After locating our joy-riding bag in yet another low budget terminal in Lyon, we headed outside into the warm sunshine. To our surprise, there were several other couples already on board the Uniworld bus. However, none had been on our EasyJet flight. It was already warm enough that we appreciated it when the driver turned on the air conditioning while we waited for a few other people from other flights to arrive. We were happy to sit on the comfortable bus and get acquainted with a new group of cruisers. Before too long, the bus pulled out for the short ride to the dock, the Quai Claude Bernard. The SS Catherine, sleek and shining as ever, was waiting for us. The ship was docked on the Rhone although the Saone river also runs through Lyon. This evening the Catherine would sail to the junction with the Saone, traveling north towards Alsace-Lorraine to dock in Macon around 11:30 PM.
The SS Catherine, sparkling white as always.
The crew was waiting to greet us and placed our bags in the reception area to be taken to our cabins. We then checked in and had our photo ID’s made. These days, Uniworld like many other cruise lines has tightened security measures. You upload your photo ID when you leave the ship and scan yourself off when you return. This is a petty good system as the staff at the desks can not only check to make sure everyone is on board but also have a photo of anyone who might be missing. However, once in a while a passenger will forget to scan out; they are usually reminded to do so by the staff at the desk.
Our docking spot along the Quai Claude Bernard, with the Rhone sparkling in the sun.
The Catherine is one of Uniworld’s super ships, over 400 ft long, with sleek modern lines. Inside, the decor is unique to the ship;. Unlike some lines, every Uniworld ship has been decorated with unusual artwork and sometimes an over-the-top and always vibrant color scheme. Either you like the decor or you don’t, we do. It is very hard to remain indifferent.
The Super Ships all have a spectacular staircase, this one featuring a fantastic chandelier and a Tang dynasty horse. Of course there is also an elevator.
As we were really early, neither of our cabins was ready, so we headed for the dining room. There a light lunch was available for both new arrivals and those waiting for a later flight. Since there were no suites available on the Catherine and we had booked one the cancelled cruise, Uniworld had offered the Ramblers their own cabins, next to each other but without a connecting door. The Ramblers accepted their offer and it was mostly a good thing. We were close yet had a whole bed and bathroom to ourselves. We would take some ribbing again for going back and forth between cabins, some clandestine romance!!! On the positive side, we didn’t have to worry about what to do with the butler.
One of our cabins, Green is a prominent color on the Catherine, the white university buildings are visible on the opposite bank.
The Catherine was mostly empty except for the crew when we arrived, around 11 AM. Housekeeping was busily cleaning the recently vacated cabins, as there were still a few folks from last week’s cruise on board, who had late afternoon flights. Although everyone was supposed to be out of their cabins by 8:30 AM at the latest, but some folks always bent the rules a little.
No activities were scheduled for today but we decided to get off the ship and walk around the broad walkway facing the Rhone. Above a series of steps, there was an avenue lined with the buildings of the University. Although the prominent building color in Bordeaux was gray, in Lyon, the buildings were a much lighter color and seemed very cheerful in the bright sunshine.
The Catherine even had a swimming pool. It’s indoor setting was beautiful but few people used the pool as anyone who wanted to go to the lounge passed right by. One stalwart lady did water aerobics almost every day, though she was one of very few who used it.
An Emerald cruise ship was docked in back of us and we took the opportunity to look it over. Although quite a new ship with rakish lines, it had several serious scrapes along its side. This isn’t so hard to do because some of the locks are barely wider than the ships. On a Uniworld ship, any scrapes are fixed the next day if possible. The sailors launch their small inflatable boat, and get to it. Perhaps we are prejudiced but we have never seen a Uniworld ship that isn’t sparkling inside and out.
After a leisurely afternoon in Lyon, we watched the sailors fold up the gangplank and cast off the lines; the Catherine was on her way to Macon. Shortly afterwards, all the passengers were called to the lounge where the Captain discussed shipboard safety and then all the passengers found our stations in case of some kind of nautical mishap. although in some places the rivers are so shallow that you could wade ashore, others are considerable deeper and have a strong currant. Thus this talk is important though some passengers are bored by it.
Finally, Emmanuelle, our cruise director, talked briefly about what to expect on board and just a little about what we would be doing tomorrow. One thing we did need to know was that the bus for Beaune would leave at 8:30 AM.
The dining room with tables set for dinner.
