French Chateaus outside of Paris: Maisons, Germaine-en-Laye, and Monte Cristo

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

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Galápagos Islands: Santiago Island

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

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Galápagos Islands: Isabela and Fernandina

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

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Galápagos Islands: North Seymour and Rabida

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

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Galapagos Islands: Santa Cruz

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

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Guayaquil, Ecuador

We had a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Guayaquil that was supposed to leave at 11am.  We were delayed for three hours and I started to panic because I know our schedule is very tight.  However, we arrived at 6pm in Guayaquil.   Apparently, this is a dangerous city.  Is is level 2/3 (depending where you are located) on the US state department alerts.  We are traveling with National Geographic … Continue reading Guayaquil, Ecuador

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Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau, Bahamas Our first port on our most recent cruise was in Nassau.  Oddly enough, I have never been there.  Honestly, I was not that interested in visiting. The only thing I knew about the island was that Atlantis is located there and there are lots of beaches.   My husband put together a walking tour for us.  There were six ships in port.  We estimated that there were about … Continue reading Nassau, Bahamas

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Barbados

We were supposed to stop in Trinidad and Tobago, but the captain came on the intercom in our rooms around 3pm and told us that we couldn’t stop there due to the weather. We were very disappointed because we had a tour that included bird watching in the rain forest.  Instead, we spent the day keeping busy and packing. It was relaxing.  We arrived in Barbados … Continue reading Barbados

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Grenada

We bought a tour from shore excursions.  We met the guide inside the mall. There were nine people on our island spice tour.  The tiny bus that we boarded was parked in the super busy lot near the terminal.  It took us about ten minutes to get out of our parking space.  It was crazy.  I was so happy that I didn’t have to drive there.  We drove through the … Continue reading Grenada

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