Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

Vernon-Giverny

Posted on April 7, 2026 by patmathews

April 6, 2026

At about 11:30 we sailed from La Roche Guyon to Vernon-Giverny. The sun was out and the weather got warmer, in fact, just about a perfect temperature in the 60s.

It was a beautiful sight to see the small villages along the way and also the many swans.

We had our lunch in the restaurant Le Pigalle.

I am not an oyster fan but many passengers are – they were refilling these constantly

The riverboats stack up against each other and the ones on the far end have directions for the passengers to walk through the others to get to shore. Ours was by itself, not one of these three

These balls you see on the trees are mistletoe

Giverny was the home and working studio of Claude Monet. Our guide was the same gentleman as this morning, Martin, and he gave us a lot of information about the site and about the artist.

Monet moved here to the countryside as a practically penniless artist who could not afford to live in the city anymore. He was really a city person and resisted the move. He moved when he was 43 years old and lived here the rest of his life. He died at 86, one hundred years ago – 1926.

We first visited the famous gardens. I was here with our son Mark over 25 years ago and it was impressive then – still amazing. If you are not garden people, you may be bored with all the photos and I will only post some of them.

One thing to mention, we found out last year that Easter Monday is a huge holiday here in France, and the lines of visitors here on such a beautiful holiday certainly reflected that. We moved through the gardens with lots of space as it didn’t feel too crowded there. Going through the house was another story. We had a long wait and didn’t have a chance to visit the gift shop before we had to leave the site. Some of our tour groups didn’t even go through the house.

The tulips, rhododendron, azaleas, hyacinths, pansies and other spring flowers were in full bloom. There is something wonderful to see here in summer when the roses and wisteria are in bloom but today was just beautiful.

We had a fairly quick walk through Monet’s house. He was a collector of Japanese art and there are thousands of pieces in his house. Others are in the museum.

Taken from the second floor window, the house gardens, not the previous water gardens

Spotted on our way back to the ship. There used to be a bridge here

We had a bit of time to relax before the welcome gala reception where we got to meet the heads of all of the departments and the talk about the next day’s tours with our cruise manager, Monty – found out that is what he likes to be called, not Richard!

Cruise manager, general manager and restaurant manager

They said if I took their picture, I had to have one of me with them.

Well the person who took it got his finger in there!

We had a fun dinner with two new couples.

After dinner, we were entertained by a terrific singer, Sara.

A couple of sights along the sway as we headed to Rouen, our stop for tomorrow.

Posted in April, Europe, Europe trip and river cruise, Excursions, France river cruise | Leave a comment

La Roche Guyon, France

Posted on April 7, 2026 by patmathews

April 6, 2026

After breakfast, we went out on a walking tour with our guide, Martin. He is Belgian but has been in France for 30 years. And can he talk! Many stories and lots of history awaited us as we went to the the Chateau de la Roche-Guyon.

This hospital is a rehabilitation facility for children

The limestone outcropping began its history as a cave dwelling and later transformed into a fortress, where medieval knights stood guard against invading Vikings. Over the centuries it grew into a proper palace, housing a string of lords who gave the chateau its name – “La Roche-Guyon” which translates into “The Rock of Guy”, Guy being a typical name for these noblemen.During WWII, Rommel made his headquarters here because the ancient fortifications and caves were so secure.

The buildings show the original limestone and the windows that have the traditional arched shape typical of the 18th century when many additions were made to the chateau.

The village is considered one of the most beautiful of all France and we could see some of it as we climbed up into the castle.

Richard the Lionheart was a Duke of Normandy and the ruins of his castle still remain – the Chateau Gaillard. We didn’t visit the ruins but heard the stories of the fighting between the two castles.

Here are some pictures of the inside of the chateau. Most of the rooms are bare and what little furniture is in them is not from the period, but are reproductions. The tapestries are original.

Almost every room had a unique fireplace

This was the library, with thousands of books that had to be sold to maintain the chateau. These fake ones surround the entire room

Don’t ask! An exhibit in the “room of curiosities”!

There are three chapels in the chateau.

This is how munitions and other deliveries were brought in, note the cables on the ceiling

Apple and pear orchard belonging to the chateau. Our riverboat is in the background.

We returned to the ship for lunch and then headed out to explore Giverny. I will do a separate post about it and about our evening.