Around 6, the stewards began pouring cocktails in the lounge before dinner. in the Cezanne restaurant at 7. The dining room on the Catherine is attractive and seating is comfortable. There is never assigned seating on a river cruise,and on the first day, the Ramblers chose a likely looking spot with a window view so we could watch the countryside roll by as we ate. Although some people travel with a group, the Ramblers have always been 2 against the world; we get to meet a lot of people that way. Most are very pleasant company. We didn’t stay up late as it had been a long day and we would have an early start tomorrow. On to Beaune!
We woke up to sunshine our last day on the River Royale. Early next morning we would be on our way to our replacement cruise which started in Lyon, not Budapest this time. Today’s Bordeaux excursion was to be a walking tour of the city, but even the Rambler had little desire to stroll around the city of Bordeaux, despite the nice weather.
Docked in Bordeaux. The promenade was a scene of constant activity, they even had a skate park. At this time, the tide was in as the brown water of the Garonne reached high on the wall. another ship is docked in front of the River Royale.
We would take time to carefully pack our cases and then lounge about on the sun deck people watching on the promenade alongside the Quai des Chartrons.
We were content to observe the historic houses of the Chartrons district from the River Royale. For some reason, Bordeaux, compared to other places we visited, seemed like a gray city, tho no doubt it has many charms.
The Ramblers were disappointed that there weren’t any tours of the WWII sites in and around the city. Indeed the famous German submarine pens, I learned later, were not that far from where the River Royale was docked and it would have been an easy walk to at least see that grim concrete structure. Unfortunately I didn’t realize this until we were back in Georgia.
A WWII photo of submarines entering and leaving the pens.
Actually there was a lot of information about the submarine pens online, and many photos The Bordeaux sub base was one of a dozen facilities the Germans built on the French coast between 1941 and 1943. Made of concrete and steel to withstand allied bombing, according to local legend the concrete walls hold the bodies of 20 French workmen who had protested working on the base for the Germans. It is an absolutely huge facility, of 43,000 sq. meters which translates to 462,848 sq. ft. In a way, I am glad we didn’t try to find it as we would have been exhausted from such a long walk. Today the city of Bordeaux uses it as a multidisciplinary event space for art, concerts, opera, theater and dance. It is a very successful use of a somewhat grim and forbidding space, although I expect when you are inside, you can never quite forget what it once was.
As you can see the lighting is striking as it is reflects off the water in the pens…
On this last day, Uniworld had scheduled another Masterpiece event. This was titled an 1890’s sidecar tour of the city. The Ramblers were about the most retro folks on the cruise but the thought of getting into those sidecar seats and bouncing over the bumpy streets of Bordeaux was not a pleasant one, I think only one or two couples went on this tour from our ship, yet it gets good reviews on Tripadvisor. I think by the afternoon of the last day, most of the people on the cruise were ready to move on, and it was quite expensive, 69 Euros per person for an hour tour. Yet again, in checking online reviews, the response was overwhelmingly positive, so I thing many would enjoy the ride.
The Sidecar Tour en route. They do hold two passengers and the driver, but I would expect that most were relatively young., and the cobblestones and construction make it a bumpy ride.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the final excursion that was available to us; a visit to the Cite du Vin. Anyone who wanted to tour this unusual building which celebrates wine in many ways could pick up a complementary ticket at the reservation desk. The Ramblers were not sure how many people actually visited the unusual building but somehow it didn’t even intrigue wine loving me, perhaps I was tapped out on wine just for the moment. Checked the reviews recently and most visitors seemed to have enjoyed it, although one called it a giant tourist trap. Perhaps it might have been better to visit the Cite on our first day in Bordeaux, to set the scene for the cruise.
It is hard to mis the unusual architecture of the Cite du Vin which glows with light after dark. We were content to view it from our ship.
Our cases packed, Sharon helped me print out our EasyJet tickets, and now everything was in order for our early departure. We then spent time talking to friends we had made on the cruise, either on the sun deck or in the lounge until it was time for the Farewell Cocktail Reception. This always precedes the Farewell Dinner on every Uniworld cruise and the Captain and crew don their best uniforms for the event. This time the Farewell Dinner was on our last night aboard; quite often it is on the next to last night because of activities scheduled for the last full day of cruising. the food is always special and this time the Rambler really enjoyed her appetizer, fresh oysters Rockefeller from nearby Arcachon, supposedly the best in France. The senior Rambler gladly gave me his as he is no oyster fan. They were delicious!
