre Dame and could see it from our 3rd floor balcony (as well as the Eiffel Tower) and we agree...the Latin Quarter and Sainte Germaine areas were the perfect places to stay. :)

 

Every morning, we couples would take turns walking across the bridge and down a block to Paul's to buy coffee, danish and quiche. :) So good! We had fun (much to the amusement of the staff) trying to place our order in French. :D I'm sure it was the same Paul's that you visited. I needn't realize that they were a chain.

 

Your children are very blessed to have such a generous and caring Mom.

;)

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your adventures in Paris'.

 

PS - The last port of call that we have visited was Copenhagen. The stop concluded our Baltic's cruise this past May, and was one of our favorites. The cruise began and ended in Amsterdam, but we spent several days post cruise in Germany. :)

[Cancruz]

How did it go, Mom?

[denisey]

 

 

Hmmm...You can tell this Jesus and Apostles are French, they are wearing Louis Vuitton!

[Danish]

Please donot stop - we want to hear about the rest of your tour as well:)

[crvng4mr]

Hi, I have been following your wonderful review because it reminded me of some of my past travels where we have visited each of your destinations. Not until you mentioned Paris, and how much you loved it, where you stayed, and Paul's!, have I felt a need to post. :)

 

The Spring before last, my DH, my brother and his wife rented an apartment on Quai du Marche Neuf, right at the corner of the Saint Michel Bridge and across the Seine from your hotel. We were a hop and a skip from Notre Dame and could see it from our 3rd floor balcony (as well as the Eiffel Tower) and we agree...the Latin Quarter and Sainte Germaine areas were the perfect places to stay. :)

 

Every morning, we couples would take turns walking across the bridge and down a block to Paul's to buy coffee, danish and quiche. :) So good! We had fun (much to the amusement of the staff) trying to place our order in French. :D I'm sure it was the same Paul's that you visited. I needn't realize that they were a chain.

 

Your children are very blessed to have such a generous and caring Mom.

;)

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your adventures in Paris'.

 

PS - The last port of call that we have visited was Copenhagen. The stop concluded our Baltic's cruise this past May, and was one of our favorites. The cruise began and ended in Amsterdam, but we spent several days post cruise in Germany. :)

 

Thank you so much! I wish we had more time in Copenhagen but that just means I have to go back. I can't wait to visit Amsterdam and Germany! That must have been wonderful.

[crvng4mr]

How did it go, Mom?

 

 

Hi Susan! It was great! She loved it soon as we got there and has been doing well all week. I am so blessed as she has called me at least 3 times a day since we left her Friday plus text just to tell me about her class or day. Same as if she was here almost.

[crvng4mr]

Hmmm...You can tell this Jesus and Apostles are French, they are wearing Louis Vuitton!

 

That is so funny! I didn't notice that until you pointed it out!

[crvng4mr]

Please donot stop - we want to hear about the rest of your tour as well:)

 

 

I'm here Danish!!!!! Sorry, I was all wrapped up in preparing to take my daughter to college and my parents being here. I will post more tomorrow, promise!

[Cruz-On]

What an awesome review! That was really awesome to meet people that live so close to you million miles away. We Floridians are all over the place :)

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

hey Ayasha, we're back from our cruise and I just caught up...still in absolute awe of your pictures...can I hide you in my suitcase or under some kind of invisibility cloak, take you along secretly and make you take all of my holiday pictures from now on as well:o? love 'em! LOVE 'EM L O V E ' E M !!!

 

Stef

[crvng4mr]

We last left off.....weeks ago....on Rue de Rivoli.

 

We found a local sandwich shop for lunch that of course had free wifi. We sat and ate for a bit and continued window shopping until we got to the Louvre.

 

It is really different walking to the Louvre from this side as you never see it in pictures. It feels like a huge square or a Parliament. It took us a minute to take it all in and after walking through the courtyard we finally came to the glass pyramid that is usually shown in the Louvre pictures.

