PARIS
In October, I visited Paris for 4 nights. I stayed in a very pleasant 2 star hotel, which is only 25 minutes walk to Notre Dame. The area around the hotel felt safe and there were plenty of reasonably priced restaurants as well as a large supermarket, a couple of smaller ones and a mini market – open all hours, which was particularly useful when I wanted to buy a bottle of bubbly late on a Sunday evening.
Generally it makes sense to travel to Paris using Eurostar, however for this visit, British Airways to Charles de Gaulle offered far better value and that included taking into account the cost of parking at Heathrow!
At Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, there is a tourist office from where we bought our RER tickets, a carnet of Metro tickets and Museum Passes.
The RER ticket took us directly from the airport to Gare du Nord, where we had one change to the metro and just a couple of stops to our hotel, a very easy journey.
The advantage of buying the museum pass, was that firstly, in many cases you were directed to the front of queues, you didn’t need to queue and buy entrance tickets. Furthermore it offers unlimited access to a number of famous sites, these include the Towers of Notre Dame, from where you have an amazing view of Paris, Sainte Chapelle, which I think is the most beautiful church in Paris, the Louvre, Musee d’ Orsay where you will find art by the impressionists as well as the Orangerie and Musee de Rodin. We bought 4 day passes which saved us money against buying individual entrance tickets too. Another advantage of the pass, is that if you just want to pop into one of the museums for a brief visit, you can do so without feeling that you’ve spent a lot of money.
Sacre Coeur and of course Montmartre are a must visit too, however there are some pretty seedy areas immediately around, so make sure you visit this during daylight.
Royal Caribbean Cruise
In April 2011 I undertook a cruise with Royal Caribbean on their Independence of the Seas. This was not my first cruise and will not be my last.
We sailed from Southampton which was easy. The check in process is brilliant as you can do it online 3 days before you board. You can also buy drinks packages, which I highly recommend, and book any excursions that take your fancy. There are many to choose from and they suit all levels of ability.
Once on board the ship you are amazed by the sheer size and beauty of the ship. You walk straight on to the Royal Promenade which is the heart of the ship. There are plenty of shops, cafes and even a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream parlour! There is a sports deck on board that has a real surf simulator, perfect for sunny days. If that isn’t your thing you could try out the spa? Or maybe the fully equipped gym? How about relaxing by the pool all day? It’s all there! The adult’s only pool is perfect if you want to get away from it all and relax in the two whirlpools that hang over the edge of the ship.
When it comes to entertainment no one does it like Royal Caribbean, how about watching an ice show at sea? On some of Royal Caribbean’s ships they have ice rinks where you can skate to your hearts content. They also have one main theatre with Broadway style performances and a smaller one with cabaret acts. There are bars where they have performers, comedy nights and for those that are still young at heart a nightclub.
If you’re sailing with kids you can enrol them in the kids clubs which cover all ages up to 18. These clubs allow kids to learn whilst they play and let mum and dad go to the spa or have a drink in a bar.
When it comes to food you will be spoilt. The selection is amazing. You can either go to the main dining room and choose from a menu that changes every night or if you can go to the Windjammer buffet and take your pick. The Jade restaurant serves oriental food buffet style. If you fancy something a bit more upmarket you can book a table at Chops Steakhouse or Portofinos Italian, both have a charge.
On our cruise we sailed to Cobh in Southern Ireland. This is a pretty harbour town with an beautiful gothic church that looms over the port. This little Irish town was the last place to see the Titanic before it sank and hosts a small museum next to the port to commemorate it. From Cobh you can catch the train to Cork for just a few euros or you may want take one of the ships excursions.
We did the trip to the Blarney Castle. Here you climb up to the tower and kiss the Blarney Stone, which is said to give everyone who kisses it, the gift of the gab! After you are free to walk around the gardens of the castle and visit the shop on site to pick up your Irish souvenirs. This trip take about half a day and runs in the morning or the afternoon. The ship is docked overnight so you can see Cobh light up at night. On the journey home you have a day at sea, which is perfect as you get to see what a day onboard is really like. You can’t fit everything in!
Then watch the sun go down at sea…..there is nothing like it.
