Lunch at the beach

Our full day tour continues with a lunch stop on the way to Utah Beach at a family owned restaurant, Chez Arsene. All of the buses met up for lunch together so it was a full dining room. We all grabbed seats at shared tables and ended up enjoying a delicious meal with two other couples. Being a smaller ship, we often ran into the other couples throughout the rest of the cruise and got to chat even more.

The owner gave a brief history of their family restaurant and then launched into an explanation of the planned multi-course menu they served this afternoon. The restaurant was also part of a Bed and Breakfast called Domaine Utah Beach. Everything prepared for us today was sourced farm to table either by the family's own harvest or other farms local to the area. 

Everyone was served red wine and water but the option was given to request anything else to drink. I tried a sip of the wine but didn't like it. I stuck to drinking water until I accidentally grabbed the wrong clear pitcher pouring myself a glass of sparkling water by mistake. 

Our starter course was described as a salmon tartare but it also had a sweet marinade with pickled garnishes on top. I surprised myself with how much I liked this dish.

Our main course was a beef bourguignon cooked in a rich brown gravy with carrots and mushrooms. A healthy serving of rice completed the dish. This was such a hearty warm dish with everything cooked to just the right tenderness.

Our dessert course featured the sweet apples the area is known for turned into an apple pie seasoned crepe with a caramel sauce drizzle. Not being a big fan of apple pie, I found this to be way too sweet. Even Dad who loves to snack on apples found this to be too sweet as well.

Overall, we found the food to be a good representation of the local cuisine. We left feeling full from lunch and from the good company. We all headed back outside for some fresh air and to look around the grounds until it was time to get back on the bus.

Our next stop on the tour was to the Utah Beach Landing Museum. We were given free time to explore the museum and had the option to venture down onto Utah Beach itself.

There is a tradition of bringing up shells from the beach to be placed at the foot of this sign marking the entrance as a tribute to the soldiers.

Our final stop of the day was Sainte-Mere-Eglise to visit the Airborne Museum and to see the statue commemorating Pvt. John Steele, the paratrooper whose parachute got caught on the church steeple. The church and statue are across the street from the Airborne Museum. Pvt. Steele was left hanging there for several hours before he was captured and eventually escaped.

I was reading the signage in front of the church and admiring the barrage of pigeons lining the grounds when a woman who I thought was in our tour group stopped to talk to me in French about the pigeons. I used the limited French I'd been learning for this trip to reply that yes, there was an amazing amount of the beautiful birds. She either approved of my French or thought what I really said was amusing because she smiled and walked past where our group was holding down the curb waiting for the bus. Another lady in our group (in English) complimented the woman's outfit and was met with a nasty scowl before the local French woman walked away down the road. It's always a good idea when traveling to a foreign country to take the time to learn some of their language. If nothing else, it's always helpful to know how to ask where is the bathroom or when a sign posted reads "Do not use. Out of Order!"

The Airborne Museum is built as a series of buildings with themed exhibits made to look like aircraft hangers. Paved walkways connect the buildings so you can view the exhibits in order of the numbered buildings. It can take a little figuring out though to find your way if you don't want to visit every building.

The view of the church steeple sculpture from the museum grounds:

The informational displays have both a French and an English text.

This building was devoted to giving the visitor the experience of being on a plane full of paratroopers about to jump. There are multiple sensory experiences such as light play with some things in shadow, engine noise, officers yelling out orders, and talking between the soldiers. It is quite the immersive experience. There are warnings posted for those who are bothered by loud sounds and effects like strobe lighting. 

Fredericka briefly pointed out the German cemetery as we started our way back to the ship. Each of these tours were designed to include one cemetery visit. No one bothered to push for it when she suggested we simply drive by instead of stopping for a visit. I think everyone was ready to nap on the bus ride back. While we had been away on this tour all day, the Viking Radgrid sailed from Vernon to Rouen. The dock in Rouen required the bus to park at street level in an alley. We had to make our way down a dark steep crumbling tree covered stone staircase, walk about 100 yards to where another set of steps led us back onto the ship. Mia was waiting just inside the ship entrance and came rushing over when she saw me stop at the bottom of the second stairs to reach back and help Dad. She insisted on helping him walk down the stairs matching step for step. Once inside, Dad headed straight for our cabin while I answered Mia's questions about how well we handled the tour. She was saddened to hear that Dad couldn't do at least part of the path. Mia was also surprised to hear that Fredericka did not give any heads up about the shorter path option.

