* LIVE from the Rotterdam - 30 day Passage to Spain and Western Europe - Mar. 30th*

[kazu]

Next, we were off to Corf Castle.

 

 

It was built in the 10th century. Originally built of wood, William the Conqueror had it changed to stone. He was a huge builder.

 

 

Elizabeth I sold it to one of her courtiers, a favourite entertainer and it was held by that family for nearly 400 years until the parliamentary reformists took it from them. The lady of the castle at the time took the keys to the castle with her to another village where they still remain.

 

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

The village of Corf is very pretty and quite enchanting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the houses have stone roofs.

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

Then we were off to Lulworth Cove to see Lulworth castle.

 

 

It was badly burned in the 1920's and apparently it was too expensive for the owners to repair.

 

The area around it is very pretty.

 

 

On our way to Durdle Door, we were awestruck by the beautiful scenery.

 

 

The beautiful yellow is rapeseed. It produces an oil used for cooking and is supposedly healthier than olive oil.

 

 

 

It was a long way down at Durdle Door to see the arch.

 

 

the footpath was closed at one point so the close up of the arch in the stone will have to suffice.

 

 

 

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[kazu]

This is the other side of the same Cove.

 

 

It forms a horseshoe made by the water and will change over time.

 

 

A very pretty, picturesque spot.

 

 

 

 

On the wall of a little restaurant/hotel. Loved it!

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

It was time to visit another spot ....Weymouth. (For anyone coming to Portland, if you prefer to just go to Weymouth, there is a free shuttle that will take you there).

 

 

 

Weymouth is full of Edwardian buildings maintained as such by law even though many are now hotels. It is a popular spot to visit and was made that way by the monarchy who liked to visit it.

 

 

And it was here that our group decided to have a little bite and savour the flavour.

 

DH made me take this picture...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

The food was pretty good.

 

We tried everything from fish and chips to a popular crab sandwich, etc.

 

A bit of food porn for you all...

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, fresh seafood was the priority for our little group.

 

 

 

 

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[Lauranne]

Hi Kazu,Thanks for the wonderful thread. Rapeseed is more commonly called canola here in Canada.

Lauranne

[kazu]

Hi Kazu,Thanks for the wonderful thread. Rapeseed is more commonly called canola here in Canada.

Lauranne

 

Lauranne, that is what we thought too and asked the guide. She intimidated it was not the same. We thought it was, Our guide said that this can go to a higher temp than canola oil or other oils.

 

It was really pretty though. Being Canadian, I'm with you

[Krazy Kruizers]

We love visiting quaint little towns like you are visiting. We always found the people in them were very friendly.

Hope your suitcase and box make it to your Paris hotel okay.

[1of4]

<snip>

 

Many of the houses have stone roofs.

 

 

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Slate roofs are not common in Canada but they sure are beautiful. I met a slater on a flight to Glasgow about 20 years ago lamenting the fact he could get no work so was returning home.

 

How did the train trip go? Well I hope, and your suitcase was waiting for your arrival.

 

Enjoy Paris!

[Onelung]

Lauranne, that is what we thought too and asked the guide. She intimidated it was not the same. We thought it was, Our guide said that this can go to a higher temp than canola oil or other oils.

 

It was really pretty though. Being Canadian, I'm with you

 

It might look pretty but it is terrible for hay fever sufferers - one of the worst culprits. Glad you are enjoying Dorset, its a wonderful county.

[kazu]

We love visiting quaint little towns like you are visiting. We always found the people in them were very friendly.

Hope your suitcase and box make it to your Paris hotel okay.

 

The people were fantastic KK.

 

Believe it or not, my suitcase (boxed in) was supposed to get here tomorrow. When I arrived at the hotel, they told me it was here and in my room!

 

Very impressed with the service.

 

Slate roofs are not common in Canada but they sure are beautiful. I met a slater on a flight to Glasgow about 20 years ago lamenting the fact he could get no work so was returning home.

 

How did the train trip go? Well I hope, and your suitcase was waiting for your arrival.

 

Enjoy Paris!

 

Hi Gail,

 

The train trip was a bit of an "adventure" so to speak. Just goes to show that no matter how well you plan, things happen and you have to roll with the punches.

 

Nothing serious but disconcerting at the beginning, but we went with the flow and all was good.

 

We arrived yesterday and have spent the day in Versailles. I want to finish the live thread first (yes, I plan on doing so) and then will continue with our Paris post cruise as I think some people might enjoy it. (And I already have a couple of stories - LOL) but first I have to finish Portland and catch up on the rest of the cruise.

 

I had plenty of time left on my wifi but it was not co-operating even though we were close to land:confused:

 

Our hotel is a little gem. DH was VERY surprised in the good way. Kazu scored ;)

[kazu]

Next we were trundling to Abbotsbury

 

 

 

And of course we had to admire the swans

 

 

And the lovely views

 

 

 

And then we were off for a bit of a surprise. We thought it was just to see another nice view..

 

 

 

 

 

There was a huge beach like hill again and our guide wanted to us to climb it and climb down. It's hard work in the sand a couple of people stayed at the top to watch (or laugh at us). But boy did they miss out!!! The pics above were taken from the top of the hill.