 

I had already decided I wanted to purchase the 2 day museum pass for Ciera and I but we couldn't use it until the next day as we were going to visit Versailles and it is closed on Mondays. At this point there was not a big line for security at the pyramid entrance and we were inside in less than 5 minutes. Inside we found the office which sold the passes and purchased them. *sidenote* They also sell week long passes for the Louvre at reduce rates for students.

 

Now the plan was to come back to the Louvre the next day to use the pass. We exited and walked half of the Tuileries Gardens while taking in all the sights. How amazing is it to have an amusement space right next to a beautiful garden and the Louvre while at the same time looking at the Eiffel Tower.

 

Walking through the gardens is when we got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. We are in Paris!!!!!!! The weather had brightened up right after we left Notre Dame so we were enjoying all of this in beautiful weather and I just couldn't hold my excitement anymore. So what did I do? I started dancing! Yep, I started dancing, happily. And since we all were in the Paris trance the kids played along as well as a french man walking his dog and a french man relaxing on a bench. It was something straight out of movie.

 

Did you know there are goats living in the Tuileries Gardens? We didn't either but we met 2 of them! At first we thought there was only one and that it was loose but with closer inspection we could see it was attached by a rope and that is when we saw the second one. They were in the water ditches and we assume they are there to keep the grass low as it is quite steep and probably 4 feet deep. Which is why some people didn't even notice.

 

Next we crossed the Seine River on the bridge that now seems to be the second bridge taken over by locks. I forget the name of the bridge but on the other side is a statue of Thomas Jefferson. There was some sort of health fair going on right on the bank of Seine with plenty to keep you moving. They had people performing on stage, soccer, jump rope, basketball, food and many other things all free except the food, of course. We enjoyed the festivities for about an hour and then set out to find the Rodin Museum.

 

Of course with my handy map Caroline gave me at the hotel with all the things we wanted to do highlighted, we set out in the direction of the museum. This took us through the St. Germain district, which happens to be completely dead on a Sunday. It was quite a walk and after a couple of policemen confirmed our directions we reached the Rodin Museum in about 25 minutes and 25 minutes before closing.

 

Unfortunately for those without passes they were closed, even though they didn't officially close for another 25 minutes. A nice woman came to the door with security and turned an overly zealous father and his family away while motioning for us to wait until they left. I explained we only wanted to see the outside and that although we did have passes we didn't want to use them until tomorrow and would happily pay. She waved us in and told us to enjoy as I thanked her profusely in French. It is only a few euro to see the outside gardens, where the Thinker is located, but she lets us in for free. It pays to be patient and humble .....and not so loud which usually is hard for me.

 

We walked around outside and took pictures. We talked about the differences between the David and the Thinker and how Rodin actually lived right where we stood. We used up the entire 25 minutes and then the free facilities. Now really pooped and thirsty, as we hadn't eaten or drank anything since before the Louvre we decided to head back towards our hotel on foot. It seemed easy enough as it was pretty straight forward. We would stop and grab a drink or bite if we saw something open and interesting.

 

We passed many consulates and about 2/3rds of the way to the hotel found a supermarket and quickly downed our drinks. I sat on a bench, probably shouldn't have as I wanted to stay there :eek: I was so tired, and gathered up the last bit of steam to make it back to the Latin Quarter and we found a lovely place less than half a block from our hotel with a wonderful pre-fix menu and a table available outside.

 

We all dined on Mussels, Steak and Frites, and chocolate mousse and ice cream. It was delicious! Not only that it was also cheap. Only 12 euros! We rolled ourselves back to the hotel as now it was about 8:30 - 9 pm and even though the streets seemed to really be coming alive with entertainers and street artist we passed out in our comfortable beds.

 

Pictures next!

[crvng4mr]

The Louvre

 

 

 

[crvng4mr]

Tapa talk is very slow to load pictures so this might be a bit but there are more coming!