I  know with travel in Europe, sometimes you encounter older structures that don't offer features that allow disabled travelers to visit. However, I do think Viking could have done more knowing that visiting in November would mean traversing these centuries old surfaces to get in and out of the dock areas would be done in complete darkness. They have the control to know when a tour group is leaving and returning and definitely could have prepared more than 2 or 3 crew with small flashlights showing the way.

In case you didn't get enough food pictures earlier, here is the dinner we reported to as soon as we could drop our bags and freshen up in the cabin:

This was supposed to be like a mozzarella stick:

Pork tenderloin with stuffing, gravy, and mashed sweet potato:

Stuffed ravioli:

Croquembouche - I soon started to notice how much pistachio must be in the ship's inventory. They used pistachio crumbles to top most everything and not just dessert courses. Be advised if you are allergic to nuts as this was certainly not the normal garnish for my dessert.

As we headed to bed, I took a peek at my iPhone's health data for today. I'd say I earned all those cruise calories!

Traveled all the way to France to visit Utah

For our cruise, there were two optional excursion choices for today's docking in Vernon, France. The latter of which technically included the next day after the ship relocated to Rouen, France during the day. These were two of the most expensive tours and the ones that perhaps the most people who booked this itinerary were looking forward to attending. 

The most expensive and most time consuming option was called Overland to Normandy Beaches, retailing for around $700 per person, and included a hotel stay. Those on this tour joined the group solely doing the Utah Beach & Pointe Du Hoc 11 hour tour before being bussed to a hotel while the single day tour folks got dropped off first at the ship. The next day for them was spent on another 11 hour tour visiting Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery, and the Arromanches Debarkment D-Day Museum. This museum featured an exhibit on Mulberry Harbors - the temporary steel roadways that floated on steel or concrete pontoons that were used by the Allied troops to bring in needed supplies. They returned to the ship right around dinnertime on the second day. This overnight tour is listed as Moderate. On the first day, lunch and dinner are included while only breakfast and lunch are included on the second day.

For our first full day in Rouen, France, Viking relied so much on people booking the long D-Day beach related tours (or too tired to do anything) that the only other choice was an included walking tour of Rouen. The walking tour option was repeated for our second day in Rouen where the optional excursion was to Juno Beach. The Juno Beach & Pegasus Memorial Museum was also an 11 hour excursion and classified as demanding. Hence why our itinerary had us docked in Rouen for two full days. 

Those who didn't choose either D-Day beach excursion while still docked in Vernon for that morning, had one included option and one optional choice. The included excursion was an Easy level 3 hour and 30 minutes tour to Monet Foundation Giverny. Notes in the description of this itinerary mention that the Monet Foundation is not available to visit on itineraries before April 1st or after November 1st. Logically, this seems like it would be due to the draw of the venue being that you're visiting Claude Monet's former home and gardens that inspired his impressionistic artwork. There wouldn't be much to see visiting such lavish gardens in the winter. As an alternate, the tour would instead go to Auvers-sur-Oise, a village favored by other artists. The optional excursion was Monet's Garden by Bicycle which is listed as Moderate level and also 3 hours and 30 minutes long. This tour includes several stops along your riverside bike ride including the Monet Foundation Giverny. No disclaimer about dates in the notes for this tour. The tour ends with a stop at the Old Mill where you can enjoy a sampling of Norman delicacies such as macarons, bread, and French cheese accompanied by a glass of cider or apple juice.

