Editing Pictures

We are home from France! This, I think, has been one of the most wonderful trips I've ever taken. I don't know if it's because it was France, or just the magic of cruising on a river ship. Maybe a little of both. But I know for sure that I want to do another river cruise.

Graham and I did a Royal Caribbean cruise up the inside passage of Alaska several years ago. We both came away just a little dissatisfied with the big cruise ship experience. So when Bill raved about his river cruise in Russia, and extolled the virtues of small ship sailing, we felt we ought to give it a try. This particular cruise included a visit to the Normandy beaches on D-Day and Graham jumped at the opportunity.

The tour dates coincided with our 43rd anniversary. In fact, by taking the Paris pre-trip, we would be in Paris exactly on our anniversary. So that's how we found ourselves on a jet plane, heading for France. We joined forty other travelmates at our hotel and embarked on our French adventure by sleeping off a few hours of jetlag. Then joined them for an orientation with our Program Director and laid out our agenda for the next two days. Here are some of the photos from Paris. (click here)

Our ship, the M.S. Bizet, is a little smaller than some of the Viking or Vantage river ships, but one of the larger of the Grand Circle fleet. We had 111 passengers, divided into three groups with three program directors. It was very manageable and we were able to meet and enjoy many people, both in our group and of the rest of the passengers. Our accommodations were snug, but very livable. The lounge and dining rooms were quite comfortable. And the crew... well, I can't say enough good things about our crew. We were pampered and catered to 24/7 by a crew that was genuinely sad to see us leave. They were wonderful, international, happy people. And the food... oh my goodness. The food was more than wonderful! Click here for a review of the ship, the entertainment, and the food.

I have been editing photos since we got home, and combined with Graham's, there are more than 2000 to go through. Of course, many are duplicates, but we also each saw things the other did not. It's going to take a few days to get them all organized. But I sure did make it easier this time. I took my mini computer with me and downloaded my photos at the end of each day into separate folders, each dated for that day. So I can match the day's photos with the daily itinerary and be fairly certain that I know where each one takes place!

Anyway, here is the first of seven albums, each one describing one full day on board or out on a visit. I'll post some more as I get them edited. Hope you enjoy my trip!