June 13, 2017 today we visit Loch Lomond and Inveraray Castle

 

Today we were greeted with cloudy and rainy weather. We dressed appropriately.

Our tour will be a long one - starting at 10am and scheduled to end at 5:30pm.

The tour left an hour late meaning we will be back at the ship late today.

When we docked we looked out our balcony and saw a lone bagpiper playing songs to greet us.

We boarded the bus at 10 am and the first stop was at Loch Lomond which was featured in the song The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond.

Loch Lomond is a beautiful area and visited by both  tourists and local people.

https://loch-lomond.net/

It’s part of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.

The bus stopped at a little town called Luss-Island which had a few shops, restaurants and docking facilities for boaters.

We had 30 minutes of free time. We visited a few shops and went to the loch for photos.

When we were on the bus the guide played the song Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond and we all sang along.

It was an hour drive to Inverary  where we stopped at Loch Fyne Hotel and Spa for lunch. The food and service were great.

https://www.crerarhotels.com/loch-fyne-hotel-spa/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb

At 3pm we boarded the bus to go to Inverary Castle. I did not know what to expect and on the way over the guide explained that this Castle was on Downton Abbey TV show.

https://www.inveraray-castle.com/

 The  Castle was a little smaller than I imagined but impressive nevertheless.

The family that owns the Castle lives there in a separate part of the building that is off limits to visitors. But the rest is open for us and other visitors to see how the people lived there in the old days. The original furniture was in the castle.

We got to see the main rooms, bedrooms and dining and living areas.

It was great. 

After twenty minutes of free time we boarded the bus to go back to the ship.

Our guide informed us that we would be taking a ferry from Dunoon across the River Clyde to the peninsula where Greenock is and then the bus would take us to the ship.

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Taking a photo

We left the Castle at 4:25pm and got to the terminal at 6:25pm.

We had dinner at the buffet. 

Sea day. we are sailing from Le Havre, France to Glasgow (Greenock) Scotland

 

Today is a sea day.  

We are sailing from Le Havre to Greenock Scotland (the port nearest Glasgow, Scotland.

The distance is 660 nautical miles.

We rested as we were on the go visiting 3 ports in 5 days and every day we had tours.

Tonight is formal night so we will be dressed up for dinner.

June 11, 2017 Overnight in Le Havre today we tour Honfleur and Deauville

 

Today we have a free morning as our tour to Honfleur and Deauville meets at 2:20.

The weather is cloudy but pleasant. 

After lunch on board we gathered our things and went to the cruise  terminal to join the group.

Our first stop was in Deauville which was located south of Le Havre. Our bus crossed the Seine river and drove along the coast. We arrived at 3:30 and the guide gave us one hour to explore the seaside area and shops.

Deauville is as a seaside resort on the Côte Fleurie of France’s Normandy region  famous for its sandy beaches and boardwalk, horse racing, casino, golf courses and the American Film Festival.

Even though the weather was cloudy the beach was really lovely. I could see how people come here for the day or week to swim and sunbath and relax.

We walked down to the boardwalk and went up and down watching the people and looking at the beachside cabanas. Every cabana was named after an American movie star or director.

We got on the bus at 3:35 and it took us about an hour to drive the 18 miles to the town due to heavy Sunday traffic.

Honfleur is known for its old port with it's 16-18 century townhouses  that have been painted by Monet and other French artists.

Even  though it was Sunday all the shops and restaurants were open because of the tourists. 

Our guide took us around showing us old churches and buildings for an hour and then allowed us  20 minutes free time.  We got on the bus at 6:45 pm and arrived at the ship at 7:15.

The tour was very interesting and not too strenuous which we needed since the Versaille trip and tour was tiring.

We ate in the buffet as we missed our 6pm seating in the main dining room

June 10, 2017 Our overnight in Le Havre- today we visit Versailles

 

I may have mentioned in my earlier post that one reason we took this cruise was to visit Versailles. This visit I thought would be the highlight of the cruise. Well I was wrong as another port was a  highlight too which I will write about in a later post.

I ordered the excursion right after I booked the cruise so we would have space for the tour. I was sure it would sell out by the time we got on the ship.

