Grand france with avalon

[cbb]

There is info about this cruise scattered throughout other threads so I thought perhaps those of us wanting info about this could find it in one place. We will probably do this in Sept '11 and are interested in DDay Beaches option as well as just general info. Hope Sept is a good time to go (or perhaps Oct).

[letsgo39]

This is actually a new cruise this year so you will not find information on it yet. Avalon has combined their 2 cruises,Paris to Normandy and Paris to Nice into one cruise. We will be on the Paris to Nice portion of it in April but my friend"Webfoot" is taking the whole trip.After several years of "talking" to each other on a couple of different message boards we are finally going to meet in person.We are both hugh Avalon fans and I am sure we will both post reviews when we get back. We both signed up for our cruises when we received a 2 for 1 offer from our online TA last October. Just to good a deal to pass up.Avalon is one of the few cruise companies that does not require you pay in full when you book a 1/2 price deal far in advance.

I am sure there will be lots of reviews and information for you as the season goes by.

[cbb]

we too are great fans of Avalon so that when this trip appeared I knew it was one we had to take. We have already booked 2010 vacations so now we're planning 2011. Can't wait for the 2011 schedule to come out...we'll be among the 1st to book!! Also probably taking a Holy Land trip with Globus in spring,2011 and then would add an Avalon cruise of the Nile ...while we are "in the neighborhood!" Look forward to your reviews. People from Ky usually tell it, nicely, like it is; I was born and reared on the Indiana side "of the river" so I know 'yall well.

[letsgo39]

we too are great fans of Avalon so that when this trip appeared I knew it was one we had to take. We have already booked 2010 vacations so now we're planning 2011. Can't wait for the 2011 schedule to come out...we'll be among the 1st to book!! Also probably taking a Holy Land trip with Globus in spring,2011 and then would add an Avalon cruise of the Nile ...while we are "in the neighborhood!" Look forward to your reviews. People from Ky usually tell it, nicely, like it is; I was born and reared on the Indiana side "of the river" so I know 'yall well.

 

We really are close,only about 50 miles from Evansville that is my "home "airport.Nice to meet 'yall":)

[cbb]

I hope Webfoot keeps copious notes on the trip as we too will be taking the whole tour. As I said, we're especially interested in the DDay Beach option so that even if Webfoot doesn't take that I hope he/she listens to what others have to say and can report back. We might go to Paris a week early and do the beaches on our own as well as other places in the area. Thanks for the info on Webfoot; I'll watch for that report later this year.

[letsgo39]

I hope Webfoot keeps copious notes on the trip as we too will be taking the whole tour. As I said, we're especially interested in the DDay Beach option so that even if Webfoot doesn't take that I hope he/she listens to what others have to say and can report back. We might go to Paris a week early and do the beaches on our own as well as other places in the area. Thanks for the info on Webfoot; I'll watch for that report later this year.

 

 

Webfoot takes great notes and I would guess sshe will be along sometime today or tomorrow to post. I have found a great little boutique hotel on Tripadvisor and Fodors in Paris in the Rue Cler area for our pretrip stay, if you are interested let me know.

[cbb]

ALWAYS interested in great little hotels. You don't mind if hundreds of other CC visitors copy the name down as well? :)

[letsgo39]

ALWAYS interested in great little hotels. You don't mind if hundreds of other CC visitors copy the name down as well? :)

 

 

I don't mind as I found it on Fodors and Tripadvisor. It's the Hotel Valadon. Has great reviews and only 12 rooms.

[Nippy Sweetie]

We`re booked on this one in June this year- sorry distracted by struggling thunderously purring Abyssinian kitten on my knee-Grand France tour sounds great. We`ve been Viking before but not v impressed. Avalon sounds good though. We`ll have to stay overnight in Paris the night before. What a sacrifice!!

Anyone else on the 22nd June tour?

[webfoot]

I keep a diary with me and write down each day's activities, etc.

