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Paris, Chartres, Champagne Country and Giverny 2019

Paris, Chartres, Champagne Country and Giverny 2019

Old Sep 16th, 2019, 08:55 PM
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Wow - I am following your trip which includes so many of the things I hope to see when we go in a couple of months! (Minus the driving through wine country; wrong time of year for us.) Loving your pics and your writing too! Thanks for sharing your experience with us all!
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Old Sep 17th, 2019, 04:30 AM
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denisea - thanks. We usually have a lot of fun in the country (not so much in cities for some reason) on days like this that we just go where it looks interesting. And it is hard to go wrong anywhere in champagne country at this time of year.

Carolmom - thanks. Hope you have as much fun as we did seeing these incredible places.
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Old Sep 18th, 2019, 01:45 AM
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Your day sounded just perfect - and beautiful pictures. Enjoying the whole report. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to more!
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Old Sep 18th, 2019, 06:50 AM
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YankyGal - thanks. It seems like we had several perfect days on this trip. We are on babysitting duty for our two sick great grandkids until they can go back to daycare. Fun but exhausting so I’m not sure when I’ll get the last two days done. I like writing these reports and I really like it when I’m finished writing them. Ha.

Last edited by john183; Sep 18th, 2019 at 07:17 AM.
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Old Sep 21st, 2019, 06:57 AM
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Haven't been visiting Fodor's much lately, but reading this reminds me I need to be back frequently. Always enjoy your trip reports, John! Sounds like a great trip as usual---too bad you and your friends don't have any fun!
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Old Sep 21st, 2019, 07:47 AM
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hanabilly - thanks. It's good to hear from you. I just don't know why we never seem to have any fun. HA.
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Old Sep 21st, 2019, 08:02 AM
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Day 7.

Our original plan had this as a free day to recover from our 2 day trip to champagne country and to get ready for our day trip to Giverny. We slept in then decided to do one of the things we really like to do in Paris. We went to the Café de Flore to sit out front, have a light lunch and people watch. We were able to be seated relatively quickly then the show began. We were entertained for a couple of hours by the never-ending flow of people. On a previous trip when we did this with one of our granddaughters, at one point she was laughing so hard at some of the people she sounded like a hyena. Too much fun.

Earlier in the week the girls got it in their heads that they wanted to do an evening dinner cruise on the Seine. There were two votes NOT to do this (the guys) and two votes to do it (the girls). So of course we did it. The tie breaker always goes to the girls – nothing democratic about our group. The girls arranged a 2 and a half hour cruise from Bateaux Parisiens where they were told we would be seated in the front section of the boat and it was supposed to be completely glass enclosed from floor to ceiling. Here is what was advertised: Soak up the magic of Paris from an onboard dining room while enjoying a gourmet 3-course meal. Please note that Champagne and live music are also included on select 8:30pm departures. Evening cruise along the Seine River. Sip on a glass of Champagne when you board your boat (for 8:30pm dinner cruises only). Enjoy a 3-course à la carte dinner with wine.

It was outrageously expensive and I was not expecting much. Well, as usual, I was wrong. We had a great time. The Uber driver dropped us off right at the boat down by the river. I think because we were the only table of four, we were seated in the very front of the boat and it was completely glass from floor to ceiling. Actually the ceiling was glass too. Nice. We were able to choose our food and it was good as were the wines. The entertainment was also enjoyable – not overpowering or intrusive – and the singers were good.

It did not get completely dark until part way through the cruise but when it did, Paris at night was beautiful. It was hard to capture in pictures but it truly was incredible. At some point we saw several groups of people dancing beside the river. It looked like they were having a really good time. We met several nice people at tables near us. All in all, a very nice evening.

Last edited by john183; Sep 21st, 2019 at 08:31 AM.
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Old Sep 21st, 2019, 08:15 AM
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Day 7 Pictures


Cafe de Flore

Dinner cruise - pre-cruise champagne

Our fun waiter

Dinner cruise

Dinner cruise menu

Dinner cruise

Dinner cruise

Dinner cruise

Dinner cruise - dancing by the river

Dinner cruise - dancing by the river

Dinner cruise

Dinner cruise

Dinner cruise

Dinner cruise
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Old Sep 21st, 2019, 04:19 PM
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I’m glad to read a good review of the evening dinner cruise. In general, I have seen people here recommend against it, but it wasn’t clear to me if anyone had actually done it.
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Old Sep 21st, 2019, 07:08 PM
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More wonderful shots. Paris at night with the 🌙 and the lights are so pretty.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2019, 12:06 AM
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We used to live just across from the Allé des Cygnes in the 1980s,*though our apartment faced away from the Tour Eiffel and Statue of Liberty. But we had a stunning view of tout Paris high up on the 19th floor, including Sacré Cœur and Your Montparnasse. Your dinner cruise pictures brought back happy memories 😊
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Old Sep 22nd, 2019, 04:30 AM
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What Nikki said. Glad to hear it was a good experience. Beautiful pictures!
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Old Sep 22nd, 2019, 12:28 PM
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I love Cafe de Flore! I still have never done a Seine cruise at all - I am surprised to hear that the dinner cruise was good (not sure why but just assumed the food would be lacking). I have always wanted go on one of the cruises at night to see the sights all lit up. Beautiful.

