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Switzerland to Paris - October 11

October 11 The alarm sounded at 5:45.  We drug our carcasses out of bed, got dressed, and we were ready to go.  We managed to have a quick breakfast and then load ourselves and our luggage onto a small bus for a ride to Charles de Gaul airport. At the airport we met a Viking representative who took us through the airport and helped us get checked in.  She then took us right to checkpoint charlie and bade us farewell.  Without her help it would have taken us a long, long time to figure out where to go. Once we made it through all the checkpoints (once for French customs and once for their TSA) we mde it to our gate.  After only a ninety minute wait we were asked to line up for boarding.  After only a short thirty minute wait in line we were able to board.  The next stop is Atlanta. I hope our luggage makes it as well. As it turns out, Delta Airlines contracts with Air France on some of their international flights.  It was a great flight.  The ...
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Switzerland to Paris - October 10

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October 10 After a quick breakfast we made our way to the Louvre Museum.  We had tickets for a ten o’clock entry.  For whatever reason they were not letting people in when we got into line.  But once they opened the doors the line moved quite quickly and we were in. We made our way to see the Mona Lisa as we had heard that the room that houses the painting would fill up with people quickly.  We made our way there thanks to the directional signs showing us the way.  The crowd was not too bad.  We only had to wait maybe thirty seconds before we had a spot up front to take our pictures. We then proceeded to make our way throughout the museum.  There were many incredible and famous paintings and sculptures. Venus de Milo. Wings of Victory Cupid and Psyche Egyptian art Greek Art Zombie girl holding Brains (actually the name of the statue was Flora.  I was just testing you to see if you were reading the blog) We only got lost a few times.  After fi...
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Switzerland to Paris - October 9

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October 9 Well, it was too good to last.  We had missed all the bad weather for the most part.  But today our luck ran out.  It was raining and was supposed to rain all day and maybe tomorrow as well.  But we have rain jackets and rain pants.  Combine that with waterproof hiking shoes and we were ready for the elements. We began our day with a short forty-five minute train ride to see the Palace of Versailles.  This was the palace for Louis XIV, the King of France.  It was a dump.  I don’t see how anyone could live there.  Actually it was truly magnificent, especially if you liked gold and grandeur.  But it was a little over the top. (a painting depicting the battle of Yorktown) Perhaps my favorite was the ceremonial bedroom.  This is where all the advisors, personal attendants, and king’s guards met to watch the king awaken and rise.  Of course he was already awake.  His nanny, the woman that had pretty much raised him fr...
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Switzerland to Paris - October 8

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October 8 Our first day in Paris.  We began our day with a quick breakfast.  After all, what else is there to do on vacation but eat?  What else indeed you might ask?  Well, there is sitting in Paris traffic.  It is not for the faint of heart or timid.  Where there are lines on the road they are taken as mere suggestions.  Traffic circles and intersections are a madhouse of who would be the most bold with their vehicle and more willing to crowd in front of the other drivers.  It was somewhat insane.  I was glad I wasn’t driving. We were off on a whirlwind bus tour of the city.  We were taken by all the sights.  The Arc De Triomphe, the Louvre Museum, the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral (that is still being rebuilt after the fire), the Eiffel Tower,  and the White Cathedral on Mount Montmartre.  On the way back to the hotel we passed by the Moulin Rouge and a number of other places that we did not recognize, or remember for t...
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Switzerland to Paris - October 7

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When I say adventure I mean it.  Today started out like any other day.  We rose early so we could put our luggage outside our door so that it could be shipped on ahead to Paris. Then a quick breakfast, a short wait, and we loaded onto a large bus to make our way to Paris.  We had no sooner cleared the parking lot when the driver and Viking representative announced we were pulling back in to look at the right front tire.  They thought it had been slashed, but when all the old men on the bus looked at it we had the opinion that it was just old and cracked.  Either way the tire needed to be changed.  We then drove through town to the Mercedes dealer to have the tire changed.  Honestly the spare they put on didn't look that much better.  Forty-five short minutes later we got back on the bus and headed out.  We were only an hour behind schedule. On the way to Paris we stopped at the American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg.  It was in immacul...
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Switzerland to Paris - October 6

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Switzerland to Paris - October 6 We continued up the Mosel river today and stopped for a short time in Bernkastel, Germany.  As usual, since today is Sunday all the shops were closed.  There were a few restaurants and one bakery that were beginning to open. There were two buildings of note.  One was a traditional German building.  What makes it special is that the owners turn it into an adventure calendar in December. The other was a 'pointy' building.  When this building was being built the town taxed the building based on how much land it occupied.  To make their taxes lower the ground floor was tiny.  All floors above that were larger. We were only in Bernkastel for just over an hour.  We then made our way to Trier, Germany where we had a walking tour of the old part of town.  We saw a palace that had been built for the local emperor.  This was unique in that it was attached to a large church instead of being two separate buildings....
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Switzerland to Paris - October 5

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Saturday, October 5 Today was also pretty uneventful.  The ship didn’t get into port until around eight in the morning.  After a quick lunch we began our excursion for the day.  It was to be a wine tasting followed by a tour of a castle. The wine tasting was pretty much a waste of time for us since none of us are wine aficionados.  The highlight of the wine tasting was that they had older antique tools hanging from the walls.  The tools were mostly for building and wine making.  I could appreciate the tools more than the wine. After the ‘tool viewing’ we made our way to the castle that overlooked the town of Cochem.  The castle dated back to roughly the year 1000, although it had been rebuilt a couple of times.  This was perhaps our favorite castle as it had been more recently updated (in the twentieth century).  You were also allowed to take pictures inside, which was out of the ordinary.  Other than its size and location one of the mor...
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