Thursday night we drove to Toronto and
boarded a late-night red-eye flight to Paris which landed at Charles
de Gaulle Airport at 9:15 a.m. on Friday.
Our room at The Marriott Opera Ambassador
Hotel in Paris wasn't ready when we arrived at 11:00 a.m. so
we left our luggage with the Bell Captain and boarded a hop-on hop-off bus for a tour of 'The City of
Light'.
Then we had a well-earned nap!
Our Paris hotel.
Lunch at a sidewalk café in Paris.
Nice!
Notre Dame Cathedral is still being
restored.
It tasted just as good as it looked!
Saturday May
20, 2023
It was a busy day in Paris. We took an Uber
to the Champs-Elysees where Carol browsed through the Disney
Store while I waited just down the street at the Arc de
Triomphe. We enjoyed the amazing view from the top of the
Arc and then, beside the Eiffel Tower we boarded a Bateau
Parisiens and cruised along the Seine passing under 22
bridges. The adventurous part of the day was our tuk-tuk
ride from the Eiffel Tower to Sacre-Coeur Cathedral at the top of
the dome at Montmartre. Yikes - it was thrilling and a lot
of fun!
A rooftop garden in the foreground and
Montmartre on the hill in the background.
'Is my hair OK?'
The Crystal Palace
That's The
Musée D'Orsay behind us.
The Louvre
Notre Dame Cathedral from the river.
These fools must have dropped something
valuable!
The
Musée D'Orsay again.
'Hey, there's that danged tower again!'
'Let's take a tuk-tuk to Montmartre!'
Yippee Ki-yay!
The Moulin Rouge
Traffic in Paris is CRAZY! (and so are
tuk-tuk drivers)
Paris in the distance behind us.
The same restaurant again. Great
desserts!
Sunday May 21,
2023
A limo service took us from Paris to
the Newport Bay Club at Disneyland Paris in style; our first
ride in a Tesla.
Our room wasn't
ready so we left our luggage with the Bell Captain and
headed to Disneyland.
We spent almost the entire day in the
theme park, returning to the hotel at 3:00 p.m. to unpack
and settle in our room. Then we headed right back to
Disneyland and stayed until the park closed after the 11:00
p.m. fireworks.
It was a very long day but the Disney
D-Light drone show and the fireworks made it all worthwhile!
<
Monday May 22,
2023
We spent the morning
at Disneyland Paris and went to Walt Disney Studios for the
late afternoon and evening.
Tuesday May 23,
2023
This was our last day
at Disneyland and we still hadn't covered all of it.
There was still plenty of ground to cover!
Wednesday May 24,
2023
We rode the hotel
shuttle to the Chessy train station which is right beside
the entrance to Disneyland and boarded a high speed train to
Strasbourg.
There we switched to a local train which took us
to Basel Switzerland where we were to begin our Adventures
By Disney cruise on the Rhine River.
The ride was smooth and quiet but the
French countryside was a
blur as it flew past the window.
I downloaded a GPS Speedometer
app for my phone and checked our speed.
HOLY COW!
We peaked at just over 200 MPH.
At Strasbourg we switched to a regular
commuter line with trains
running to Basel every 30 minutes.
It was a bit slower, but Via Rail
and GO Transit still have something to strive for!
Our corner room at the Hyperion Hotel
gave us a nice view of the city!
Thursday May 25,
2023
We had breakfast in
our hotel and dropped off our luggage in the lobby with the
Adventures By Disney guides Amanda, Susanne, Daniel and
Byron. We didn't need to be to
the ship until 5:00 p.m. so we hopped on a streetcar right
in front of the hotel and rode into the old historic
district of Basel.
We explored the narrow cobbled streets
and scaled some steep hills on our way to a wonderful
farmer's market and the Basel Minster, a cathedral built
between 1019 and 1500.
We enjoyed a light lunch at an outdoor
cafe across the platz from the Minster and when we finished
exploring the old church we walked along the shore of the
Rhine to board the Amalucia which will be our home for a
week.
What a surprise! Carol found a chocolate shop!
Carol's filling a water bottle at a
public fountain.
It's safe to drink from any fountain in
Basel.
We had been in the country less than
twenty-four
hours when Carol said, 'I love
Switzerland!'
The Basel Minster
Walking along the Rhine.
The Amalucia is on the left.
The crew were on the steps to greet us as
we boarded.
Our stateroom was lovely and spacious.
