Wednesday, September 14. A leisurely day, mostly composed of sailing. Nice views of the shoreline. Hazy day due to fires.

In the afternoon we toured the Citadel in Blaye. Built by Vauban (a legendary engineer), it protected Bordeaux against invasion. Very large fort surrounding an old castle. The most unique feature was the absence of any tower, to prevent ships from getting targeting clues for the rest of the fort. The citadel is well preserved owing to its continued utilization as a military/police facility until the mid 1900s.

In the evening crewmembers joined us in the Bar for a “What are the Most Fun Songs to Dance To” Contest. (“The Chicken Dance” was in the top 3. Ugh.) I took photos and gave out the printed results. Very popular.

Tuesday, September 13. The ship got underway briefly and moved downriver to view a Tidal Bore, which I’d seen before in Canada. There was a surfer on the wave, but it died out well before reaching the ship. Not much to see. Only a handful of passengers got up to watch.

Short walk through Libourne. Nothing special.

Drove to Historic Saint-Émilion, which was more interesting. Surrounded by vineyards. Gorgeous views. Old city wall. Church and Monastery. Very nice standalone steeple. Beautiful wine shops. Spent time in one shop, tasting 8 wines. Memorable salesman. Bought some wine.

Had lunch at a winery restaurant, again with great views of vineyards. Got what I thought was a fine photo of our guide.

Visited a Chateau with a nice looking mansion and garden. Tasted three wines. (I am getting very tired of being instructed on how to taste wine.)

Monday, September 12. Tour of Bordeaux again, this time in daylight. Traffic was intense. The bus spent twenty minutes making three lefts and a right just to turn around. The lights seemed to be timed to litterally discourage people to use cars.

Visited an incredible wine shop that spiraled up several floors with an open center and outer wall filled with wines.

After lunch we departed on a cruise to Libourne. Involved sailing downriver, then taking another river up. Interesting sights on both sides. A WWII shipwreck still exists.

Sunday, September 11. Slow day. Toured Cadillac, south of Bordeaux on the Right Bank. But we first strolled through the Sunday market, just next to the ship. Huge stalls, mostly on wheels. Fresh-squeezed orange juice truck. Oysters, bagged for later or shelled as you watch. Bought some French sparkling wine from Bordeaux.

Cadillac was a typical town, famously with an original wall from the 14th century. Being Sunday, its streets were empty. Everyone was indoors eating Sunday dinner (chicken is the tradition). Very hot, which is going to be a theme all week I fear.

Roads have a nauseating number of small circles, which aren’t a problem for cars but forces the bus to slow down to nothing. Very time consuming navigation.

Sauternes winery. All they make. Owned by two sisters. It was unclear how involved they were in production. It’s odd how little is said about the people who manage the winemaking. Tradition dictates a process; people seem to just follow the recipe. Tasted one year, ten year, and twenty year sauternes. Progressively darker, with more intense flavors. Neither of us could tolerate the oldest.

Saturday, September 10. No photos. An uneventful transfer. Train hit 307kph. As seen on Google Maps, the river is brown. The tide is a surprise. Wine and cheese tasting served three whites and three reds. Evening tour by a very enthusiastic guide. Very pretty river view. Wild, very crowded tram ride back at 11. Party animals were GOING to clubs, not from.

Friday, September 9. Discovered our train tickets to Bordeaux tomorrow were cancelled. Told that I’d cancelled them. I butt-dialed the cancellation? I doubt it. I rebooked, for twice the price. Sounds like a scam.

Took subway to Montmartre, the highest point in Paris. Apparently subways can’t go up, because the station’s exit was an endless spiral staircase. To get to Sacre-Coeur basilica we took a very short funicular that rose less than the climb out of the subway station. Basilica is new, relatively speaking (1917). It is the only church I’ve ever seen with a clock inside. In the back. I can imagine small children repeatedly turning around to check the time during services. The view outside is a sweeping panorama of Paris.

The neighborhood is a tourist haven. Disguised water tower, Irish bar, windmill, Moulin Rouge, artists, and souvenir shops X 100.

Next was the Arc de Triomphe. Very imposing. Crazy driving. Lane lines would just be a distraction. Paid to climb a spiral staircase to the top. Another great view. Had lunch (fish and chips, plus Salmon tartare), then visited Angelina’s, a well known pastry dining stop. Yoriko bought something that was prettier than it was tasty.

Wandered through streets of wall-to-wall cafes. A few butcher and fish shops. Many more chocolate and wine shops. Why everyone in France isn’t overweight is a mystery. Had Italian for dinner again. Walked out to the Point Neuf Bridge for sunset. Nice way to cap off our visit.