Posted in April, Europe, Europe trip and river cruise, Excursions, France river cruise | Leave a comment

Paris Day 4

Posted on April 5, 2026 by patmathews

April 5, 2026

Last night we had dinner at a small bistro, Bistrot Richelieu, which was recommended by our hotel concierge. We sat outside and did some people watching while having a lovely dinner. At a nearby table, a mom and adult daughter on their first trip together were happy to meet us and chat with us. The mom is living in Florida and her daughter in Denver. What a lovely evening we had! They told us about a gelato place a couple of blocks away that had a long line so they thought it must be pretty good. After dinner we walked over and had to wait about 45 minutes to get in. It was worth it!

We walked back to our hotel and had a good night’s sleep – maybe we are finally adjusted to the time change.

This morning, we started with a typical French breakfast at a sidewalk cafe. We then packed up, called an uber and made our way to the port to board our riverboat – the Uniworld S.S. Joie de Vivre.

We got there before rooms were ready and had coffee in the bar while meeting lots of people who were to join us for the week. Some connections to friends of former co-workers in Phillipsburg, NJ were quite a surprise but it just shows how small the world really is.

When we arrived in our room we found two lovely cupcakes and chocolate Easter Bunnies waiting for us.

After we unpacked, we had a safety briefing and we met Alexandra, the 2nd captain, Ruben, the hotel manager and Richard, the cruise manager. They all shared information about what to expect and specific information about tomorrow’s agenda.

We leave tonight at 10 PM and will arrive in La Roche Guyon at about 8 AM. We will do a tour of Chateau de La Roche Guyon ( I will post details after our visit). After lunch we will sail to Giverny where we will visit Monet’s Gardens.

We had a delicious dinner with new friends Dave and Brigitte from the Isle of Jersey.

Surprise of the day is that Norm shaved his beard so he now has a very French looking mustache!

Happy to start the next part of our adventure.

Posted in April, Europe, France river cruise | Leave a comment

Paris, Day 3

Posted on April 4, 2026 by patmathews

April 4, 2026

After walking 16000 steps and climbing many stairs yesterday, today we opted for the Big Bus tour of Paris.

Last night’s dinner was a light one – we ate in the bar – L’Officine du Louvre. Here’s the story of this place.

In 1855, the world turned its gaze to Paris, the French capital hosting the Universal Exposition. Under the vision of Napoleon III, Prefect Hausmann embarked on grand works that would transform the city forever.

As Paris reinvented itself, visitors from across the globe discovered the splendor of modern luxury with the opening of the very first “Grand Hotel”, L’Hotel du Louvre.

The bar’s name, L’officiant du Louvre, plays tribute to the many pharmacies that once flourished in this vibrant neighborhood during that golden age.

Guided by Napoleon III’s passion for botany, our universe draws inspiration from the arts of plants, elixirs and the elegance of a bygone Paris.

And here is an image we took in the Conciergerie yesterday – mine came through email – don’t know what delayed Norm’s – will post if it shows up.

The first stop for the bus was just a short walk, so we headed out after breakfast. The 2 1/2 hour round trip took us around the city and we saw most of the important buildings. I will share the photos here.

Our bus went through this very small opening!

Lots of people on top of Arc de Triomphe. We didn’t do the walk up!

Not to be outdone, Minim’s is next door!

I marveled at the age and beauty of the buildings here and that they were not bombed. Norm reminded me that Germany came in and conquered France so fast that they didn’t need to bomb.

Had to have the onion soup and Norm had Croque Monsieur

We walked to the Galleries Lafayette as Norm spotted people on their roof. This is the ceiling dome in the store!

Some views from the roof top. It is right across from the Opera House.

Another view inside the Galleries Lafayette. It is a beautiful store

We will ask the concierge for a recommendation for our last dinner here in Paris. We board the Joie de Vivre tomorrow to start the first of our two river boat trips.

Posted in April, Europe, Europe trip and river cruise, Food, France river cruise | Leave a comment

Paris in the Spring

Posted on April 3, 2026 by patmathews

April 3, 2026

We seemed to catch up on our sleep overnight. I was up for a couple of hours but then slept until 7:30 and Norm had a good sleep too. So we had breakfast in the hotel and headed out for a walk to Musee d’Orsay. We were here many years ago and really didn’t remember it too well.