Guides Amanda, Daniel & Susanne in the
lounge.
Sailing away from Basel and into the
sunset!
Carol said, 'I could get used to
this!'
Our first lock.
The gates in the locks aren't like home.
They lift straight up.
Friday May 26,
2023
When we woke up this morning we were
docked in Breisach Germany. After breakfast we joined our
tour group in the main lounge and at 8:30 our ABD guide,
Daniel, escorted us to a waiting bus.
It was a 90 minute drive to the Black Forest where Carol and
I threw caution to the wind and hopped on a couple of
gravity powered rocket sleds that were attached to a
downhill rollercoaster track.
We were cautious on our first downhill run but then we put
the pedal to the metal for the next two runs. It was great
fun.
After a tasty German lunch we toured a
historic village in the Black Forest and visited a couple of
400 year old homes.
The bus whisked us back to Breisach just
in time for dinner, then we spent the evening on our balcony
and watched the sun set over France.
'I'm supposed to ride this thing down
a mountain?'
Yup. Three times!
Poppies were blooming everywhere!
Single ladies wear this hat in red.
Married ladies wear black.
Apparently unattached beetles wear them
too!
€2,690 - about $4,000 Canadian dollars!
Saturday May 27,
2023
This morning we were docked in
Strasbourg by the time we woke up. We boarded a bus after
breakfast for the 15 minute drive to the historic downtown
area of the city. Our first activity was a Batorama.
(Should it be bateau-rama?) We boarded a boat
with a glass ceiling for a panoramic cruise of the canals in this ancient town.
Then we explored Notre Dame Cathedral built between 1015 and
1439. Amazing. The church's astronomical clock dates
back to the 14th century.
After touring the cathedral Carol and I hopped on a trolley
for a land tour around the same area we had covered on the
boat. It's a blessing to be able to enjoy some time in such
a historic place!
We were back aboard the boat in time for a late lunch and
then enjoyed a restful afternoon to ourselves. After
dinner we relaxed on the upper deck and watched the sun set,
then went to the lounge where a local performer strummed his
guitar and sang along with his karaoke machine. We
recognized the melodies as he sang 'The Night They Drove Old
Dixie Down', 'The Walk of Life' and 'Six Days on the Road'
but his accent made the lyrics impossible to follow. I sang
along from memory.
It was another fantastic day!
Narrow cobbled streets - so pretty!
The astronomical clock built over 700
years ago.
It's very intricate, with many parts that
move
when it strikes every quarter-hour!
The trolley took us along some very
narrow streets!
An organ-grinder on a busy corner!
Sunday May 28,
2023
This morning we were docked at Speyer,
just a few miles from Heidelberg. We boarded a bus at 9:00
and headed directly to Heidelberg Castle . . . or rather,
the ruins of Heidelberg Castle. It's another amazing
site, perched high on a hill overlooking the city with a
spectacular view of the Rhine Valley.
Our group was led through the castle ruins by three guides,
all dressed in period costumes. They provided lots of
details about the castle and the families who lived there.
At about noon we rode the Funicular (incline railway) down the steep hill and
into the city centre. We had a bratwurst on a bun for lunch
and then followed with a local speciality, spaghetti ice
cream. Yum!
Carol browsed a number of the unique
shops, but spent most of her time in the Christmas Shop.
We caught the bus back to the ship at 2:45 and rested on the
sundeck for a while After dinner we returned to
the sundeck and watched the sunset, this time over Germany.
France is now many miles behind us.
At 9:00 p.m. we went to the lounge and tapped our toes and
sang along with Enrico Novi. He put on a terrific show,
playing nothing but Beatles and Rolling Stones tunes. He
played lead guitar and sang to pre-recorded soundtracks that
he made in his home recording studio. He's a very talented
man. His finale, Brown Sugar brought the house down.
Another wonderful day on the Rhine!
A big wine barrel.
The world's biggest wine barrel.
The Funicular track was very steep.
Here comes the incline train.
We had to go up a few steps to board our
car.
Carol wasn't quite as nervous as she
seemed to be!
Carol saw lots of stuff she liked in the
Christmas Store.
Folks were fishing across from the ship
when we got home.
The gang in the lounge before dinner
helped us
celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary.
Monday May 29,
2023
The boat was still in motion when we woke
this morning but by the time we struck out for breakfast in
the dining room we had moored at Rudesheim am Rhein.