Before!
After!
After an excellent meal, completed with equally tasty wines, we adjourned to the lounge. Nathalie’s playing was as enjoyable as ever but we would have a very early morning the next day. After saying goodbye to many shipboard friends, we headed back to our suite for our last night aboard. Can’t leave the River Royale, without mentioning a little about our suite. We got a good bit of razzing from our travel agent friends about staying in a suite with a butler. In truth, our butler was wonderful but we didn’t eat many of the apps he served us and I certainly didn’t do justice to the carafes of liquor in the room. Neither did we want breakfast in bed. I think he was actually disappointed in the Ramblers because we didn’t take full advantage of his many services. Guess the suite life just isn’t for us!
Four AM came before we knew it, as we expected it would. We hastily got up, dressed, washed up and put our toiletries and PJ’s in our bags. Uniworld has a pretty good system for disembarkation but it is hard on those poor souls who had early flights. One gets colored plastic ribbons to attach on all one’s bags. The color denotes the time the bags have to be outside the cabin door. This is usually about an hour before your bus leaves for the air port. The crew then schleps them onboard the bus for you. After checking our cabin to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind, the Ramblers headed for the coffee bar to wait until it was time to board our bus.
As soon as we left our cabin, the housekeeping staff would be stripping and cleaning our suite, actually a very small suite, but bigger than the cabins, and then making it up for the next group of guests. I didn’t envy them their task, but every crew member we met was friendly and smiling on duty despite the hard work and sometimes demanding guests. The service is always wonderful on a Uniworld boat,
The bus arrived on time, The Ramblers boarded along with one of the travel agents who was worried about her friend who was having a hard time waking up. She finally made it, looking very bleary eyed, just before the bus left. It would not have been a good thing if she had missed the first leg of her connector for the long flight to South Africa. Before long we arrived at our destination, Billi, the economy terminal. It didn’t look so bad at night.
Billi from the exterior in the daylight, with an EasyJet unloading on the tarmac.
One thing about flying economy in Bordeaux and a few other mid-sized French towns, they have built special economy terminals for economy service. Sharon, our wonderful cruise manager, told us to be sure to get off at the Billi terminal, as that was where we would find the EasyJet counter. We have been in quite a few airports, large and small; usually they are build to show off the city to travelers. This was not the case with Billi; it looked like a large unfinished hanger, nothing glitzy about it. Later I found that the French have been complaining about the furnishings of Bilii and lack of necessary facilities like adequate bathrooms and seating. However the Ramblers were happy to see the EasyJet counter ahead of us, with a few people already waiting.
passengers patiently waiting to board in the spartan interior of terminal Billi.
At 6AM, two smiling EasyJet employees started checking people in. The process went smoothly and our checked bag disappeared, hopefully onto our plane. We then waited in the boarding area until it was boarding time; being seniors we were the first to board and also had a place to sit while waiting. It looked to be a full plane, as a number of family groups waited with us. Everyone was very quiet and I suspect not quite awake. While we waited we could watch the sometimes very funny attempts of passengers to stuff all their belongings into just one of their bags beause of EasyJet’s one bag rule. For some it was an impossible task and they had no choice but to pay the extra bag fee.
Boarding was quick and soon we found ourselves somewhat cramped in the fairly narrow seats. .As we booked late, we were in the back although we managed to get seats across the aisle from each other.
Although EasyJet planes are not noted for their comfort, no cushy upholstery here, they were clean and the flight attendants were very pleasant and helpful. However, I admit there were moments when I thought longingly of the first class flight to Budapest we had to give up. However, the Ramblers decided that we would fly EasyJet again if we ever needed a short connecting flight in Europe. Believe me there are lots of those orange and silver planes carrying travelers around Europe. Just a note here. During the Pandemic, EasyJet has grounded all its planes for commercial flights but carried over 40,000 stranded travelers back to their home destinations.
As the flight was only an hour in length, before long we had touched down in Lyon to bright sunshine. Now we had to get off the plane and of course, there was no Jetway for us in Lyon’s economy terminal. The Ramblers no longer scamper up and down steps, and we had no idea how we were going to manage the stairs with our carry ons. However, the flight attendants solved this problem by taking our bags off the plane for us and which allowed us to grip the railing with two hands. They also provided us with transport to the terminal. While this was very nice, they dropped us off at the main terminal instead of economy. Although this was where Uniworld would pick up us, our checked bag was happily riding the carousel in the economy terminal.
