We took the train from Gare de Nord in Paris to Antwerp. We made reservations the night before on our phone and were surprised to find that our options for a direct train were very few. Who knew everyone was coming here on a Monday? We found a train at 9:46 in which we had to change trains in Brussels to arrive in Antwerp at 12:30. Gare de Nord … Continue reading Antwerp, Belgium
This town is at least an hour outside of Paris, but you can get there using only the metro, which is an amazing deal. Why go here? It’s the last place that Vincent Van Gogh lived. It is where he died and also where he is buried. You can visit various areas that were the inspiration for his paintings, visit the room that he lived in for 70 days … Continue reading Auvers-sur-Oise, France
Chateau Chantilly We took a train from Gare du Nord to get to this chateau. It was about 40 minutes. At the train station there was a bus that took us to the chateau for free. A walk would have been about 25 minutes. We knew we would be walking all day so we took the bus. You need to buy a ticket in advance to get in and … Continue reading Chateau de Chantilly
Chateau de Fontainebleau Today we did something a little different and booked a tour to the two chateaus. We usually do things on our own, but these two chateaus are located a ways from train stations and the travel seemed complicated. Our tour included transportation from Paris to each chateau and back and admission to both chateaus which included audio guides. We had no guide on the … Continue reading Chateau de Fontainebleau and Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte
Chateau de Maisons In order to reach the first chateau all we needed was a metro ticket for 2.55 euros. We had to take two trains. The second had lovely views of the countryside. Chateau de Maisons was located in Maisons-Lafitte. We walked from the train station to the Chateau through a small town with lots of appetizing storefronts. The park had a carousel from the 1800s (it was … Continue reading French Chateaus outside of Paris: Maisons, Germaine-en-Laye, and Monte Cristo
We woke up this morning with the boat tossing in the water like a kids’ bath toy. The drawers were opening and closing and we could hear banging all over the ship. I thought to myself, I don’t want to go snorkeling this morning! Then my husband says to me, I don’t think I want to snorkel today! He had also signed us up to go kayaking right after … Continue reading Galápagos Islands: Santiago Island
This morning we had the option of waking up at 6am and checking out Pinta Island during sunrise. There are thousands of birds that live there. My husband is the bird guy and he was not interested (pictures would not be ideal from the ship), so we slept in. When we had breakfast, I got this picture of the island in the distance. I am also pretty sure … Continue reading Galápagos Islands: Isabela and Fernandina
This morning we had a choice of going for a 1.2 mile hike over some rocky terrain at 6am or taking a ride with the Zodiac at 7am. We chose the Zodiac. (I’m not awake enough for rough terrain that early!) North Seymour is quite close to Santa Cruz. We were lucky enough to be in the Zodiac with only two other guests, the naturalist (Felipe), and … Continue reading Galápagos Islands: North Seymour and Rabida
We woke up early for breakfast since it ended at 7:30. My husband went to a discussion about taking better pictures and I relaxed. At 8:30 the Zodiacs left for the island. When we were walking off the dock, we saw this cool spotted eagle ray with these fish following it. Santa Cruz is the island with the highest population of people, about 20.000. We drove up … Continue reading Galapagos Islands: Santa Cruz
We took a bus from the airport down to the port area. We were given life vests and taught how to get on the Zodiacs. (They look like white water rafts, but with a motor. You sit on the edge.) I had a lovely conversation in Spanish with our driver, Miguel. It was rough and he said he would go slow as to not splash us and I should … Continue reading Galápagos Islands: Baltra and Santa Cruz
Bonney Voyage 