The building was inaugurated in 1900 for the World Fair. Orsay train station ran services to the capital from right across southwest France. Also housed within the building were a luxurious hotel and a grand reception room.

With the modernization of trains, the station was gradually abandoned, In 1977, the French government decided to turn the building into a museum. The Musee d’Orsay was inaugurated in 1986.

It is a spectacular building, inside and out. We had tickets so we got in pretty quickly. The temporary main exhibition was Renoir and it was amazing. I am just going to share some pictures of the art, by Renoir and other artists of that time. The middle of the building houses an exceptional display of sculptures and the art is in galleries along both sides. We were welcomed by the Statue of Liberty!

Not Renoir, of course, but you can’t miss Whistler’s Mother!

We didn’t realize Renoir also did sketches and worked in many mediums

Model of the inside of the Opera House. There really is the water that we see in the Phantom of the Opera

This is a small part of the replica of Paris under glass that you walk on top of

It was a wonderful visit and I am sure there is much we didn’t see. We enjoyed every minute.

Norm got this picture of the outside of the Louvre with the small pyramid, the large, famous one and the roof against the Seine.

We headed out to find a cafe for Lunch. The temperature had warmed up from the 31 in the early morning but was still too cold for us to want to eat outside, no matter how charming it is! The first cafe had no open tables inside, so we ventured to Cocorico (sounds Spanish but it is very French!) This man was preparing fresh seafood outside the restaurant.

After a very relaxing lunch, we headed back along the river to our visit to the Conciergie and Sainte-Chapelle. We had a timed ticket for Sainte-Chapelle and could visit the Conciergie any time.

The vendors along the river were opening their metal containers and displaying their items for sale.

We first walked back to Notre Dame because we initially missed the suggested rear garden. I was told that it was open by one of the staff, but it seems that the exhibit surrounding the back of the cathedral has enclosed the garden!

We arrived at the Conciergie which was the site of the Royal residence in the 6th century. In the 13th century, Saint Louis initiated major renovation and enhancement, adding the Sainte-Chapelle. Now, other than the Sainte-Chapelle, the lower parts of the palace are all that remain of the medieval royal residence.

We toured through the complex which served as the Parliament and eventually a prison during the Revolution. A short film describes what took place here. The areas are all empty now.

We had a device that helped lead us through the complex and a very helpful docent showed us the secrets of how to work it.

This is the expiatory chapel of Marie Antoinette. It was converted in 1815 during the Restoration by order of Louis XVIII. The chapel is located on the very site of the queen’s cell.

We were tired but ready to tour Sainte-Chapelle and were we were very glad that we got tickets!

The Palais de la Cite was the residence and seat of royal power from the 10th to the 14th century and housed both the Conciergie and Sainte-Chapelle. The chapel was built between 1242 and 1248. It consists of two sanctuaries, one on top of the other. The upper chapel was used by the king, his close friends and family and the canons leading the services, and the lower chapel was the place of worship for the palace staff.. While the lower chapel is beautiful, the upper is simply breathtaking. We didn’t know before our visit that there was an upstairs!

Here are some pictures of the lower chapel.

The upper chapel owes much of its fame to the stained glass windows. The 1113 scenes depicted in the 15 stained glass windows tell the story of mankind from Genesis through to Christ’s resurrection.

We spent quite a bit of time just marveling at the beauty and workmanship in this chapel.

We walked back to the hotel to relax before dinner, and saw some more beautiful flower beds. The temperature warmed up to 55 and we felt just a few raindrops, so our two days here started cool and got better as the day went on. Hope for continued good weather luck.

We walked almost 14,000 steps and many staircases today so we will have a nice dinner and get ready for tomorrow.

Posted in April, Europe, France river cruise | 1 Comment

Paris, France

Posted on April 2, 2026 by patmathews

April 2, 2026

After a very uneventful airport experience and flight, we arrived in Paris on time at 7:30 AM.

We already had TSA precheck and I read that there is now a touchless TSA precheck so we both enrolled. We walked right through to the baggage screening, I needed an alternate screening due to my hip replacement and that went fast too. We did see longer than usual lines in the regular check in but it didn’t seem too chaotic.