The optional tour we chose to do, Utah Beach & Pointe Du Hoc, cost $269 per person. This full day tour required us to be on the bus by 7:15AM. On our way to dinner the night before, we ran into Mia and her tour guide friend, Fredericka that she had chosen to assign to lead our group. Due to being November in France, it is still dark at 7:15AM. The Viking crew did their best to stand at various points on the dock with flashlights directing people where to walk to find the buses. A short set of about 10 wide concrete steps was required and Mia was out there at the base of the steps doing her best to swing the flashlight back and forth to point them out to each person. Unfortunately, the flashlights were the only light aside from the ship's lights from common areas so it was a lot of look while the light was there and then try and remember as you climbed the steps. Mia stepped up to help when she saw Dad walking with the group and offered to carry the water bottle he'd grabbed upon leaving the ship. Needing to stay at her post to help everyone, I (who had been a bit further behind in the crowd) suddenly heard in my ear in the otherwise complete darkness "I'm putting Dad's water bottle in your jacket pocket" before Mia retreated back to the bottom of the stairs. They warn us repeatedly about pickpockets but I think this was the first experience of a "put-pocketer."

This tour required a long bus ride so we made a few visits to truck stops throughout the day for bathroom breaks and snacks. I had grabbed a double chocolate muffin on the way off the ship (which tasted stale by the time I tried to eat it two hours later) and made a breakfast out of the muffin, the Viking provided water bottle, and a mini can of sour cream and onion Pringles from the first truck stop. The cut out in the bus seat tray for water bottles worked much better to hold the muffin while we flew down the curvy roads. It also makes for a great way to secure your cane or else you'll be chasing it for the whole ride.

Our first stop was to Pointe Du Hoc where members of the US 2nd Ranger Battalion scaled a 100-foot cliff under fire to seize a German battery and help secure the Utah and Omaha beachheads. Fredericka had told us during the bus ride that she would be leading the group along the entire walking path but would be giving us a heads up when we'd reached a point to turn around or circle back and save us from the more demanding parts of the path. Once we arrived at the site, there ended up being a long walk from the parking lot along a paved road just to reach the true promontory that had the actual walking path composed of gravel, dirt, and occasional built in steps. By the time she had led our group to the start of the path to the promontory, Dad tapped out from attempting the path at all and instead went ahead along the paved road to the museum/visitor center. I, despite feeling the effects of this cough and cold that our fellow travelers shared on day 1, followed the group onto the path fully anticipating tapping out myself when our guide pointed out the promised turn around point. 

There were a few informational signs along the paved road leading from the parking lots to the visitor's center. 

Starting along the path following our guide.

Several areas were roped off with chicken wire style fencing to keep visitors solely on the paved path.

The built in steps leading us down to circle a stone structure - this was more like rope between posts to serve as a makeshift railing. Definitely not for anyone who needs to hold on to something while they maneuver steps.

Steps on the way to circling around the front of the monument pictured above:

The view of the monument from the bottom of the stairs:

It felt and looked like we had walked the entire path already before Fredericka finally yelled back at my straggling self to ask how Dad was doing. I told her that he'd long since opted to head straight for the visitor center. She joked about how glad she was that she didn't have to worry about him then and the rest of the group laughed. I did my best, at a much slower pace, to follow the group but it wasn't until the very end that I could catch up to her when she was telling everyone that they could now wander and look around or make their way up to the visitor center/museum for the remainder of our time on site. Guess her version of "place to stop so you don't have to go all the way" went off the cliff because I certainly would have appreciated the option to not walk as far. 

On the walk from the cliff to the visitor center:

By the time I caught up with her where she stood to point out the pathway back, making that long walk with everyone else was the only option. Looking back, it's nice to have the experience of walking the entire path to remember, but at the time I spent the entire walk back having to stop, cough, and catch my breath repeatedly before I could continue. I was so ready for a rest by the time I joined Dad at the visitor center. 

The museum itself was very small and was mostly devoted to watching an informational film. We did have to go through a bag inspection on the way in. I spent the rest of the time on site reading the informational signs on the walk back to the parking lot.

Still to come in the next post...lunch at a local family owned venue and a visit to Utah Beach.

Our first full day in Paris - and the tour that almost was

Started off our first full day onboard Viking Radgrid with breakfast in the restaurant. Breakfast is served with multiple options that allow you to choose what you want to eat and how much based on your schedule and preferences. There is table service from a menu. There is also somewhat of a buffet option with cold and hot foods available to serve yourself. A chef stands behind the center counter space replenishing the hot food and cooking made to order eggs. 

