Everything Viking France: Normandy, Paris, Provence

[philw1776]

My GUESS is that there are so few options and no new ones likely so that Paris to Normandy cruise is standardized.  Lots of alternatives available & evolving on the Southern France leg.  Viking does change up some of their excursions over time.  Probably wrong.

[Peregrina651]

22 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 

FYI Three holding companies own most of the rental car companies:

• AvisBudget Group (owns Avis, Budget, and Payless)
• Enterprise Holdings (owns Alamo, Enterprise, and National)
• Hertz Global Holdings (owns Dollar, Hertz, and Thrifty)

 

I knew about Enterprise Holdings because I wanted to see the relationship between "partners" Enterprise and Alamo but not about the other two.

 

DSis and I decide that there were two ways to consider which company to book with. First,we could simply go with the cheapest one of the two. Or, we could book with the company that would actually fulfill our reservation, because their name would be the one on the contract.

[Peregrina651]

42 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

My GUESS is that there are so few options and no new ones likely so that Paris to Normandy cruise is standardized.  Lots of alternatives available & evolving on the Southern France leg.  Viking does change up some of their excursions over time.  Probably wrong.

 

as you say, Viking being Viking.

[deec]

Peregrina,  are you picking up a car in Marseille and dropping off in Avignon?  Is there a large cost to do that?  We want to do the opposite at the end of our cruise?

[Peregrina651]

Ms SailAway is on board now and made the following report in her roll call:

 

We just did the Perouges tour yesterday. It was quite interesting. If you are not 100% mobile though, I'd give it a miss. The cobblestones are very rough and uneven. Tough walking for someone with a cane and impossible for a wheelchair.  I'm attaching a picture I took. 

[Peregrina651]

13 minutes ago, deec said:

Peregrina,  are you picking up a car in Marseille and dropping off in Avignon?  Is there a large cost to do that?  We want to do the opposite at the end of our cruise?

 

There are actually two fees, one for picking up at a premium location (the airport) and the other for not dropping off where we picked up. However, the two fees total less than the cost of four train fares to Avignon-TGV (remember that they closed the concession in the Avignon-Centre station). Hertz seems to have three locations in Avignon but we didn't even price them because they are always more expensive. You may not have to pay the premium pick up if you are simply dropping off at the airport.

 

PS, if you are already a big warehouse member with a travel department, check their prices, too.

 

Edited November 16, 2018 by Peregrina651

[deec]

Good Idea to check with warehouse!!

I am beginning to look for a VBRO or B&B in the Avignon area for after the cruise!

First we are off to Amazon  in 2 weeks week :)!!

 

[Peregrina651]

38 minutes ago, deec said:

Good Idea to check with warehouse!!

I am beginning to look for a VBRO or B&B in the Avignon area for after the cruise!

First we are off to Amazon  in 2 weeks week :)!!

 

 

I have to ask. What is a VBRO?

 

We have reservations at a place called Aux Augustins (an old Augustinian monastery). They also have a sister location. I don't know if they call themselves a B&B or exactly what but I get the impression that it is not staffed 24/7 and also daily housekeeping is an extra fee. But good reviews on TA.  Ask me again in April, after our cruise, if I haven't already posted about it.

 

In the meantime, have fun in the Amazon.

[Peregrina651]

Moving things forward so we don't have to go far to find them:

 

• Rhone, Rhone, Rhone Your Boat; Lyon & Provence on the Viking Heimdal and Paris Too!
• Viking River Cruises "France's Finest"
• Paris and the Heart of Normandy Captured Our Hearts! Full Trip Report - Viking Rolf
• Viking, Lyon to Avignon, with pre-cruise Paris extension March 2018
• Normandy beaches
• Viking Dailies for Lyon to Avignon (Thank you, jrkstl)
• Viking River France's Finest - Nice extension from Avignon
• Paris transfer question
• Viking Kadlin Paris to Normandy Beaches

[philw1776]

26 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I have to ask. What is a VBRO?

 

We have reservations at a place called Aux Augustins (an old Augustinian monastery). They also have a sister location. I don't know if they call themselves a B&B or exactly what but I get the impression that it is not staffed 24/7 and also daily housekeeping is an extra fee. But good reviews on TA.  Ask me again in April, after our cruise, if I haven't already posted about it.

 

In the meantime, have fun in the Amazon.

VRBO Vacation Rentals By Owner  

Used to be a great site where you as an owner could rent out your property.  Acquired by Expedia, it now has all kinds of fees tacked on that go to Expedia and it now inhibits the former direct contact between owner & renter.

[deec]

Phil, i was aware of Expedia being involved but we have a rental in Florida booked for April and have had contact with the owner, or so I thought.  Do you think it was Expedia employee answering my questions?

[deec]

Aux Augustins. looks very nice.  Were you able to find a web site in ENGLISH?

 

[Peregrina651]

yes and the owners speak English. try this link for English https://www.autourdupetitparadis.com/en

[philw1776]

5 hours ago, deec said:

Phil, i was aware of Expedia being involved but we have a rental in Florida booked for April and have had contact with the owner, or so I thought.  Do you think it was Expedia employee answering my questions?