The Rambler finally got directions to economy baggage, and leaving the senior Rambler to wait for Uniworld, trudged over to the EasyJet Bordeaux carousel. By the time I got there, our bag was the only one left. I breathed a sigh of relief as the exit was right next to the carousel and anyone could easily have taken it, or even worse, airport staff might have removed it and taken it to unclaimed baggage. You will know what I mean if you have ever lost a bag at a French airport.
Now that you know the ins and outs of flying Easyjet , don’t be afraid to try it. You can’t miss these orange and white planes.
Finally, hot and somewhat flustered, I found the senior Rambler patiently waiting, and together we headed out the door to look for the Uniworld bus. Fortunately, the Lyon airport is also a small one and it was relatively easy to locate our ride. Hopefully despite, all the problems so far, the Provence cruise would be a good one!
It is not surprising that since Bordeaux is the premier center of the wine industry in France, our cruise would end with two nights in that city. It was hard to ignore vineyards, wine stores and wine history on this trip.
A note to those who haven’t taken this cruise, you won’t spend too much time on the river because the distances between the stops are not far. You will however, experience some rough water when the River Royale changes course close to the mouth of the Garonne estuary. The Ramblers were surprised at the waves and chop in the water as normally river travel is smooth as silk. Generally the only turbulence you will experience is when water pours into a lock. That said, the rough water was behind us when we docked in Libourne. Of course, since the Garonne is a tidal river, the gangplank would rise and fall depending on the tide, even in Bordeaux. This can be a hazard when you have to exit the ship at a fairly steep angle. We have actually seen several people trip and fall on exiting, and they were not all geezers, so be careful.
These vines were loaded with grapes… with church spire in background.
On our last morning in Libourne, there were two options, a trip to the Chateau Abzac, or a bike ride along the Dordogne river and a stop at the farmer’s market in Libourne on the way back. Before we head to the chateau, Libourne is worth a mention. The town was founded as a walled city in the 12th century and some of these walls are still standing. Libourne has a love/hate relationship with Bordeaux because of its position as the second city in the Gironde, but has grown recently as an economic and commercial hub in the Northern Gironde. It currently has a population of 24,000.
A view of Libourne in the evening, lots of activity along the promenade and a short walk to the square.
Beside architecturally interesting buildings, Libourne boasts a central square that has hosted a farmer’s market 3 days a week for 600 years, while the town hall was built in 1467. The Grand Port Tower or Sea Gate is the only reminder of the 9 gateways that protected the city during medieval times. Several towers were constructed by the English who controlled this part of France until they were driven out by French forces inspired by Joan of Arc.
However, this Rambler decided against walking to the farmer’s market and instead boarded the bus to visit the Chateau d’Abzac. One of the best things about riding the bus is an opportunity to see the countryside. This is the only option the Ramblers now, since we no longer feel comfortable driving around in France for two reasons. It has become increasingly difficult to get in and out of the small cars that have a relatively affordable rental and the high cost of fuel. While some do drive large cars, we have seen Range Rovers and big SUV’s on the roads, not only are they gas guzzlers but in France, parking places are TINY!
An aerial view of the Chateau d’Abzac with a good view of bus parking and the courtyard. At the top right is the river Ill and close to the shore the dam that powers the interior watermill. The large building at the center top is the old flour mill, not the corporate headquarters of the Groupe Abzac. Of course, its vineyards are on display along the entrance road.
On our way to Abzac, we glimpsed some wooded areas, small villages and many hectares of vineyards. Our guide pointed out what looked like a small factory but what was instead, a woodworking shop where they made wine barrels of French oak from the nearby woods. Evidently there is a constant demand for barrels as most are used only once for wine. The used barrels will be sold to whiskey distillers or for other uses.
Then we pulled through the gates of the Chateau and parked. We were the only guests that morning, and were greeted by the owner, the Baron d’Anglade. He started with a brief history of the Chateau saying that it had been in his family since 1796. Of course, that seems a long time to most Americans, but as an historian, I was aware that there must be more to the story. And there was.
As we walked up, we got a closer view of the Chateau, with its pointed Perigord style roof caps. No photography was allowed inside, as it was the d’Anglades’ home after all.