Can't wait to hear about Giverny - we loved our day there last year and I want to go back in Summer and Fall!
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Old Sep 22nd, 2019, 01:01 PM
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Love your report

Such timely posting! Leaving for Paris on 10/1 with my adult daughter and planning on a Chartres day trip on Friday the 4th in hopes to see the labyrinth (but may change the day if it's not sunny since DD works in stained glass).Thank you for the info regarding the English tour and crypt information - a must do for us, I think. For our second week, two of my cousins are joining us and we have a tour of Epernay booked.
Can't wait!
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Old Sep 22nd, 2019, 04:13 PM
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Nikki, YankyGal, denisea – thanks. About the dinner cruise - I want to say we are not foodies and the food on the cruise was certainly not Michelin star quality. Between the four of us, we had three different starters, three different entrees and we all had the same cheese and dessert. We all were satisfied with the quality of the food and the way it was served. The champagnes and wines were all good. I'm sure the fact that we had the best table on the boat colored our perceptions somewhat. And as I said before, it was outrageously expensive, but we had a great time.

TDudette- thanks. And thanks again for the hint on my other thread of what to do at Giverny.

geetika – thanks. I now know what tout Paris means and I have a new place to visit on my next trip to Paris – the Allé des Cygnes – both thanks to you.

Margaretlb – Your trip sounds great – especially having your daughter with you. We have always had great times traveling with our family. Hope you enjoy your trips to Chartres and Epernay as much as we did.

Last edited by john183; Sep 22nd, 2019 at 04:19 PM.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2019, 04:20 PM
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Day 8.

We had so much fun the night before that we were a little slow moving when we finally got up. But we made it to Gare St Lazarre in time to catch our train to Vernon. We walked around the town and found a little place for lunch. Vernon was not as nice overall as Chartres or Reims but we found a few areas that were pretty. After lunch, we followed TDudette’s advice from a thread I had posted before we went. We took a taxi to Giverny and saw the water feature first. We then went through the gardens and house (and had a coffee and dessert at one of the little restaurants) before calling the taxi to pick us up. That worked well for us.

The day was a little overcast but everything was still beautiful. Like millions of others, we really like Monet’s paintings so we were looking forward to seeing everything at Giverny. My wife loves flower gardening so she was especially looking forward to the gardens. We loved everything about Giverny. We could not stop taking pictures so I apologize in advance for posting so many. We had wanted to go here since our first trip to Paris in 2004 but it just never worked out during any of our previous trips. I don’t know how different it would be in other seasons (or on a bright sunny day) but it was beautiful on an overcast day in the fall and we were very happy we were finally able to see it. This was a great way to spend the last day of our vacation.

Day 9.

This day can basically be described in one sentence. It was an uneventful trip home. Yay!!! The best kind of day when going home. Another fun vacation in the books. Where to next? We are thinking either the heel of Italy or Portugal. Both look like they would be nice.

Last edited by john183; Sep 22nd, 2019 at 05:06 PM.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2019, 04:34 PM
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Day 8 Pictures


Vernon

Vernon

Vernon

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny

Giverny
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Old Sep 23rd, 2019, 12:10 PM
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The Giverny photos are gorgeous. We were there on Spring so no waterlillies yet. So we need to go back. It took us multiple trips to Paris to get there as most of our trips were late in the year. I totally know what yoy mean...we took tons of pictures!

great minds think alike as we have been looking to get back to Portugal and also mulling over Puglia, as well.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2019, 12:30 PM
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Yes John, your Giverny pictures are stunning! Since you love Monet I wonder if you’ve been to the Musée Marmottan Monet in the 16th, my absolute favourite in Paris. Haven’t been to Giverny in several years, hopefully we’ll be able to make it next May...
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Old Sep 24th, 2019, 05:02 AM
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denisea – thanks. I wasn’t sure what to expect in the fall (spring is the best time for blooming flowers here in Atlanta) but it was spectacular. Hope you get back soon. Several different friends have been to Portugal recently and really liked it. Another person we know had gone on a biking vacation to the heel of Italy where he rode from winery to winery. He said it was the best vacation of his life. Not sure we are up for biking but the area looks interesting.

geetika – thanks. The Musée Marmottan Monet was on our list of places to see on this trip but we just ran out of time. Our friends went there after my wife and I came home - they said it was fantastic. We need to visit it on our next trip to Paris.

Last edited by john183; Sep 24th, 2019 at 05:37 AM.
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