Day One Hundred Fifty-Two June 6

Today we are in Honfleur, France and the drop point for those passengers wanting to go to the D-Day Beaches in Normandie (for trivia buffs what did the D-Day stand for) and to visit Paris.

How appropriate it would have been to see the ceremonies in Normandie today. Both tours were full day affairs.

We on the other hand decided to leave the ship with our friends Joan and Richard from Petaluma, California for three days and two nights in Paris. Neither one had been to Paris, so we happily acted as their tour guides or should I say Janice.

I would like to digress for a moment and explain the procedures required to leave the ship and return several days later. In this instance you are required to inform the Purser of your intentions and provide him/her with the address of your hotel which is what we did when we left the ship in Israel for 2 nights. At least this is what I thought. I provided the front desk with the hotel address the evening before but received a call from the Purser shortly afterwards informing me that because there was a sea day between the two French ports, we would need to provide the Purser with our passports and clear immigration before leaving the ship. This might pose a problem because we had already booked our train tickets to Paris and didn't have a lot of time.

Thankfully, our Purser received a special exemption from the port agent in Honfleur for us to leave the ship here and return in La Rochelle.

The problem solved; a taxi takes us to the La Havre train station. The train ride was around 2.5 hours, so we arrived at Gare Saint Lazare in Paris at 11:30.

Our hotel is in the Montparnasse District of Paris, one of twenty arondissements (districts) in the city. It was a small quaint three floor hotel that did not have an elevator or AC but luckily wasn't an issue as we did not have much luggage and it wasn't too hot.

Getting our directions from the hotel to the nearest Metro station we grabbed lunch before challenging the Metro. Thinking we have the correct Metro stop we leave the station only to find the right stop for our destination was one stop earlier. We then decide to take a taxi to Sacre Coeur.

Sacre Coeur Basilica found in the Montmartre district is the highest point in the city where you can view Paris spread out below you. It is a very impressive building worth the visit when you are in Paris. However, it becomes very crowded with Parisiennes and tourists alike. People crowd the steps leading up to the Basilica, so you need to watch your steps when coming down. We have been here several times but have not yet gone inside the Basilica.

On our way down from Sacre Coeur we stop for a quick coffee before heading back to the hotel for a few hours of downtime. An evening Bateau Mouche (boat cruise) is planned to see the Paris lights. Since it gets dark late the tour wasn't till 22:30.

Again, with directions in hand we are off towards the city centre for the boat cruise situated at Pont Neuf Bridge. We had hoped to stop for supper but didn't have enough time, so Janice and I walked back across the bridge to buy baguettes and wine which were delicious while d*** and Joan remained closed to the cruise boat.

Our tour takes us down the River Seine towards Notre Dame (it is so sad to see the scaffolding around this beautiful church). Many Parisiennes are waving to the boats either from the bridges above or on the shores of the Seine.

Other sites we see on the boat tour include Musee de la Monnaie (the museum of the French Mint and Treasury), Musee du Louvre (I will discuss more on this museum when we visit on day three in Paris), Musee d'Orsay and of course the Tour Eiffel. What a magnificent structure that looks that much more impressive in the nighttime with all its lights.

We squeezed a lot in the first day and it's time for a good night sleep.