 

Letsgo39 (Judy) and I are both staying at the Hotel Valadon. We are taking some extra time to do Normandy on our own ... to see things that we wouldn't see on the tour ... and are also staying at a small hotel. We are taking the extension and are staying several days at a small hotel in Nice ...

 

Like Letsgo39, we do a lot of research on TripAdvisor ...

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

[cbb]

I too, am a huge researcher (early retiree history teacher!) and we travel with a 3 ring notebook filled with info, divided by day. We pull out each day's info put it into a plastic sleeve and carry it in my backpack and throw the papers away at the end of the trip. I too use CC & TAdv as well as all of the guide books and online resources I can. (I even do a brief history of the place so that my left brained husband understands what we are about to see)

Would you care to share the name of the hotel you're staying in at Nice? I'd love to take some extra time and do Eze and Cinque Terre but just don't know about driving; are you using trains? We are huge fans of metro systems and have used them all over Europe. When we take Grand France we will probably use Globus' Monogram tours to spend several pre cruise days in Paris and then go spend at least 2 days at Normandy and use one of the guide companies I've read about. History teachers tend to have certain places we "have" to see!! Some call it "notches on the bed" but it is important to me. Thanks for the info

[webfoot]

We are staying at the Hotel Solara in Nice ... had a good rating and reasonably priced.

[cbb]

thanks, I appreciate both names! Have a safe trip!

[Nippy Sweetie]

Blimey! We`re just holidaymakers not like you professional tourists! We reckon that France in general is interesting and travel with open minds. Someimes in the past we`ve found fantastic places that we just loved but couldnt ever have found them on purpose. Serendipity in comfort is for us. We also enjoy the company and interesting conversations we have with the people you tend to meet on smaller vessels.

[cbb]

We're not professional tourists but we would be disappointed to miss something that we wanted to see without knowing where it was. Many years ago my husband and I, newly married,went to San Francisco. We had a wonderful time but were truly disappointed upon our return to find how near Muir Woods had been and we didn't know it. We were avid hikers and vowed never again to be unprepared. Our plan is to hit those places in the morning that we really want to see and then the afternoon is to meander and "get lost." Our trips are a kind of a disciplined wandering! (BTW, we visited the British Isles for a month last September and we loved, loved Edinburgh, both Old and New ("New" meaning hundreds of years older than my country!)

[happytravelleruk]

I was wondering if any of the Avalon ships have a lift, as I find stairs impossible. We managed to find a boat last year to do the Rhine but next time we fancy France. If not Avalon, perhaps someone knows of any other boats with lifts. Many thanks.

[webfoot]

All of the newer ships have an elevator. We were on the Affinity last year and there were a lot of people using it ...

[happytravelleruk]

Thank you. Does the lift take you up to the sun deck? One I have seen just runs between cabins/lounge and restaurant.

[webfoot]

No ... the elevators do not go to the sun deck ...

[happytravelleruk]

Ah well - no sunbathing for me then!

[Nippy Sweetie]

Truly not meaning to be offensive, but river cruising frequently involves some fairly intrepid footwork. Tours may be on very uneven ground (lots of steps & cobbles in European towns/cities). Is a river cruise your best option? Maybe sea cruises might be more relaxing & less restricting for you. It seems a shame if you cant make it up on the sun deck. Just a thought- please ignore.

[happytravelleruk]

I can see where you are coming from and no offence taken. We have done river cruises in the past and tend to alternate them with a sea cruise. We have done the Danube and last year the Rhine/Moselle This year we are going on Arcadia so I was looking ahead to next year for somewhere new on the river. I can still walk, but my muscles won't get me up stairs which on a river boat tend to be quite steep. I will keep looking - I just wish the boat we were on last year would go somewhere different!

[Nippy Sweetie]

You`ll be fine on Arcadia. Lots of lifts! Lovely ship. Big though. I can quite see how you would like the scale of river cruising. What a pity the boats have so many steep steps etc. One lady on the Viking Pride was in a wheelchair. No lifts so she must have been able to manage a few steps. She did miss out on the tours though. I know as I sat and kept her company at times (there`s only so many cathedrals I can face!!)