Just returned GCT French river cruise

[june1]

Burgundy, Provence, and the Cote D'Azur river cruise June 13

Chardonnay

- charming and quaint riverboat

- cabins on main deck roomy while lower deck slightly larger

- lounge, library, and dining room nicely sized and appointed

- large sundeck with two Jacuzzis, stationary bikes, tables,

lounge chairs

- very smooth ride and hardly knew we were moving

Crew

- 14 plus tour director for 30 passengers - so great service

Food

- buffet breakfast with an extra each day; omelets, blueberry

pancakes, fried eggs

- lunch either buffet or sit down

- dinner- sit down

- food was excellent and artfully presented and three or four

courses

- delicious and unusual soups

- red or white wine with dinner

Shore excursions

- while on boat all included mostly with local guides

- home hosted dinner was an experience

- loved the small towns and Aix en Provence, Nice, Paris

- good tour around Paris

- several presentations on the boat: cheeses, napkin folding,

resistance, making crepes, all about boat, etc.

Optionals

- went to Versailles - very crowded

- ones who went to Giverny loved it

 

A relaxed and lovely way to travel. Highly recommended. Don't miss Sainte Chapelle in Paris - WOW!

June

[Carhut]

Thanks so much June for the review. I'm going on the same trip on the Chardonay, Aug. 22. Getting excited after reading your post.

[p598738]

I was on the Chardoney last year You will love it !!!

[Carhut]

Just returned last evening from my French trip on the Chardonnay. The program director, Katell and the crew were just fantastic. The maitre 'd came to my cabin the first day to see me about the food allergies that I had listed. Most of the time he remembered and made sure I got something that was safe for me to eat.

The boat was so much smaller than the previous ones I've been on. My room was on the bottom floor and the room was big for a river boat. Separate toilet from the rest of the bathroom was nice. The shower stall was huge. But the moment you hit the hallway on that floor you smell the floral smell of the plugged in air freshners. Even so, you could still smell the musty smell down there. During our cruise they took up the carpet in some of our rooms looking for a water leak. The lights kept dimming frequently but never went out. The boat is an old one, and has it charm, but certainly has problems. One day the toilets wouldn't flush for awhile. We found the dining room and lounge quite crowded.

Having listed the bad points, now for the good ones. We had the most congenial group of 45 people and a crew of 14 that were really fantastic. Every one of them. They worked so hard and tried so hard to please you that it made up for what the boat lacked. The itinerary was great. Our home hosted meal was the best of the 5 that I've been to. Such a nice family of 6, mother, father and 4 very well behaved children.

We had 3 nights in Paris, but really only 2 days. We saw a lot though. Besides the half day bus tour of the city, we went to Giverny one morning and saw Monet's home and pond with lily pads, that he frequently painted. Some went to Versailles, but having already seen it, I went to the D'Orsay Musee. The next day it was the Louvre. We also found time to ride the boat on the Seine at night to see all the lights. Tried out the bus system and it was an adventure. We found this restaurant that we highly recommend, called "Hippotomus". Food was really good. The hotel, Meridian, was really a good hotel and in a good area. The breakfast there was a smorgasborg.

Still getting over the jet lag. If anybody has questions, I'll try to answer.

Carole

[Carhut]

Here are some pictures from my GCT river cruise on the Chardonnay if anybody is interested. Giverny is out of order. It should be at the end of the pictures, however, I'm not changing it now.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/Carhut/GivernyAndOtherFrenchPictures2007

 

Carole

[emmylou]

Great pictures Carol.Thank you for sharing.

emmy

[letsgo39]

Carole,

 

Your pictures are absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

 

Letsgo

[lobsterlover]

Carole,

 

Your pictures are great, especially the gardens at Giverny. Think this may become my trip next year. Would you recommend it? Did you do the pre or post trips? It appears you had quite a bit of rain, but glad to see it didn't stop you from enjoying the wonderful scenery. Thanks for sharing.

 

L. L.

[Carhut]

I did enjoy the trip. It only rained the one day when we took the opt. trip to the Beaugolaise country (wine country) where we visited the beautiful village of Oingt. It was overcast some days, but usually the sun came out in the afternoon. I didn't take the pre or post on this trip, but a lot of people that took the pre in Nice really enjoyed it and others said they wish they had taken it. Nobody on our trip took the post to Normandy. Our program director said that out of the 8 trips she's done this year that only 3 of the groups went to Normandy. We thought that it might appeal to WW2 veterans and there aren't so many of them left anymore.

They told us that they were bringing the Bizet back to the French rivers next year. I think that it would be a better boat to be on than the little Chardonnay that I was on. Read what I said about that above in previous post.

[Decebal]

Carole, the pictures are soooooooo beautiful. My favorite were the rainy day in the tiny village. I even dowloaded some for my desktop, parched as we are in Southern CA. One of my favorite fantasies, a rainy day in Paris or some tiny village in France.