Thursday, September 8. The Louvre. Easy entry. Got listening devices but didn’t turn them on until after our dash to the Mona Lisa. The museum provided signage pointing the way. The room was not too crowded. Had sufficient time for photos and quiet contemplation without a bustling mob. (These were the only photos I took inside the museum. I left my big camera at the hotel.)

We turned on our devices and choose the “Tour of the Masters”, a 90 minute walkthrough, addressing a selection of key items. But to start, we had to return to the entrance. The devices still need some work. They “lost” our location several times and we had to wait to be “found”. But overall, the devices were excellent assistants. Sadly, once we completed the Tour we realized that the devices held only a few other descriptions. I found the wall labels both too small and too low on the wall. The devices we had yesterday would have been much better. Point it at a painting and get a description.

Unfortunately, the one section I was most interested in visiting (Egypt) was closed on Thursday. (They had a set schedule for closures.) After four hours, we’d become overwhelmed and called it a day. The museum is crazy huge and was becoming very crowded plus noisy.

After lunch and a return to the hotel to regroup, we went out to walk the park fronting the Louvre, up to the obelisk. So many people just sitting or lying around. It’s true; Parisians know how to relax.

Dinner was intended to be at a genuine French food restaurant recommended by the hotel, but it appeared that everyone else wanted to eat there. We found another location that seemed less touristy than most. (Learned during the meal that the Queen had died.) Onion soup and escargot, then steak (with the special sauce) and duck, plus the seemingly obligatory fries. Good food.

Wednesday, September 7. Point Neuf Bridge. Walked towards the justice Ministry and discovered a substantial police/military presence. Had to detour to get past and reach the Conciergerie (historic palace and prison). Interesting tour, using newfangled devices which display on screen what we would be seeing centuries ago. New tech, old minds.

Next was the Saint-Chapelle (after more detouring). Amazing stain glass. As the “alternate” religious place to visit, very crowded.

Lunch within sight of Notre Dame. (I’m not sure which is more dangerous to pedestrians. Cars, which are big but makes a noise, or bikes/scooters, which are small but, with electrification, are silent and now move like bats out of Hell.)

Proceeded on a walking tour of significant sights and less significant life on the streets. Both extremes were fun to see. Began to rain, off and on. Wandered through parks which, for a Wednesday, seemed more busy than American equivalents. I had this thought that, centuries from now when Paris is in its cyclical decline, there will be more statues of people than actual people.

The Tower is the Tower. View not ideal due to clouds. More security than when I was here in 2018. We walked down. Strolled along the river (rain stopped). Walked down “Gucci/Armani/Dior” street. Got a subway ride back to the hotel. Had dinner at the same Italian restaurant we’d had lunch at yesterday. 26,000 steps.

Tuesday, September 6. Departure was a little hectic for the crew. Our bag (yes, singular), wasn’t brought from the cabin until the last minute. But it all worked out. The train was smooth and fast, nearly reaching 300kph. The Paris station was large and busy. We had some trouble finding the right subway.

The transfer via subway to the hotel could have gone better. No escalators was a shock. (It’s a heavy suitcase.) But we made it and the hotel let us check in early. Had a great late lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant. Walked a little. Yoriko found a store that specialized in all things infant. Had a drink at a cafe to watch Paris walk by.

We bought some fruit for a small evening meal and then turned in early.

Monday, September 5. Yesterday I wrote that the guide was a firecracker. Today’s guide was the opposite. Granted, she knew her history, but if I’d been on a bus, nothing after the first sentence would have been heard. Zzzz. Monotone voice.

First stop (sort of) was to the famous bridge that was the focus of a famous French children’s song “On the Bridge of Avignon”. I’d never heard it, but Yoriko had. The stop was too short to have any meaning. The photo I have was actually from a drive-by later in the day.

Next was the main focal point of interest. The French Pope’s “Vatican”. Described as the largest gothic building in the world, it was certainly impressive. Unfortunately, during the early 19th century the agnostic French turned it into a military barracks, whose soldiers destroyed or defamed many rooms in the building. Much of the tour involved imagining what it had looked like. Moreover, it seemed that the complex was not built in a consistent manner, which added some novelty to the whole. There was a disorganized feel to it all. But overall, it was very interesting.

Most of the remaining tour was lost to me. The guide was that boring. When free time was announced, we departed the group and wandered through some shopping areas, though many stores were closed (Monday). The famous(?) farmers’ market was also closed on Mondays. We had a very slow lunch (ribeye and a really nice looking grilled cheese sandwich). Visited the old city walls. Eventually, we joined our self-arranged (Viator) wine tour.

Long story short, visited three wineries, tasted 14 wines, bought a case to be shipped, saw some great views, and learned some things about making wine in France.

We returned to the ship too late to join our regular gang of Canadian, Welsh, and British misfits, but had a great dinner with four people we hadn’t met before. Saw our friends long enough to say goodbye. Packed. Tomorrow we head to Paris by Train.