Some kind of fortified chateau was built on this property in the 14th century. It was a strategic location on the Ill river, but the family who was given the land, got caught up in the struggle between England and France called the 100 Years War and made some wrong choices. Thus the property changed hands several times until in 1663, the owner at that time, demolished the existing building and built the current chateau. However, the chateau changed hands several times through the years. The owner in 1776 cleverly sold the property along with its prosperous flour mill shortly before the French Revolution in 1789. After the Revolution, the local radicals attempted to burn the building. Although they were thwarted in this goal, the then owners fled for their lives in in 1789 and settled in Germany where they would remain.
Even before Napoleon became Emperor, confiscated properties like the Chateau d’Abzac were sold to citizens with money who accepted the new regime. At this point, the Chateau was purchased by ancestors of the d’Anglades. The current baron is a good businessman who has utilized the old mill, now an historic monument for his company, the Groupe d’Abzac. No doubt he has to be, to maintain the Chateau.
As we walked towards the mill building cellar, we got a good view of the river Ill.
Our group was given a tour of the home, only one room wide, but very long with two tower wings on each side. The rooms we saw were obviously lived in, as they were furnished with well loved antiques. We also got a tour of the cellars and the ancient water mill by the river. To see it, we walked to the entrance of the lower level of the mill. We then had to walk down a series of slippery stone steps, and of course they had no railing. The Rambler had decided she didn’t want to attempt the descent, but the Baron gallantly offered his arm and guided me down the steps. Thus the photos of the water mill are my own.
Roaring river water flows towards the the mill wheel, I was glad I got to see the relic of the past, thanks to the Baron’s help.
Afterwards we enjoyed a tasting of the baron’s wines. Unlike some of the places we visited, the Chateau d’Abzac wines are not Grand Cru but Bordeaux Superior, although the gravelly terrain is very similar to that of Pomerol. In fact the Baron’s motto is to produce good wines at sensible prices and so he does. The Chateau’s wines are very drinkable.
After our tour, we enjoyed a tasting of the d’Abzac wines, the Baron is wearing the blue shirt in this photo.
AT 3 PM, the River Royale sailed back to Bordeaux and we docked again at the Quai de Chartrons. Those who felt ambitious could take an guided stroll around the area at 9:15, but we preferred to enjoy a relaxing dinner and later Natalya’s evening performance.
This was also the day when Sharon, our Cruise Manager, gave everyone their disembarkation instructions. The Ramblers got special instructions this time because we were the only ones who would be taking EasyJet to Lyon instead of flying Delta to Budapest as originally planned.
Wouldn’t you know it, our flight left at 7 AM, so we had to board the bus for the Bordeaux Airport at 5 AM. These early departures are to be avoided whenever possible but this time it was our only option as the SS Catherine would sail from Lyon in the afternoon instead in the evening. EasyJet was the only airline with a flight that would get us there in time, so we really had no choice. A few of our South African friends would also be on that early bus for first leg of their long flight home. At least we wouldn’t be the only ones on the bus. LOL
As we walked back to our cabin after an enjoyable evening in the lounge, our cruise manager Sharon, asked us stop by her desk as she had some news for us. As it turned out, her news was something we thought would never happen. Our second cruise through Eastern Europe on the Danube, which started the following Tuesday, had been cancelled due to low water that day. .
We were
taken aback to learn that this particular cruise had been cancelled. Although there had been many cancellations due to low water on the Danube west of Budapest this summer (2018), the Eastern stretch seemed to be a good choice when we booked in the spring. Low water had not yet been a problem on that stretch of the Danube.
We had booked two back to back cruises which were to be our Swan Song on the European rivers. The senior Rambler didn’t want to take anymore long flights, even in business class. and he really didn’t want to take any more cruises. However, this Rambler wasn’t ready to give up travel and she didn’t want to travel with anyone else so… Eventually he reluctantly agreed to the Bordeaux cruise., This was my choice because I enjoy traveling in France and drinking wine and because the Seine and the Garonne seemed to have plenty of water. Plus our Normandy cruise had been our favorite so far. The senior Rambler was more enthusiastic about the second cruise. From Bordeaux we would fly to Budapest and enjoy several days in that charming city as our second cruise didn’t start until Tuesday. We would then board the SS Beatrice for our journey towards Romania. We taken our first river cruise on the Beatrice and had really loved the ship. It had recently been remodeled and we were looking forward to seeing her again.
