The last day on a cruise usually goes by quickly, and so it was on our last day in Paris. We were docked in the same spot, Quai Andre Citroen with its view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

On the last night, we were determined to catch the Tower light show as it sparkles and changes color every evening at dusk. We did, but  not with the world’s best photo.

This morning’s excursion was a bus tour of Paris with stops at the Eiffel Tower for a photo op, if we chose. We would also enjoy a drive along the Seine and some of the wide boulevards of Paris, and finally a stop at the Luxembourg Gardens before heading back to the ship. It was an early start, at 8:30 ,which allowed us to get around the city before it was fully awake.

It would also get us back to the Baroness with plenty of time for those who were going to the Moulin Rouge that evening, to pack up for tomorrow’s departure. Although you can stay on board your boat and enjoy breakfast and even lunch before you depart, you must be out of your cabin by 8 AM that morning. This is because the Baroness would be welcoming another group of passengers that afternoon and all the cabins had to be thoroughly cleaned before check in. The housekeeping staff really has their work cut out for them on those days, but they do a fantastic job.

For the more energetic in our group, the option was to “see Paris as the Parisians do,” a walking tour of the Latin Quarter and Notre Dame. Twenty years ago, we probably would have chosen this tour. I well remember walking miles around Paris when we were here with my study abroad students nearly twenty years ago. Paris is an eminently walk-able city and the metro is readily available to move you from stop to stop.

However this was the summer of terrorist attacks in France, plus the Ramblers were in a relaxed mood. We were perfectly happy to leave the driving to the our bus driver and we got to  enjoy walking around  during our several stops, first at the Eiffel Tower and then at the Luxembourg Gardens.

Paris is  a city of wide boulevards which provide great long view of the its beautiful buildings However, they also force pedestrians to practically sprint across  before the light changes. No worries on the bus. We enjoyed a slow drive along the Seine, and were able to see the magnificent Notre Dame cathedral  on the other side of the river from many angles. On our side of the river, bookseller’s stalls lined the embankment. Almost all of them were closed as it was still early on a Saturday morning but soon the vendors would arrive. Obviously Amazon.com has not overtaken the brick and mortar book stores in France because even in our relatively short tour, I saw numerous  bookstores.

Our stop at the Eiffel Tower was interesting to say the least. Our guide warned us to be on the look out for pickpockets. She also said we would probably be besieged by African vendors selling tourist souvenirs. Although  we didn’t get our pockets picked we were besieged by vendors. The most popular item seemed to be small gold-tone replicas of the Eiffel Tower itself. We didn’t buy any but some of our fellow passengers did. I though we should try to get the requisite tourist photo in front of the Tower, and I had a friend take one. Unfortunately the senior Rambler looks like he has just bitten into a lemon so we did not use it for our Christmas card. LOL

Our next stop was the Luxembourg Gardens. What a beautiful place. Parisians were enjoying it to the fullest. On our stroll through the Gardens, we came across many young families, joggers and gentle walkers and even an exercise class of energetic twenty-somethings being put through their paces by a trainer.

What was once an exclusive palace is now enjoyed by the people of Paris as well as visitors.

One of our guide’s covert reasons for this stop was that the Gardens have an excellent Restroom facility. She cleverly led us there before we left the Gardens and most of our somewhat senior group took advantage of the opportunity. Smart move.

On the way back to the bus, we passed by amazing greenhouses and outdoor vegetable and fruit gardens. I would have liked to spend time there but had to keep up or I would have missed the bus. I did notice that some of the fruit on the espaliered trees was wrapped in paper or cloth, not sure which. Of course at the end of August, the apples and pears were almost ripe.

Couldn’t find out why they were wrapped so I wrote to the University of Oregon Agriculture website. Incidentally, this a great place to get answers to gardening questions of any kind. Within a day, I had my answer. This is a somewhat common custom (not in the States) as the fruit is wrapped to prevent insect damage or blight before they are ready to pick. Not a bad idea, but labor intensive.

Back on the Baroness, we spent a leisurely afternoon packing our bags and enjoying the company of the friends we had made on board. Several were from Wisconsin and members of a Gluten Free group put together by their travel agent. Most had serious diseases that were exacerbated by eating gluten so their agent had arranged with Uniworld to provide gluten free dining for those that needed it. This was done in a very unobtrusive way and the gluten-free food looked amazing.

Dinner was a quiet affair as about half of the people on board had gone to the Moulin Rouge for a gala dinner and show. We spent some time in the lounge, enjoyed the pianist who played every evening and headed for bed, after exchanging addresses and saying  our good byes.

Departure Sunday morning started even before breakfast for some. All passengers had to have their luggage and themselves outside their rooms by 8 AM. The luggage was stowed until their departure when it re-appeared ready to be loaded on their transport.

After placing our luggage outside our cabin door, we headed to a leisurely breakfast and heard about the Moulin Rouge excursion. The general consensus was that it  was excellent and worth the money. However, the Ramblers didn’t feel they had missed out, just not our thing.

Departure time on a river cruise depends on where you are going from there. If you had an early flight home, you were bussed to the airport at the crack of dawn or earlier, and so on. This time it would be different for the Ramblers and a number of our fellow passengers. We had booked a cruise called Grand France which was in two parts, on two different boats. We had now completed the first half, in Paris and Normandy, and were  headed to Lyon later in the morning  for the second half of our cruise  on the SS Catherine. There we would cruise the rivers of Provence.

We had wondered how we would get to the Gare de Lyon and find our train, but soon learned that Emmanuelle Bonneau, our delightful cruise director, would shepherd us onto the TGV as she was transferring to the Catherine for the second part of the cruise. We later learned that she lived in Marseilles and that this would be her last cruise of the season

. At the Gare, we met another group of Uniworld passengers who had been on a different first half cruise, to Bordeaux and were also going to Lyon for the second half.

We enjoyed the train ride, it really doesn’t seem that you are going as fast as you are, and before you know it, we were approaching Lyon. En route we had passed many interesting villages and churches, and even a few castles but they went past in the blink of an eye. One tip for riding the TGV, if you have problems with stairs, book a seat on the first level. The Ramblers’ seats were on the second level and it was no fun getting our carry-on cases up the spiral stairs.

Lyon at last! Before we knew it, we were at the quay, ready to board the Catherine for another wonderful week on the river.