We opted for table service this morning and you could tell by the dining staff's reaction and delay of service that they weren't too pleased with our choice. I was looking forward to trying out this ship's version of Eggs Benedict. My first thought when this dish arrived was how lonely it looked with only one Egg Benedict. Guess this ship wasn't a believer in the buddy system. The Canadian Bacon was also uniquely presented as a thick slice cut roast beef style that was then folded over onto the English Muffin. I excitedly started to dig in by cutting into the poached egg only for the egg to slough right off and seemingly disintegrate disappearing into the surface of my plate. 

One rule of thumb to keep in mind with Viking Cruises and booking ship provided excursions - If you want to cancel and get a refund for an optional excursion, you must let the ship know 48 hours in advance. This rule proved to be frustrating to us when it came time for the afternoon tour.

The first ship tour we signed up for pre-cruise was the included option called Panoramic Paris. This four hour tour ran from 8:30AM until 12:30PM and was listed as Easy. Here is Viking's provided description for the tour: See the major sights of the romantic "City of Light" with a knowledgeable local guide. Meet your motor coach and drive along the famed Champs-Elysees, viewing the Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his victories. Pass many of Paris' classic highlights, including the beautiful Grand Palais and Petit Palais, Place de la Concorde, Bridge of Alexandre III, the celebrated Louvre Museum, and La Conciergerie. Ride along the banks of the Seine to I'ile de la Cite, where you will stroll through the island and marvel at the stately facade of Notre Dame de Paris before reboarding your coach. Continue into the Latin Quarter and view the picturesque St. Sulpice Church, Luxembourg Gardens and the Museee d' Orsay. Conclude your drive around Paris with Les Invalides complex, which houses Napoleon's Tomb and the military school.

Given that we'd already done a Paris highlights tour during a previous visit and realizing that this description included a walking segment, Dad did not feel comfortable attending this excursion after all the walking we did on the London tours. One of the things I found surprising during the first day's excursion briefing (which thankfully worked a lot better when it came to streaming to our cabin TVs than our experience on the Viking Mississippi) was the mention by our Cruise Director Mia that there would be no front seat saving on tour buses for those with mobility issues. I don't know if this was different due to being a European river cruise or a change that was made since we last cruised with Viking. Countless other cruise lines we've used both river and ocean have had at least the first row of bus seats set aside for those with mobility issues. Another mention that surprised me is when Mia mentioned that they won't be caring if you aren't there when it's time to board the bus. There will not be any calls to your cabin or knocks at your door. We've been in the group on the bus waiting to leave when the shore excursion team is scrambling to try and reach that one couple who didn't show up on time in an effort to confirm that they aren't still planning to come. As a cruise line that is required to be all adults on board, I can understand making the cruiser be responsible for being at the bus on time. 

Since there are no tour photos to provide, please enjoy these candid photos I took while the ship was empty:

The unmonitored (besides the ever present cameras) electronic scanners that cruisers were on the honor system to scan themselves in and out when leaving the ship. They did bring a smile to my face when the screen would display "Welcome Back Danielle" to confirm the scan had worked. It may look like it but no, the ship was not listing while this photo was being taken. 

How it looks when your ship is tied up at the dock next to another ship and you need to pass through the second ship to reach the gangway. 

When we boarded the ship on day one, we took the time at the suggestion of past cruisers to visit Guest Services and let them know that we'd like to be in the Leisure Group for excursions. The Leisure Group is Viking's nice way of describing the slow group that might need more time during a walking section and/or might need an alternative option when the other tourgoers would normally be climbing a bunch of stairs or going to a locale with uneven terrain or tight spaces. The crew member at the desk assured us that we would be put on the list for that group. We confirmed with her that this would be the case for All Excursions and she confirmed yes that was true. Our only thought at this moment was that it applied to more than just excursions with walking times. 

