British Isles 2018

Dublin Ireland Cruise arrives at 11 am, departs at 10 pm Dublin City, Hop on, Hop off (Expedia Tours) 9 am - 7 pm https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/tour/sightseeing-bus-dublin-city/EUDBCSONOFF Quiet morning, we had our breakfast and Robert went for a dip in the pool,  while Tracee watched cirque du Soleil on the big screen!  Just before lunch we got off the ship and stood in line for a taxi, which we shared with a sweet retired couple from the US!  We headed to downtown Dublin where we had booked a "hop on hop off"  tour!  Our first stop was Trinity college. We just walked around the grounds and went into the gift shop. It was a crazy line to see the Book of Kells, so we carried on, looking for the whiskey museum, which turned out just to be a bar with a display lol. Lots of walking for not much!  Back on the bus to St. Patrick's cathedral. Beautiful beautiful beautiful!!!!!  I had a little moment where I was quite overwhelmed!  Said a fe...

Cork, Ireland Cruise arrives at 9 am, departs at 7 pm Excursion :Exclusive Kinsale, Cobh City and Blarney - 9:30 am (Expedia Excursion) https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/tour/kinsale-blarney-cork-city/EUCRSTSKINBLR A 9 am start and the ship is docked in Cobh, we took our excursion tight off the boat.  Our guide Kevin, has turned us around the countryside including the small town of Kinsale, where. We picked up a few souvenirs.  And we are having lunch at a small typical pub - Larry Tompkin's.  We walked around St. Patrick Street area then back on the bus and heading to Blarney. We weren't able to.go.up and kiss the Blarney Stone as the line up was too long, but we enjoyed the grounds, gardens- including the poisonous garden!!!  Back on the bus and back to the ship...it was nice to message Kate, Carinne and Jean-Luc!  We were able to watch the ship depart, where we were entertained by a band on the dock. They played a collection of Irish Times and Disney ...

Guernsy (St. Peter Port)  Arrive at 6 am, cruise departs at 5 pm Completing the Herm Island Walk - Princess Cruise excursion 8 am - 1 pm. https://www.princess.com/excursion/exDetails.page?tourCode=GCI-385&t=F&exType= S We were up early and ready to disembark off the cruise ship by 7:15, we took a tender boat to Guernsey, and then a ferry boat to the island of Herm, it's a small island of 65 permanent residents, with many more in the summer. If you live on the island, you are employed by the island. Our tour guide reminded us so much of Carmen our sister in law!!!  We walked along the paths, no vehicles except ATVs/quads and Cushmans. We saw the burial pods/caves in rocks, when a body had decomposed to bones, the bones were removed. Dating back 300 years  before Christ  We walked to a beautiful beach, where Robert was able to dip his toes in the water and we collected some seashells to take home. Our guide shared more info about the island itself - includi...

Paris Holiday Inn Express at the airport. https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/roissy-en-france/pardg/hoteldetail?cm_mmc=GoogleMaps-_-EX-_-FR-_-PARDG Packed up this morning and left our luggage at the front desk and walking to the Louvre!!! We waited in line for about 40 minutes which wasn't too bad...it's a security thing!!  Once we were in, it was quite overwhelming. We found the kiosk to buy our tickets and the audio guides...took a bit for us to figure them on, they were interactive on a Nintendo DS. Where was my son when I needed him? We looked at some of the ancient Egyptian artifacts, then on to some Greek statues, including Venus. Then onto French paintings... finishing up with some African artifacts.  It was very busy and warm...we were a little sweaty! It also took us awhile to find our way out lol, Robert was looking forward to a smoke...we had a little break in the court yard...after almost 6 hours if standing and walking. We headed bad towards...

Paris

Paris We started our morning walking to the Eiffel tower....it took us about an hour to get there!!  We walked along the Seine on the pathways!! We rode to the top of the tower...it was about a 45 min wait, so not so bad!!!  The view was amazing; I thought I might be a little freaked out by the height, bit it's almost surreal!! We did take the elevator up and down..I really didn't want to blow my knee out!! We had lunch there...and then started the walk back to our hotel....and it's hot!!!! Time for a very cold shower and a short nap!  And a change of clothes and we set off to see St. Sulpice church which is quite close to our hotel, then a salad on a terrace!  Back to the hotel where we videoed with family and off to bed...after another cool.shower!  Lol.