 

 

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[kazu]

I knew my legs would pay for walking in the sand and I was cleaning it out of my shoes for two days, but it was worth it.

 

You've heard of the white cliffs of Dover? While these are not white but they are competing for sure.

 

 

 

3 of us headed down. (2 stayed up) I stopped and took this pic. Ken (kennykat's DH) insisted I had to come all the way down.

 

So I made the trek and was rewarded

 

 

 

 

 

After making our way back up that high hill we headed back to Portland with a little stop on our way.

 

 

 

We were in this town where we had spotted one of the old telephone booths on our drive.

 

 

 

We wanted to see how many people we could fit in it (we were only 5 and thought we might be able to) but alas, 1 or 2 refused but, it was just as well since it like many phone booths have been changed to a book depository since they are rarely needed now.

 

Oh what the heck...we posed anyways..

 

 

 

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[kazu]

The town was so pretty and alive with lovely flowers.

 

 

 

 

Our time was coming to an end in Portland, but we were reluctant to go back to the ship and 3 of us desperately needed wifi, so we hit the pub before the port entrance.

 

 

Of course we got back in time but Portland had more for us before we left.

 

They had a lovely band playing for about a half hour before we sailed.

 

 

 

They played for both the Seabourn ship in port and us. Here is the narrow passage that we have go go through to get out of Portland (Seabourn is in the pic)

 

 

 

 

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[Lizzie68]

I know those cliffs so Well! Just back from our cruise and have a lot of catching up to do here, but stopped by to say hi.

 

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[kazu]

I know those cliffs so Well! Just back from our cruise and have a lot of catching up to do here, but stopped by to say hi.

 

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Hi Lizzie!! Welcome home. Hope you had a good cruise.

 

The cliffs were amazing. My pics don't do it justice really IMO.

 

All set to load more as I am putting my feet up after a da in Paris and tap a talk is not co-operating. <sigh>. Internet is great though at the hotel.

[kazu]

While the band was playing we saw other activity on the dock.

 

 

Yes, we were going to get canon salutes

 

 

A great send off from our lovely Portland. Three gun salute, great band and beautiful people. Thank you Portland.

 

Soon dinner was waiting for us. Here's our menu for the night:

 

 

 

Dinner was quite edible and we enjoyed it !

 

A great finish to a great day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Kennykat]

HI Jacqui, Thanks for taking the time to do your live on the cruise....we are enjoying every minute of it! So glad your luggage arrived, and early! Sounds like your hotel and Paris are fabulous. We are enjoying Amsterdam and tiptoed through the tulips today! Thanks for everything!

Claudia and Ken

Edited April 30, 2017 by Kennykat

[DocJohnB]

This has been a fun, albeit vicarious cruise for me. And, I am a week or so behind you having just arrived in Cadiz (on the thread) :')

Thanks for taking the time to write the "review".

[keikobad]

Hi Kazu, thank you so much for the detailed live thread which is a bless to read.

We leave Paris today after a long weekend and if you still have time I highly recommend the afternoon tea in the Gallerie of the Plaza Athene Hotel. It is very famous in Paris because of the high quality of the patisserie and not a tourist event. We loved it. Enjoy Paris and have a safe trip home!

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

HI Jacqui, Thanks for taking the time to do your live on the cruise....we are enjoying every minute of it! So glad your luggage arrived, and early! Sounds like your hotel and Paris are fabulous. We are enjoying Amsterdam and tiptoed through the tulips today! Thanks for everything!

 

Claudia and Ken

 

 

 

Have a great time in Amsterdam you two!. I envy you tiptoeing through the tulips!

 

Thanks for a great time on board and on tours.

 

 

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[kazu]

Our next day was LeHavre and the Captain had announced earlier as we were getting close to Portland that there was a potential strike by the dock workers starting at 10 pm. He had requested we be allowed to stay overnight (which was refused). We were originally scheduled to leave at midnight so all on board was changing from 11:30 pm to 9:30 pm unless negotiations succeeded.

 

When we returned from Portland, we had the notice in our room.

 

 

Later that evening the Captain regretfully informed us that there was no success in negotiations and the time in LeHavre had to be reduced as outlined in our letter.

 

While it had no effect on our tour, I felt sorry for those that were going to Paris on this day. Two hours lost after the long trip there and back is a lot of time.

 

We were headed to Rouen and HonFleur today.

 

So before I forget,here is the When and Where for our LeHavre day..

 

 

 

 

 

Our group(s) were on time (as always) and once our tours arrived we headed out. Our first stop would be Rouen where we had a walking tour to do.

 

No walking tour in Rouen is complete without first visiting the Cathedral

 

 

 

 

Just a close up for some detail

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

I love the special place for Jeanne d'Arc

 

 

And the stained glass windows in her alcove that tell her story

 

 

 

The Cathedral is magnificent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

Just a few more pics inside.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I mistakenly listened to the guide. I say mistakenly because she all of a sudden headed out without giving us any notice. I should have gone around more rather than listened. Even though I have visited the cathedral before, there never seems to be enough time.

 

 

 

 

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