Given that this was our first full day onboard and the excursions had been closed on MyVikingJourney a few days before the start date of this itinerary, we had asked at Guest Services the night before how much walking our afternoon tour, The Palace of Versailles, required. The different gentleman manning the desk confirmed that it would be a good bit of walking. We asked if it was too late to cancel and were told yes, as it was less than 48 hours before the tour. I know this itinerary with four days before the cruise in a hotel was unique but it really seemed wrong to stick to a 48 hour cancellation rule when we hadn't even yet been on the ship for 48 hours. Without the ability to cancel, we decided to try and make the best of it believing at the start of this tour that we would be included in the Leisure Group.

The Palace of Versailles is an optional tour (aka upcharge), to use the terminology Viking includes on the daily schedules, and is listed as moderate. This four hour tour cost us each $209 to book. The description from Viking's website reads: Enjoy a day at the former home of French kings: the awe-inspiring Chateau de Versailles. The palace and its sprawling gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, began as a small hunting lodge. Over the years, it was enlarged by each of its three resident kings - most famously Louis XIV, the "Sun King." A local guide will accompany you to the chateau, where you will marvel at the extravagance and excess of French royalty. See the state apartments of the king, the Hercules Drawing Room with its magnificent painted ceiling and the famed Hall of Mirrors - the glittering corridor of chandeliers and glass in which the Treaty of Versailles was signed, thus ending World War I. Learn about court life in the 18th century, and see the queen's apartments and the chamber of Marie Antoinette. Later, there will be time to explore the vast elaborate gardens. 

Upon arrival at the Palace of Versailles, our tour bus circled around until parking on this large open cobblestone covered space that was being used as a parking lot for visitors. Our guide had us all file off the bus and stand on the uneven cobblestones for a not so brief overview of what we would be seeing during the tour. When he finally finished talking, Dad approached him to ask about the leisure group. The guide declared that there was no such leisure group on this tour. When we mentioned how we had signed up with Viking to be in this group, the guide led us to believe that he was the one choosing not to accommodate such a group. We asked about options like a room to wait in while the walking tour went on or even to stay on the bus until the group returned. The guide refused both options and instead told us we'd have to go find some coffee shop to sit and wait gesturing a couple blocks away across this cobblestone covered parking lot. If that was something feasible, we would have simply walked across the cobblestones to enter the palace grounds as the bus was parked several yards away from the entrance. 

Despite our attempt to continue the conversation, the guide turned and left leading the remainder of the group toward the palace entrance. Dad did offer to make his own way to a cafe if I wanted to participate in the tour but I didn't feel comfortable leaving him alone. Nor, to be honest, did I feel up to a large walking tour myself. We stayed by the bus and asked the thankfully bilingual driver about staying on the bus. He too said that wasn't allowed because they had to move the buses and park elsewhere until it was time to pick the group up. However, he was a lot more considerate and enlisted the other two bus drivers to help us by making a call for a taxi to take us back to the ship. When the taxi didn't show up within the company's estimated 25 minute wait time, the bus drivers called again. This time the taxi company said it would take an hour wait. Our bus driver took the initiative to slowly escort us across the large cobblestone lot to a side street where he knew several taxis sit parked and waiting. He translated for us with the driver and told him that we needed a ride back to the dock. We are so grateful to this kind bus driver for helping us get back to the ship. We did pay out of pocket at the time for the taxi ride.

The few pictures I grabbed of the palace grounds while we were waiting for the first taxi:

Our not zoomed in perspective from in front of the buses: 

A good tip for future Viking cruisers traveling to countries with a different language - Guest Services puts out these cards with the dock address and telephone number on each port day for cruisers to take before getting off the ship. Such a card would have come in handy for us to give to the taxi driver so he could get us back to the ship despite the language barrier.

Once back at the ship, we talked to Guest Services and learned what Viking's real Leisure Group policy meant. What we didn't know beforehand, and thank you to all the social media users who felt the need to chew us out for not automatically knowing this, is that the Leisure Group is only an option for the Included tours that Viking offers. Their philosophy is that it's a choice for you to book the extra cost optional excursions and thus they are not going to offer any accommodations for those cruisers with limited mobility needs. Their stance is that if you can't make do and participate as much as everyone else in these upcharge tours, then you shouldn't participate at all. Had we not been told by the first crew member at Guest Services that All Excursions would feature a Leisure Group, then we would not have attempted this tour. In this case, the crew member should have clarified by saying "yes you will be in the Leisure Group for all included excursions. There is no such group for the optional excursions." We would have also accepted that financially we would not be getting the cost of the tour back. 

