Saturday
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The first stop after leaving Dover was La Havre, France. From here one could choose excursions to Paris, Rouen-Normandy or the D-Day Beaches of Normandy. We chose the beaches, to see a part of history.The first stop was at Arramanches and the Landing Museum where the English landed, then on to Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach where some U.S. troops landed. It was amazing to see some of the remnants still off shore.After lunch at the old but beautiful chateau we continued to the American Cemetery at Colleville-St. Laurent. Notice the flag was still at half mast following Sept. 11. We also made a short stop at the British cemetery close by. |
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Sunday-Tuesday
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Sunday was to have been a stop at St. Malo in Brittany, France and an opportunity to visit Mont St. Michel. Unfortunately, the weather was not friendly and since it is a tricky harbor and we would have been tendering in to shore, the port pilot told us we could not come in. We were disappointed.Therefore, Sunday was a Day at Sea while we chugged on around the coast of France. We then stayed two days in La Rochelle.La Rochelle was founded in the 10th century as a fishing village but quickly became a major port. Today the Old Harbour still has the medieval towers at its entrance (seen between masts 2 and 3). The eight bay submarine base from W.W.II still remains as an attraction. |
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Wednesday
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Wednesday was another "Day at Sea" which gave us leisure time for reading, laundry and attending a lecture and talent show. Of course there was Team Trivia.The first stop in Portugal was the port city of Oporto. From there we took a full day excursion to the northern part of the country to see the "Charms of Minho Province."The first stop was Guimaraes, known as the "Cradle of Portugal." Here we visited a castle and church and walked along some typical streets with medieval houses. The second stop was in Braga with the Bom Jesus do Monte Sanctuary perched on a hill. After lunch in a local restaurant we drove on to Viana do Catelo at the mouth of the Lima River. Our time here was brief as we were running late, but there was a short time for shopping.We have been joined at our dinner table by four lovely people. Virginia and Lucille who met while bicycling in Europe and Robert and Susan from England who joined us because they could not get to Alaska as planned. |
Virginia and Lucille |
Robert and Susan |
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Friday
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Lisbon is the capital of Portugal. It has been repeatedly dominated through the centuries by people such as Romans, Visigoths and Moors and the architecture shows all of these influences.We took the half day city tour which gave us a good overview of the city and a chance to walk through some of the older sections. It was raining hard part of the morning, but cleared in the afternoon when we went back in to town on our own to look around.The long suspension bridge of the river Tejo was built by the same company that did the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.By the afternoon, the sun was out and it was pleasant to sit out on deck. Since this was a starting point for the third part of the cruise, there was also the obligatory Life Boat drill. |
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Saturday
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We docked in Cadiz in southern Spain, thought to be one of the oldest cities in Europe, founded in 1100 BC by the Phoenicians. We took the all day excursion inland to Seville, the Andalusian capital. It's architecture was an interesting mix influenced by the Romans, Visigoths and Moors. Although the day started with some sprinkles, the sun came out and it was lovely. |
 After September 11 our itinerary was changed to eliminate our stops in Casablanca, Tangier and Gibraltar. We spent most of the "Day at Sea" out on deck because it was finally warm enough to enjoy being out there. We had passed Gibraltar about 11:30 the night before. The captain announced when we were there, but we were unable to see it. Tangiers, on the other side of the straight, however, was well lit. |
Monday
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Palma is located on the Balearic Island of Mallorca. It has a long history and is located in the Mediterranean about 60 miles southeast of Barcelona, Spain. The lovely harbor is home to many yachts and sailboats. With its mild climate, it is a major resort area for northern Europeans.Since we had an afternoon tour, we looked around Palma on our own in the morning. The tour took us around much of the island where we saw other lovely harbors and the many terraces on this very hilly island. They are currently in the middle of a long drought, and the water reservoirs are very dry.The last stop was at La Granja, a farm built by a noble family in the 17th century on land belonging to the monks of Palma. It was very self sufficient and is now a working museum showing the many ways, including the animals being raised. |
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Tuesday
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Barcelona, Spain was the first stop added to replace those dropped after September 11. It is a very large interesting city that was home to such masters as Dali, Picasso, Miro and Gaudi. We chose not to take a tour this day and instead just went in to the downtown area to wander around. We first found a cyber cafe where we checked our e-mail and sent out messages to many people. It was a lot cheaper that using the ship's e-mail services.Since there was another Hard Rock Cafe in Barcelona, that was a destination. After we had lunch and wandered around I went back to the ship while Paul took of with my camera to see the large cathedral still under construction (for the last 300 years) and the bull fight arena. Meanwhile I caught up on my journal writing and visiting. |
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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The second new stop added to our itinerary was Livorno, Italy. This is a port city which gives access to Lucca, Pisa and Florence. We chose the full day excursion that took us to Lucca in the morning and Pisa in the afternoon.Lucca is an old walled city in Tuscany founded around 89 BC. It is one of the few towns in Italy with its defensive wall system still intact. Twelve meters high and 30 meters thick, the top is now a public walkway with trees planted on either side. This was the birthplace of Puccini. Paul is standing beside his statue.Pisa, of course is known for its leaning tower. Since we were there in 1972, when we climbed to the top, it has been closed, and much work has been done to stabilize it and actually straighten it by a few degrees. Tourists are to be allowed back onto the tower starting in January. |
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Updated 12/9/01 Contact Grace at gcpitzer@attbi.com and Paul at pcpitzer@attbi.com |
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Cannes,
France is an elegant city on the French Riviera. It has
beautiful sandy beaches and lovely shops. The Old Port
shelters many yachts and sailing vessels. In May the
famous Cannes Film Festival (right) takes over, bringing
in may people.
The
day we were in Cannes there seemed to be two sailing
regattas; one for larger vessels like this US sailing
ship, and one for smaller boats. They were absolutely
beautiful to watch as they sailed back in to port between
4-5:00 p.m.. Again the weather was just perfect.
