Paris morning tour and TGV to Luxembourg 
I’m writing this from the TGV train as we head from Paris to Luxembourg at around 200 mph! We started the day with another great buffet breakfast at the hotel. Luggage had to be outside the our hotel rooms by 7:30 a.m. Hotel porters picked it all up, our tour director checked it, and it was loaded onto a truck for transport to the ship. Hopefully it will be in our staterooms when we arrive.

Avalon offered an optional tour to the Montmartre area, but we decided to make a visit to Notre Dame cathedral and St. Chapelle. Both are on the island Citie where Paris began. It was the first time that all four of us braved the Paris Metro, but we made it with no problems. We made the short walk from the Metro to the cathedral and after stopping at Point Zero (the spot from which all distances in France are measured).

We walked through the interior and and then did a lap around the outside so we could get a better look at the architecture with its flying buttresses and gargoyles.

The entrances are also interesting. The center one focus on the final judgement with Satan weighing souls and sending the sinners off to their doom.

We then made the short walk to the St. Chapelle church. It sits next to the former palace of Louis IX (now the Palace of Justice). The church was built as a royal chapel. The palace staff worshiped in the small chapel downstairs while the king and is close associates worshiped in the spectacular chapel upstairs. Getting to the upstairs chapel required navigating a steep, winding stone staircase (the king simply walked across from his palace), but the chapel was worth the climb. Its walls are almost completely occupied by stained glass windows. Each of the 15 windows is comprised of multiple small scenes with each window focusing on a specific theme, starting with the creation.

So after enjoying St. Chapelle, we took the Metro back to our hotel (Metro stop was 2 blocks from the hotel) and went to the little restaurant across the street for a sandwich. We hung out for about an hour in the hotel courtyard before getting on buses to be transported to Paris Garee East, where we caught the train. We left Paris at 2:40 p.m. and should arrive in Luxembourg around 4:50 where we’ll take buses to the ship and shortly thereafter set sail for Grevenmaher where we’ll dock overnight.

We arrived in Luxembourg on time, but were a little late getting to the ship due to traffic between Luxembourg City and Remich. Shortly we boarded—at 6:45—we had the required safety drill and immediately pulled away and started downriver. After the drill and a talk, we went down to our first dinner. We had a great dinner with halibut and roast beef entrees. As dinner ended we pulled into Grevenmacher where Avalon docks for their Trier and Luxembourg tours tomorrow.