Hotel Director Sven overheard us talking to Guest Services and stepped up to help. He insisted that they couldn't give any amount of refund for the incomplete tour as it was company policy to stick to the 48 hours prior rule. He did however, agree that the guide shouldn't have told us to "go find a cafe and wait" and offered a reimbursement of the cab fare. We took him up on it and submitted the cab receipt to him. Cash was dropped off at our cabin later that evening. 

Cruise Director Mia asked us to share our experience with her as well when she'd heard about our complaint. She too agreed that the guide shouldn't have spoken that way. Mia was not surprised to hear the name when she asked us to tell her which tour guide we had. Others had reported issues with this guide in the past. She asked about our future excursion plans. We told her about having booked Utah Beach and Pointe du Hoc and Paris Cruise by Night as optional excursions later in the cruise. She wanted to make sure we were well informed with enough time to cancel before the 48 hour rule took effect. Mia took the time to show us pictures from the Utah Beach excursion and a map of the area to show the route and terrain that was where we'd be walking. She also told us that she'd assign a guide she knew well to our tour group so that we'd have a guide who would be willing to wait for the slower people and offer alternatives like pointing out shortcut routes so we wouldn't have to walk the entire path. Mia also looked out for us throughout the rest of the cruise making sure that we were doing okay and would drop what she was doing to come over and help Dad make his way on and off the ship. Thank you Mia for all of your help and consideration!

We also learned from Mia that another way to tell if you've been placed in the Leisure Group is that your tour tickets delivered to your cabin the night before will say Group L versus any other letter. We took that tip to heart and checked every included tour ticket for the group letter before deciding whether to participate. 

As seen on our tour ticket for The Palace of Versailles - we were placed in Group 4A which rode on Bus 4A and would have used Channel 1 on our Quiet VoxBoxes to hear our guide's narration. Unfortunately once our guide got past the entrance, we were no longer in range to even hear his commentary should we have decided to wait on site.

Full disclaimer - this tour was paid for with some of our On Board Credit (OBC). With the taxi fare reimbursement and the use of OBC to pay for the tour, we were not out of pocket any cost. The exception being that we would have used the large chunk of OBC for something else like the gratuities that we did end up paying out of pocket for since not enough OBC was leftover. It was also disappointing because this tour was sold out and our dinner table companions had been lamenting that they were hoping to clear the waitlist. We would have gladly handed over our tickets to them had we known about the Leisure Group policy.

To end this post on a more pleasant note, I took the time we wouldn't have had if we'd stayed on the tour to walk up on the bridge and get pictures of the Viking Radgrid and the Viking Kari docked side by side. 

If you turn your back to the ships, it also allows for a great picture of Paris' Lady Liberty.

Stepping out onto the bow after nightfall makes for a great view of the Eiffel Tower lit up as our ships untethered and started to sail away.

Later we were preceded out of the dock by the Viking Skaga and the Viking Kari perfectly framing the lit tower.

And for all my fellow foodies, here's our dinner in the restaurant from this night:

Caesar salad with anchovies from the always available or classics side of the menu. I ended up ordering this many times throughout the cruise. A few times I was surprised to find that the anchovies had a rough underside (bones, scales, abandoned tour tickets?) that scraped against my tongue. 

The NY Strip Steak also from the classics menu. I got this multiple times as well during the cruise. We ended up dining more than once with several of the same passengers by chance. One such couple had dined with us on days that I ordered the steak at dinner and then a hot dog at lunch. Halfway through the lunch, the wife asks "Do you normally eat a lot of plain food or are you just a picky eater?" I was a bit surprised that I was the one being called a picky eater given all that I've tried on my travels. It took me a moment to realize she'd only seen me order from the classics options. I politely assured her that despite my being one of the youngest passengers on this cruise, I was not the picky eater in our traveling party. Then again, the next time I happily ordered escargot for the umpteenth time after trying it on a cruise and loving it, even Dad claimed he'd never seen me try escargot. Must have been his long lost twin I was traveling with all those other times.

Our two different dessert choices: