Phyllis Horodner

To complete my certification as an Avalon River Specialist, I chose the Paris to Normandy cruise.  With a few extra days in Paris, it was the most relaxing and perfect way to see the beautiful towns along the Seine up to the Normandy beaches. Here are a few highlights: Vernon- a visit to Giverny, site of Claude Monet's home and gardens. It was an early start to the day, but worth it. We had the gardens to ourselves, a zen-like experience! One could just image Monet sketching his water lilies, surrounded by acres of beautiful flowers. Conflans - We did a walking tour of Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent Van Gogh's final home. We strolled the streets where he walked and saw the subjects of his famous paintings: the wheat fields, the local church, village women, etc. The art historian guide was great! Caudebec - We devoted a full day to visit the landing beaches at Normandy, WWII museum and American cemetery.  To give everyone a unique perspective on this important event in our history, Avalon provided an expert speaker the night before.  It was a very moving experience for all. To see the beautiful shoreline, still dotted with equipment left behind, was amazing. We even crawled inside the enclosures where the German gunners  had taken position. This was followed by a memorial service at the cemetery, ending with the playing of Taps.  A lovely lunch was served at a local restaurant. Paris -We awoke to a crisp, cool morning in Paris. But we didn't have to stand in line to enjoy our inside tour of Notre Dame. After an informative description of the edifices outdoors, we walked straight in for our tour (skip the line!)  Later, we rode to the highest point in Paris, Montemartre. Formerly an artist's colony and home of the Sacre Coeur Basilica,  we had plenty of time to enjoy the view and peruse the shops.  We enjoyed all of Paris' beautiful architecture alit at night on a special evening tour. Avalon offers many other river cruise and one of my favorites is The Blue Danube Discovery. From Budapest to Prague, you visit many delights along the way.   Vienna, Wauchau Valley and Melk are just a few. Avalon is complimented by two sister companies, Monograms and Globus. Monograms feature hosted city stays and Globus offers fully escorted first class motorcoach tours.