Sorry for confusing you.  Expedia shields direct email & phone contact between owner & guest.  

[Peregrina651]

All Roll Calls for France's Finest, Paris & Normandy, Lyon & Provence:

 

• All Viking Paris Heart of Normandy cruises
• All Viking 2018 Lyon & Provence
• All Viking Paris & Normandy 2018 cruises
• All Viking France's Finest 2018
• ALL 2019 Viking FRANCE'S FINEST
• ALL Viking 2019 Lyon & Provence
• All 2020 Viking Paris & the Heart of Normandy
• France’s Finest May 31, 2019
• Viking Paris to Normandy July 20
• Viking Rinda Sept 2018 Paris to Normandy
• Viking France's Finest Cruise, September 24, 2019
• Viking France's Finest 9/2 -9/16
• Paris & The Heart of Normandy Viking Rinda Aug 1 - 2018
• Viking: Avignon to Lyon: April 14, 2019
• Viking France's Finest || 11-25 July 2018

[Peregrina651]

It is time to move the list of Roll Calls forward:

 

All Roll Calls for France's Finest, Paris & Normandy, Lyon & Provence:

 

• All Viking Paris Heart of Normandy cruises
• All Viking 2018 Lyon & Provence
• All Viking France's Finest 2018
• ALL 2019 Viking FRANCE'S FINEST
• Viking France's Finest || 11-25 July 2018
• All Viking Paris & Normandy 2018 cruises
• All 2020 Viking Paris & the Heart of Normandy
   
• France’s Finest May 31, 2019
• Viking Paris to Normandy July 20
• Viking Rinda Sept 2018 Paris to Normandy
• Viking France's Finest Cruise, September 24, 2019
• Viking France's Finest 9/2 -9/16
• Paris & The Heart of Normandy Viking Rinda Aug 1 - 2018
• Viking: Avignon to Lyon: April 14, 2019

[Peregrina651]

It seems that now all of the excursions are posted for both Paris/Normandy and Lyon/Provence.

 

Quick question about the included tour in Avignon. Is it all walking or do they bus you to a starting point? Do they just leave you in the center of town when the tour is over or do they guide you back to the ship?

[jrkstl]

23 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

Quick question about the included tour in Avignon. Is it all walking or do they bus you to a starting point? Do they just leave you in the center of town when the tour is over or do they guide you back to the ship?

 

On our trip, Avignon was all on foot. And you could certainly stay in town after the tour. The ship was parked very close.

 

Jeff

[Peregrina651]

Has anyone else, particular past passengers on this itinerary, had their cruise schedule changed from Avignon-Avignon- Arles to Avignon-Arles-Avignon? How did that work out?  How late did the ship stay in Arles?

 

TIA

[jrkstl]

7 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Has anyone else, particular past passengers on this itinerary, had their cruise schedule changed from Avignon-Avignon- Arles to Avignon-Arles-Avignon? How did that work out?  How late did the ship stay in Arles?

 

TIA

Our itinerary changed to Arles first, then Avignon. Honestly, if they hadn’t sent out a notice regarding the change, it would have been unnoticeable. FYI, for the day in Arles, you are docked in Tarascon and coached the brief trip into Arles.

 

Jeff

[Peregrina651]

30 minutes ago, jrkstl said:

Our itinerary changed to Arles first, then Avignon. Honestly, if they hadn’t sent out a notice regarding the change, it would have been unnoticeable. FYI, for the day in Arles, you are docked in Tarascon and coached the brief trip into Arles.

 

Jeff

 

No "official" notification yet. We have been left to discover it for ourselves, so far.

 

Gotta love Google! A quick visit and satellite view explains it all.  There is a dam  on the river just north of Taracon and a lock. Jeff, did you go through the lock there or did they just park the boat and let you off?

Edited December 4, 2018 by Peregrina651

[jrkstl]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

No "official" notification yet. We have been left to discover it for ourselves, so far.

 

Gotta love Google! A quick visit and satellite view explains it all.  There is a dam  on the river just north of Taracon and a lock. Jeff, did you go through the lock there or did they just park the boat and let you off?

 

We went through the lock, and were docked at Port de Tarascon, which is just north of Chateau de Tarascon.

 

Jeff

[jrkstl]

Peregrina651, 

 

I found these pics that you might want to see. These were taken from near the bridge in Tarascon, and then on the bridge. You can see the Viking Delling just slightly up river 🙂

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by jrkstl

[Peregrina651]

Fabulous. Thank you, Jeff. I always love it when it is show and tell.  

 

Here is a question for everybody else. Did you all dock in Tarascon? Viking likes to change things up. Or maybe it is the river master who does it. 

[TakingFlight]

We are sailing Avignon to Lyon on October 8, 2019.  Our schedule has changed as Peregrina describes. Additionally, there is no optional tour to a Châteauneuf de Pape winery which would be one of the highlights of this cruise for me.  I contacted Viking who asked me to be patient (not my best trait) while they finalize some changes to the itinerary. If the optional CDP tour doesn’t materialize I will plan my own, however I’m not sure which day to do it and I want to be sure the ship is where we left it when we return!  I realize I have a lot of time before I have to make any decisions on this.  I hope you all will share as you receive more information about these changes.