My familiarisation tour to France began with Emirates flights via Dubai to Paris. While the flights were long, I found the A380 legroom and space very comfortable making the flight more bearable. The food, entertainment and comfort were all very high quality and I would definitely fly Emirates again! A short stop in Dubai meant going through security twice and then I met with the rest of my travel group.
On arrival into Paris we were met by our Avalon representative for our transfer to our hotel, The Pullman Montparnasse which is in the 14th Arrondissement. This was a fantastic hotel with spacious rooms and lovely views over the city – if you’re lucky you get the Eiffel Tower, the Sacre Coeur or Notre Dame Cathedral. The hotel is within walking distance of the main city area (if you have time!) If took us about half an hour to stroll down to the Eiffel Tower and from here you can walk along the banks of the Seine to see other parts of the city. Alternatively you can take a taxi which is quite cheap, or the metro which is also easily accessible from the hotel. Also within walking distance of the hotel are some great shopping streets, gorgeous little outdoor markets where you can buy fresh produce and if you like you can take it down to the Eiffel Tower for a picnic!
In Paris we explored all the typical attractions including going up the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Louvre, Versailles, and much more. The Eiffel tower was very busy, even for April so I would definitely recommend pre-purchasing skip the lines passes before you go. These will usually take you up to the second level and from here you can choose to pay a little extra and line up for the top level; we did this and were lined up for about 15 minutes waiting for the lift. If you’re short on time the view from the 2nd level is still spectacular! For something different, Montparnasse Tower (big black tower when you’re looking south of the Seine) will also offer fantastic views over the city… and they include the Eiffel tower in them!
After staying at the Pullman for 2 nights we were transferred to our brand new ship the Avalon Tapestry II for our 7 night Seine River Cruise. I was staying in a Category A Panorama Suite which was beautiful. Avalon’s beds face the window which means you can lie in bed an admire the view as you cruise along. It also had a full French Balcony so the full floor to ceiling doors slide wide open to create an open air balcony. On the ship there was the main dining room which was used for buffet breakfast, lunch and a 4+ course menu each night. The upstairs Panorama Lounge also offers a light lunch and on some nights’ a Panoramic Bistro dinner of the chefs specials; this was a real treat! Beer and wine are included with dinner each night and prices at the bar for the rest of the day are very reasonable. On board there is also a quieter Club lounge that offers a coffee machine, comfortable seatings, games and a small library, and next door there is also a hair salon. Free wifi is also available throughout the ship. While it was still a little cool while we were cruising, the sundeck provided a lovely place to relax with sun chairs and a small spa. We spent a few nights up on deck admiring the beautiful old houses and towns we passed along the way.
Each day along the cruise we stopped at a different port including Vernon for Giverny and Monet’s Garden, Les Andelys, Rouen, and Caudebec. There some some included excursions each day as well as optional excursions in the afternoon to visit different areas. We also went on a tour to the Normandy Landing beaches which was very interesting; this tour is broken into a US tour which visits Omaha & Utah Beaches, and a Canadian/British Tour (also suitable for Aussies!) which visited Gold, Sword and Juno Beaches. It was always very exciting to wake up each morning in a new location (right in the middle of town!) and enjoy a stunning new view!
Food on board the ship was never ending and spectacular; if you were to see the size of the kitchen the chefs had to cook in you would be amazed at what they can produce on such a large scale… the ship has approximately 120 passengers who all dine together at night time. Breakfast each morning ranged from toast and cereal, yoghurt and fruit to made to order eggs, French toast, and almost anything you could think of. There was tea and coffee, juice and even sparkling wine if you wish. Lunch provided you wish fresh breads, carving stations, pastas, salads and again almost anything you might like. The daily 4 course dinner was amazing every single night; with appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, mains, desserts, cheese and after dinner tea and coffe (as well as beer, wine and soft drinks) there was always something special to choose from.
As we were cruising in April we were lucky enough to have a special tour arranged to attend the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. We left the ship at 1am for the 4 hour drive during the night and all managed to get some sleep on the bus. On arrival we lined up in our coach with thousands of others and were eventually dropped at the entrance. It was still dark and pouring with rain (not unlike it would have been for a lot of the time during the war!) but we were lucky to be dressed with jackets, gloves, hats and umbrellas to try and keep out some of the rain. The service itself was souch a privilege to attend and something I will treasure forever. After the service as dawn began to break we were able to wonder around the hundreds of graves placing poppies and crosses on them as we went. Many schools throughout Australia had their students decorate wooden crosses to be placed on the graves. Cold and exhausted we eventually arrived back in Paris for another 2 nights at the Pullman.
On one of our free days myself and one of the other girls took a full day (14 hour!) tour to Mont Saint Michel. If you haven’t heard of this and you’re travelling to France it is definitely worth a visit… it was incredible! Situated on a small island just off the coast of Northern France, this little village is built around the cathedral on top of the hill. We spent the day exploring the little village and seeing how it was built before heading back to Paris late that night.
Avalon do offer an optional excursion to Moulin Rouge which I have heard is great, however this clashed with our visit to the Dawn Service. It can book out fast so make sure you get in quick!
I was lucky on my flight home to arrange exit row seats on the plane; Emirates don’t allow these to be prebooked however if you ask at the airport you might be lucky that they are still available! These made the flight home a lot more comfortable being able to stretch out and easily stand up throughout the flight.
Highlight of my trip? Definitely Villers Bretonneux, although it was all fantastic and I have a new love for Paris & France now.
A tip for France: Try a learn a little bit of French before you go. While almost everyone can speak English, they will be a lot more obliging if you try first; even if it’s just a quick Bonjour (hello), S’il vous plait (please), Merci (thank you) or Au Revoir (goodbye!)