Got a little sleep on the flight and we were met on arrival by our driver to take us to the Hotel du Louvre, right next to the Louvre Museum. Immigration was speedy at this time of the morning, so we were on our way pretty quickly.The traffic was just terrible – don’t know how these drivers handle it – but we got there in one piece.

We were very lucky to find that our room was ready, so we could get organized, have breakfast and head out to our first “must do” sight, the renovated Notre Dame Cathedral. It was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. The day was cloudy and cool so we really enjoyed the walk.

We made advance reservations but they were for entering at 1 PM. It was only about 10:30, but the attendant let us in once he saw the passes. The line for those who did not get advance tickets was very long.

They have done a remarkable job in the renovations. We visited about 25 years ago and remember it being very gray inside. It is much lighter and brighter.

The stained glass is still so beautiful.

The fences outside the cathedral were just covered with the locks we have seen at so many other places.

We tried to get in to see the Saint-Chappell but the line looked like it was 3 blocks long and they were not letting anyone in without advance tickets and none were available until April 10. Later we got some through the hotel concierge, so will go there tomorrow. So, back to the hotel to take a nap since we didn’t get much sleep on the plane.

After our refreshing nap, we headed out to the Tuileries which is also very close to our hotel concierge- it is a great location. It was a lovely walk and a very relaxing place. As you can see, lots of flowers and trees are in bloom. It was created in 1564 for Catherine de Medici, wife on Henri II and has been modified several times over the years.

It is adjacent to the Louvre and just around the corner from our hotel.

We went back to the hotel to have a small dinner in the bar where we were entertained by a singer who played the guitar. Lovely. And I had a French Martini, of course.

We have two more days before we board the river boat. We have lots of plans so stay tuned. Ah, Paris in the spring.

Posted in April, Europe, Excursions, Food, France river cruise | 2 Comments

Heading to France…Again!

Posted on March 27, 2026 by patmathews

As many of you know, we had to leave our river cruise to France last spring for medical reasons after we almost finished the first part in and around Bordeaux (that part is already on the blog.) We are returning to do the week on the SS Joie de Vivre (Paris area on the Seine River) and then the next week on the SS Catherine from Lyon to Arles (Rhone River).

We leave next week and will be spending three days in Paris before the cruise and spending three days in Marseille at the end.

We are looking forward to good weather and good health!

Posted in France river cruise, March, Preparation | 2 Comments

Two sea days on the way back to Miami

Posted on January 3, 2026 by patmathews

January 2 and 3, 2025

We are having a relaxing time on board as we complete the final two days of our trip. What a pleasure to travel with Adam, Mark and Ramsay. We had the usual sea day activities – two second places in Blackjack, spa deck, sauna, lovely meals and relaxation on the deck.

Forgot to put the item in the St. Maarten – Mark, Ramsay and Adam did the America’s Cup 12 Metre Challenge and their ship won. Norm and I had done that when we visited St. Maarten years ago and had fun.

Our Friday night dinner was in Red Ginger and it was a wonderful as always. One of my favorite things on the menu is the Miso Glazed Sea Bass. The other picture is a summer roll. Just a small sample of what we had – all delicious.

The show on Friday was Our World by the entertainment team. I saw it on our three day Inaugural trip a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed it again and everyone else did too. The singing, dancing and multimedia staging were so good. After the show some of the performers came out to chat and pose for pictures. These costumes were from the last country represented – Italy.

Many of the Bowl Games were shown on TV and on NY Day, they were shown in Horizons with the accompanying snack foods.

On Saturday, I placed second again in the tournament and we were second in trivia too, with extra points given because it is the last day. We went to the passenger art show to see the pieces that Mark and Ramsay did. I showed their Miami harbor ones in an earlier post. Here are the florals they did.

They didn’t do the flamingo one, but here was one we liked

The creperie is new on the Allura ship. Two whole weeks went by and I hadn’t tried it, so this afternoon we shared a peach melba crepe. Amazing.

We will have dinner in Toscana and then the Elton John duo, “This One’s For You” for a second show. And, of course, packing for home. And another wonderful family time together comes to an end after lots of fun, laughs, good food and explorations.

Posted in Christmas 2025, Food, January | Tagged Caribbean, cruise, cruises, cruising, travel | 1 Comment

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Posted on January 3, 2026 by patmathews

January 1, 2026

Happy New Year! You will get a few posts in a row because I was unable to load photos for a while. I am doing this one on January 3.

We had a great time at the deck party last night and went to bed quite late. Many of the crew came and partied with us. When the ice sculpture of the #5 went into the pool and the #6 was added, one of the guests jumped into the pool fully dressed in a suit! Ramsay got a video of it.

It has been quite a few years since we visited this island which is Dutch on one side and French on the other. When the Spanish closed their colonial fort on St. Maarten in 1648, a few Dutch and French soldiers hid on the island and decided to share it. Soon After, the Netherlands and France signed a formal agreement to split St. Maarten in half and it has remained as it is today. We docked on the Dutch side. Our tour today was Two Nation Vacation. We were in a mini bus and our guide was Rudolph.

He was informative about the island and told us that in the past, salt, coffee, fishing and cotton were the main industries. Now tourism is the only industry.

There are 19 casinos on the island. And 127 different nationalities. I didn’t even know that many existed!

In 2017, Hurricane Irma, an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone destroyed most of the island and rebuilding is still going on. We passed the hospital being built. Now everyone needing hospitalization has to go off island so they are anxiously awaiting its completion.

We had a stop at a high point of the island on the Dutch side to take pictures. Then we went on to Marigot, the capital of the French side of the island, St. Martin. Since it was NY Day, most of the shops were closed, but we went to a market bordering one of the beaches where we walked around and had a drink.

Then, we went back to the Dutch side and got to Sunset Beach. This beach is just at the end of the runway at the Princess Juliana International Airport so the big attraction is watching the planes come in right over the beach. And the beach was packed with people. We sat at the bar where Rudolph told us if you come in a bikini and take the top off you get free drinks. We paid for ours!

You have to do some jostling to get a favorable spot for a photo of the planes coming in but we were somewhat successful.

When we got back, I played in the blackjack tournament and placed second. I had to miss the trivia which was at the same time, but our team placed second in that too.

Our entertainment was the onboard Bright String Quartet that plays every day at tea and every night in the Grand Lounge. It was a tribute to Queen and it was amazing.

Today is the last of the port stops and we have two sea days before arriving back in Miami on Sunday, January 4. The weather continues to be beautiful and we are all having a terrific time.

Posted in Caribbean, Christmas 2025, Excursions, January | Tagged adventure, beach, Caribbean, cruise, cruising, travel | Leave a comment

St. John’s, Antigua

Posted on January 3, 2026 by patmathews

December 31, 2025

This is our fourth visit to Antigua and as much as we love the island and have done a lot of exploring here, we opted to relax on board during the day since we booked a sunset cruise for later. If you want to see more about Antigua or what you might do if you are coming here, use the search button on the blog and all previous trips will be available to view.

Here is our first view of the island. I am usually at baristas when it opens at 6:30 AM to get my cappuccino in my Yeti mug. The sunrise this morning was really beautiful.

We enjoyed our balcony and booked the same room with the extended balcony and lounge chairs for our trip next year! I had a relaxing time on the spa deck and I love the heated tiled loungers there as well as the therapeutic spa pool. Very few people use that area so it is usually quiet and restful.

Our trip today was a sunset cruise. Mark and Ramsay also booked it so we had fun together. The crew was fun and entertaining with a music playlist to match. They pointed out places of interest, including the Armani estate, many of the 365 beaches and the lovely hotels. The rum punch and appetizers were very nice.

The locals say this looks like a loggerhead turtle coming up for air

We had to get our evening outfits ready before we left because we were invited to dinner in the private Privee with Dominique, our general manager. I have mentioned before how hands on he is. No matter where we go, we see him assisting guests, pushing wheelchairs, etc. If it needs to be done, Dominique is there to do it.

Corey Kahaney was our evening entertainment in a new show, then we went up to the pool deck for our NY Eve party. The band played and we were actually surprised that it was such a big crowd. Norm opted to skip it but Adam, Mark, Ramsay and I were there for the whole thing. We had the hats, the noisemakers, the champagne and the sweet treats. The culinary staff made ice sculptures of 2025 and when the countdown to 2026 ended, the 5 went in the pool and the 6 was hoisted.