Michelle, our travel agent had booked our overseas flights and connectors, all business class, through Delta Travel and AAA, at a really good price. As the two cruises didn’t quite match up, we would have 3 nights at the excellent Corinthia Hotel in Budapest, before we would board the SS Beatrice for our cruise on the eastern Danube. Since Budapest had become one of my favorite cities, I was eagerly awaiting our stay there between cruises. At the end of our second cruise, we would stay one night in Romania before our flight back to Amsterdam, and our flight home.
The first part of the trip went right according to plan. We enjoyed our Delta One flight to Amsterdam and easily made our connecting flight to Bordeaux on a very small airplane. Our first class seats were right in the front on the KLM plane and we enjoyed a nice breakfast on our brief flight to Bordeaux. Little did we know that we would we would not be able to use two of our three remaining booked and paid for business class flights.
Hindsight is always 20/20 and if I had known what I know now, I probably would have gotten the airfare through Uniworld, as if they book the flight, and there is a problem, they will make the changes for you. When faced with a cancellation, instead of picking another Uniworld cruise, we should have taken the full refund for the second cruise Uniworld offered, and flown to Budapest anyway. We could have spent the time in Budapest, booking local tours and getting to visit my relatives in Bratislave. We couldn’t have made our flight to Amsterdam from Romania since we ended up in Budapest, but there may have been time to change the flight. At least we wouldn’t have had to pay for an expensive last minute fare.
However, we didn’t make either of these choices. Unworld had also offered us an option of taking one of three other cruises. I might interject that several other couples had also booked back to back cruises and had to make the same choice we did. Working with Sharon on the River Royale and Michelle back in Georgia, we weighed the options. The cost had been substantial as we had booked a suite for this supposedly last cruise, but I didn’t really consider the Budapest option at this time. C,ruising is what I was looking forward to, not staying at a hotel, however nice. That’s what happens when you have to make a decision at the last minute. You are actually forced to make a choice at the last minute. Not being an impulsive person, by nature, I usually take time to weigh all my options. This time, there wasn’t any time. We had to decide by the next morning at the latest.
None of the cruises that were available had a suite available, unfortunately, but Uniworld offered us two cabins for the Provence cruise on the SS Catherine. Since our cabins on the River Royale were on the small side, this had some appeal and the Cruise Director was Emmanuelle Bonneau who we knew and liked from past cruises. In the end, we chose the Provence cruise, with two cabins. However, our choice meant that we had to get to Lyon from Bordeaux before the Catherine sailed at 5 PM. This would be tricky since not only did we have to book at the last minute but there weren’t many flight choices. As it turned out, our only option was to fly EasyJet on a very early morning flight. One of our daughters was horrified, exclaiming that EasyJet was the Greyhound of the sky, another just wanted us to come home.
Fortunately, we took Sharon’s advice not our daughters’ as EasyJet turned out to be a good choice. Sharon reassured us that most of the crew flew EasyJet and had no problems, but one thing we needed to know was that they were very strict about having one carry-on. Otherwise you would be assessed a fee before you could board. This didn’t seem to be a problem for us as my purse would easily fit into my carry-on and the senior Rambler didn’t have an extra bag. So that was set, Uniworld would take to the Bordeaux Airport at 5 AM for our flight to Lyon where we would again be met by a Uniworld representative.
The flight back to Amsterdam at the end of the cruise was more problematic. Hindsight being 20/20 again, we should have booked our flight home from Avignon to Amsterdam on EasyJet, but we stuck with Delta, hoping we could get a credit four the two flights we missed, but unfortunately we didn’t. The flight from Marseilles, the closest airport to Avignon with flights to Amsterdam, cost us over $1,000. Ouch. EasyJet would have been much cheaper. When our daughter who didn’t want us to fly Easy Jet heard we were going to fly our of Marseilles, she again was annoyed with us. She cited the high crime rate in Marseilles and when we meekly said, we were only going to the airport, and would spend no time in the city, she still wasn’t happy.
The final problem was what we would do in Amsterdam, for the six days before our scheduled business class flight home to Atlanta. That didn’t seem to be much of an issue, as there are many things to see and do in Amsterdam. However, we did need a hotel room for our stay and I booked at the Hyatt near Schipol, as they had an excellent free airport shuttle. Little did I know how much we would appreciate that shuttle during our time in Amsterdam. The Hyatt wasn’t the fanciest hotel we every stayed at but all the staff were friendly and welcoming so it turned out to be a good choice.
With our new schedule in place, we had one more day cruising and another in Bordeaux before we would head off to Lyon via EasyJet and an entirely different cruise than we had expected.
No photos for this blog entry as you might expect.
