Last day in Paris- Nov 11, 2010

Our last day was cold and rainy, but we made the most of it, making our 2nd trip to the Louvre and visiting Napolean's apartments, blutsering around the Eiffel Tower and enjoying a delicious french dinner.  I had goat cheese, swordfish in a beurre blanc sauce, and a chocolate gateau.  Yum.

Day of Museums- Nov 10, 2010

After our long walk yesterday, we went on almost as long a walk today while hitting up St. Chapelle, the gorgeous chapel of stained glass, the Musee d'Orsay, Le Bon Marche (the first department store in the world with fixed prices) and the Louvre.

Riverboat cruise on La Seine- Nov 9, 2010

After our full day of walking along the cobbled streets of Paris, we decided to take a boat tour along the Seine for a different view of the wonderous riverside sites that the city has to offer.  The Eiffel Tower was particularly awesome with its sparkling light show.

A Historic Walk through Paris- Nov 9, 2010

In front of Notre Dame

There are so many historic sites to see in Paris and we only had 3 usable days in Paris, so we set out for an all day walk starting from our place in Chatelet les Halles and heading to Notre Dame and Pointe zero to the shopping in St. Germaine-de-Pres.  Along, the way we got to see a lot of the historic sites, using all our daylight hours.

The stained glass of
Notre Dame

Left bank used booksellers

Pointe zero- the center of Paris

Holocaust Memorial

The overflowing canals of Venice- Nov 8, 2010

We only  had a little time in Venice, but we made the most of it, cruising around the city in a water bus and slogging through San Marco square in the rain.  At least the Venetians know how to prepare for the rain.  They had wooden platforms set up throughout for people to walk on in case they didn't have rubber boots to their knees. :)

Dubrovnik, Croatia- Nov 7, 2010

Dubrovnik is a lovely seaside town in Croatia.  It's had a tumultuous past, going from key trading port to gradual decline marked by earthquakes and fires.  It's still a beautiful city though with wonderful architecture and history.

The Ancient City of Rhodes- Nov 5, 2010

Rhodes turned out to be Mommy's favorite stop of the ship.  The medieval fortress and town is still vibrant with people living and working within the walls.  It really gave a good idea of what it would be like to live in a town like that, straight out of the movies.  You could imagine a knight walking out of the many tortuous alleyways.

Sunset over Rhodes

Nightlife in Mykonos- Nov 4, 2010

Mykonos, Greece

While many towns on the islands of Greece are hidden on the cliffs to avoid the pirates of years gone by, Mykonos flirts directly with the waters edge. It is sometimes referred to as Little Venice for it's homes perched upon the sea. It was lively and energetic during our nighttime port there. We did some shopping where Mommy bought a beautiful handpainted plate and had some yummy Greek food. My is Ouza strong.

The beauty of Santorini- Nov 4, 2010

The town of Oia in Santorini, Greece

Santorini is the most breathtakingly beautiful island I've ever been to.  You don't have to be a good photographer to take postcard-perfect shots.  We walked through the icing-like town of Oia frosted over the volcanic cliffs of the island before strolling through the main town of Fire.

Captain's Gala- Nov 3, 2010

So one of Mommy's favorite nights on the ship is always the dress-up Captain's Gala night.  Our tablemates got cleaned up, we took a picture with Captain Salvatore Donato (very Italian name) and toasted with champagne.

Olympia and the Olympic Games- Nov 3, 2010

At first, I couldn't find much on the island of Katakolonas in my Lonely Planet, but then I found that ancient Olympia, the original site of the Olympic games was here.  There's quite an expansive park to house the games, the eternal flame, and surrounding religious sites.  Unfortunately, we only had an hour to explore.  It's amazing how important the games were even then that they would suspend all wars during the period of the games.

Rain in Bari, Italy- Nov 2, 2010

Bari, Italy

Italy, at least the Adriatic coast, was drenched in rain during our time there.  In fact, we didn't even get off the boat in Bari.  On our way out, masses of people were sweeping in with puddles of rain, wringing out their clothes on the ships first deck.  Apparently, the combination of rain and heavy winds made it impossible to see anything and all the shops were closed, so instead we enjoyed the endless food on the boat and I got in a huge nap (one of my favorite parts of vacations).

Mommy Goes to Europe- Nov 1, 2010

Charles de Gaulle airport- Paris, France

It's always been a dream of Mommy's to go to Europe, so I thought I'd take advantage of my fall vacation to take her on a cruise of the eastern Mediterranean and of course, Paris.  12 days of pure quality time.