Le Havre, France - the ship arrived in port 7:45am. 





Beautiful mild morning. Sunny and warm. At 9:45 we  boarded bus #13 for the excursion   to Versailles which included a sit down  lunch. 

The bus left the pier at 10:05am

Versailles is North west from Paris

Le Havre is second largest port next to Marseilles. 

We were told the ride would be over two hours and there would be no stops on the way. 

The guide told us Paris is 10 miles away.

We arrived at Versailles around 12:15 and the bus dropped us off at Restaurant Au Fou Du Roy.   restaurant au fou du roy versailles

We were seated as a group where the waiters served us a delicious lunch-

chicken, potatoes, bread with melted cheese, wine, fruit dessert and coffee.

If I remember correctly beer and wine were available at an extra charge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles

https://www.chateauversailles.fr/

After lunch (2:15 PM) the guide walked us over to the entrance to Versailles where we got headsets and a brief intro. The guide also warned us that pickpockets are active in the building and to watch our belongings and wallets and purses.

The guide led us through the palace and stopped at important art and rooms during the tour and allowed us time to take photos. The palace is huge and there was no way to see everything, just the highlights.

 I would come again for a day tour to see more of the inside as well as tour the gardens which were very extensive.

We finished the tour around 3:30 and the guide gave us one hour to explore the grounds on our own or to go the neighborhood by the Palace and shop or grab a coffee.

We found a great cafe -Brasserie at home .

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187148-d2526370-Reviews-Brasserie_At_Home-Versailles_Yvelines_Ile_de_France.html

The man at the counter gave us a  warm greeting and took our order- sweet crepes and coffees. We sat down outside and he brought our food to our table.  Crepes were delicious and we enjoyed our coffee. 

Afterwards we walked back to the bus and it left  for Le Havre at 5 PM and arrived at the pier at 7:30pm.

We missed our 6 pm dinner in the main dining room and ate in the buffet.

It was a great day and it was what I expected and more.

Tomorrow we will take another tour in the Normandy area.

June 8-9, 2017 Overnight stay in Amsterdam on the Celebrity Eclipse

 

Today we docked in Amsterdam for an overnight stay. This was one of the two overnights on this cruise. 

We have visited Amsterdam before so we decided to take a tour of the Delft China factory.

Weather was rainy  so we dressed appropriately.

Since this was a day long tour we started early by boarding the coach at 7:40 am. 

Amsterdam is city ringed by canals and very bicycle friendly.

Our first stop was at the city of rijnland where we got out to take photos in front of the windmill.

https://qr.rijnlandsemolenstichting.nl/pdf/our-mills.pdf

The city  and countryside was very scenic and pretty as you can see from the photos.

We arrived at the Delft factory at 10 am for a tour and visit. We were able to see the process of creating the beautiful china. I think most of their pieces are hand made and hand painted.

Some of the items that were on display were very interesting.

Of course they have a gift shop and since we have never purchased Delft items before we could not determine if the prices at the factory were lower than at the stores at home. n We did buy a bud vase for a souvenir.

It was a very interesting experience.

Next stop was a coffee break and shopping experience in town. We had about 30 minutes to explore the town. I chose to have a coffee before we got on the bus to go to lunch.

The large wooden shoes are everywhere in Holland.

We had lunch at the De Schaapskooi   (the sheepfold ) restaurant. The tables were all  set for our group and we were seated immediately.  

The lunch included traditional food and dessert and coffee or tea. Excellent meal and great service. If I lived in Delft I would eat here again.

https://www.schaapskooi.nl/

After lunch we boarded the coach for the trip back to the ship. On the way we drove by the Hague for just a drive by - no stop.  

The excursion was very nice in spite of the rainy weather. When we stayed in Amsterdam years before we wanted to go to the factory but we did not have the time or means.

June 9-

We planned to use the second day in Amsterdam as a free day to go out on our own but we did not plan on rain. Since we had spent time in Amsterdam before we disembarked from the ship and wandered around the cruise terminal looking at the shops and then we left the terminal to walk around the neighborhood.

We boarded the ship at lunchtime and had lunch. The ship sailed at 2pm so we really did not have a full day here but the time we had was enough.