We walked into the ancient town and
stopped at Siegfried's Mechanical Music Cabinet Museum. The
place is home to the world's largest collection of music
boxes. Some of them are huge and some of them are loud!
After our 90 minute narrated tour at
Siegfried's we enjoyed a Rudesheim Coffee (30% coffee, 70%
brandy) and then boarded a gondola which took us high above
the vineyards and gave us an amazing view of the Rhine
Valley.
We had lunch in the village and Carol
browsed a few shops as we slowly made our way back to the
boat.
We settled in on the sundeck and enjoyed
a scenic afternoon as we sailed through the Rhine Gorge and
passed by 30 castles in just a few hours. This area is
littered with castles!
One of our servers, Desi from Bulgaria, sat with us and
snuck a few quick bites of her cheeseburger as we enjoyed a
leisurely dinner. Desi is my favorite server . . . she keeps
me supplied with beer!
After dinner we were too pooped to join
in karaoke so we watched the sunset from our balcony and
turned in early!
The building dates back to the 14th
century
and that's original paint on the ceiling.
The machines are maintained in this
workshop.
We stopped for a Rudesheimer Coffee.
It's about 30% coffee and 70% brandy.
The tavern had a unique approach to
social distancing!
A nearby gondola whisked us to the top of
a mountain
for a very scenic view of Rudesheim and
the Rhine.
ABD Guides Byron and Daniel.
Yes, that castle up the hill behind the
church really is a hotel!
We saw so many castles in the Rhine Gorge
that our heads
were spinning so we retired to the lounge
before dinner.
Our server Desi, at the end of the table,
had to eat quickly
so her bosses didn't see her. Desi
is from Bulgaria.
Tuesday May
30,
2023
Today we woke up in Cologne, or as the
locals say, Koln. We were up bright and early and spotted
the cathedral from our balcony. It's magnificent and by 9:45
we were walking around it. Wow! What a structure.
After exploring the interior and exterior we headed off with
our ABD guide Daniel, and a local guide Thomas We visited
two local breweries and sampled the local favourites. Even
Carol tried them and she doesn't like beer.
We were back to the boat by 2:00 for lunch and returned to
the lounge later for the Captain's cocktail reception. Our
guides entertained us with a slideshow of the pictures they
have taken this week then we headed to the dining room for
dinner.
We finished the day with bingo in the lounge. We each got
close to the prize table a few times but alas, no wins
today.
Tomorrow we have a very full day in Amsterdam.
ABD Guide Daniel.
Local guide Thomas prepares us for our
Pub Crawl.
Our first stop was the Früh Brewery.
To the right is a very rare picture -
Carol drinking beer!
The Früh brewery building was
interesting.
There was an actual chapel in the
basement!
Next (and last) on our list was Peter's
Brewery.
No chapel at Peter's but they did have a
stained glass ceiling!
These are 'stumble stones' placed to
remember
people lost during The Holocaust.
Every time we returned to the ship we
were greeted
with cool moist towels and a cold drink.
Nice!
Wednesday May
31,
2023
When the sun rose we had left the Rhine
behind and were steaming up a canal toward Amsterdam. We
docked during breakfast and debarked at 8:00 a.m. for our
cruise through some of the many canals in this beautiful
city.
After our cruise we walked to the Rembrandt Museum which is
located in the artist's former home. It's a 7 story building
with a narrow winding staircase connecting the floors. A
local guide explained Rembrandt's life and told us about his
painting technique and his use of light. After the tour of
Remy's place Carol and I decided to walk back to the boat.
Big mistake - we were pooped when we got back at 1:15. (At
the end of the day Carol's FitBit told us we had walked 8 km
- that's a lot for us!)
We left again, by bus, at 2:30 and headed to a nearby
historical village where we toured an operating windmill and
a fake cheese factory. The windmill was interesting but the
rest of the village was a bit of a yawner!
Our last dinner aboard was a chance to reminisce and laugh
with some new acquaintances. After dinner we went to the
lounge to enjoy the evening entertainment but we left before
10:00 p.m. so Carol could finish packing. We leave the ship
at 8:30 tomorrow and catch a 12:15 flight to Toronto.
We can't believe it's over already . . .
what a great trip!
The house in the middle with the black
door
is where Anne Frank hid in the attic
during WW2.
Seven bridges in a row.
More 'stumble stones'
They're placed near the homes or
workplaces of people lost in The Holocaust.
