Day 18

Today was the last thing that we wanted to do and that was a food tour.

We took an Uber to the starting spot and met our guide.

He walked us a short distance to a narrow pedestrian street lined with shops on both sides.

For the next 3 hours, we ate our way through this district of Paris and really enjoyed the tour.

The tour we had in Istanbul was wonderful; however, this tour was not only wonderful, but we learned a lot about each of the foods that we tasted.

We found out that our guide had a flat in the district and after picking up some wine and sandwiches, he, at Barb’s urging took us to his apartment.

He has been living there for 5 years and was still in the process of renovating.  That was an added bonus.

After the tour, we found a money changer to change the Euros we had from the casino into Dollars as our bank would not accept a deposit of Euros.

Also, at one of our stops, they were cutting up meat and one of the butchers had a very sharp knife.  We asked him where he got it from and we went to that shop and bought one.

Next, we went into the second largest church in Paris and mass was going on so we joined the people gathered for mass, we thought.

It turned out that it was really a funeral, so we left right away.  We have crashed weddings before, but this is a first for us.

We forgot to tell you about collection in this church and Nortre Dame – when they pass the basked there is also a reedit card machine right on the basket!

We then took an Uber back to our room and at 6:00pm went out for dinner.

After dinner, we came back to the room and packed for the mooning when our driver will be here at 5:30am to take us on the one-hour drive to the airport.

We are flying Air Canada to Montreal, and then switching planes to arrive in Chicago at 2:44pm.

We have a Hertz car reserved, so see everyone soon.  We are really looking forward to Friday with the family.

Hugs from both of us.

There are more pictures and I will have to load them later.

                                         A typical produce store

                                              That's the knife we purchased

                                              Making their own chocolate - was it ever good!

                                              

Day 17

Sorry there are no pictures but the internet is not strong enough here to load the pictures.

I will have them on as soon as I am able.We got up early to take an Uber to the train stations for an early mooring to Bayeux to meet our guide who would take us to Omaha Beach.

As we were early, we shopped around the quaint shops of the main area and they met our guide and 4 others who were going with us.

Our guide was a recent French Air Force veteran and was very knowledgeable about World War II.

To see and hear about the landing zone operation and hearing about the waves of all the solders to took this beach on June 6 was very emotional.  the morning of the invasion, which was low tide, the each stretched 400 yards out from the cliffs and the sand was very, very hard so that the vehicles would be able to drive on the beach.

The problem was they were sitting ducks while trying to come ashore in the first and second wave of thousands of soldiers.

Huge number of troops were killed until the third wave and they had enough troops on the beach to start the taking of the country.

We then drove back to Bayeaux and ate a lovely dinner.  then we took the train back to Paris arriving at 11:00pm.

We took an Uber back to the hotel and went to sleep at about midnight.

Tomorrow is our last day and we have a food tour.

When Barb chose Paris, we wanted to do three things.  One, see the Cathedral, Two was go to Normandy and three was to taste the food of Paris.

The last item on our list, the The food tour, we will do tomorrow.

Day 16

The whole purpose in coming to Paris was to see the refurbished Cathedral.

We took an Uber to the meeting spot for our tour.  The tour was for a small group of only 5 of us and it began at 9:30am.

The first ½ hour, the guide talked outside of the Cathedral about all that had happened and interesting things about the outside.

Then we went inside and it was amazing.  As we mostly remembered it but all cleaned up and the marble was so white.

The guide walked us around the inside for the next hour.  The only problem was there were throngs of people and it was very crowed.

After the guide left we took time on our own and first visited the Treasury with so many items of the Catholic Church going all the way back to the year 64!

By then it was 11:30am and we entered a section set aside for prayers.  As we were leaving that area we found out that here was a mass scheduled at Noon.

So, we went back in and very few people were sitting down so we went right to the front row and almost immediately every seat behind us filled up.

Precisely at Noon, 8 priest came in and mass began.  It was a wonderful experience, especially from where we were seated.

We then took an Uber back to the hotel to get ready to go out.

We had a Paris by twilight tour set for 7:00pm and as we were heading to the meeting spot to first have lunch, the guide cancelled on us.  So, we went to eat at a very famous restaurant called Bouillion Republlique and had a very good meal.

We took a video which we will post once we are able to post videos.

Then it was back to the hotel as we have an all-day trip to Normandy and Omaha Beach.  It should be a very emotional experience.

Night from Paris

                         The line outside the restaurant after we finished a wondeerful dinner

                                   Inside - the view from our table

                                      Dinner

                                                 

                                   Going out for the day

T                           he next pictures are inside Notre-Dame

                                             

                                     The fast food block!

Day 15

This is a day of travel. 

We had lunch and by then it was time to finish packing and call the bellman to take our luggage down.

We had a car pick us up at the hotel and take us to the airport, about an hour drive.

When we got to the airport, the driver found a porter you will take us in and get us checked in.

We said yes to the fee of 500 Lira which was only $12.00.

So he loaded our bags on his cart and into the terminal we went.  It was quite a walk to check in and we discover there were lots of lines checking in and it was all electronical!   There were no desks with staff checking you in.

Took our passports and put them in a scanner and printed our boarding passes.  Then he put our bags on the conveyer belt and we were checked in. 

He said goodbye and we walked to an American Express Lounge for some food and drink.

It was there we looked at our tickets and the system had upgraded us to first class!

After an hour, it was time to go to our gate and after a long walk we found it.

We pulled the “old” card and then bypassed the line and took us right to our seats, the first two on one side of the plane.

They served a great meal and drinks and after 3 1. Hours we landed at the Paris Airport.

We had requested wheel chair assistance and it was a good thing we did.  It took us 50 minutes from when we were at the gate to get our baggage and get to our waiting car. 

Travel Hint – We have been using the app Welcome Pickups and results have always been good.

Both cars today, looked like vans on the outside and inside it was a limousine

It took about an hour and a half to get to the hotel.

The hotel is just fine; the rooms are tiny but very clean.  It is centrally located with breakfast.

Tomorrow, we have a tour of the Cathedral of Notre Dame at 9:30am so it is time to say night from Paris.

Day 14

Another day in the 60’s so we took a jacket and wore them a lot.

We both had breakfast and they do an exceptional job with the display and the food.

We had scheduled a walking tour at 10:30am; however, for only the second time in all of our cruises, the guide did not show up.

So, we walked the short distance back to the hotel and quickly found another waling tour at Noon.  We had 10 minutes to get there and we were 8 minutes away so we made it.

It was a 2 ½ our tour and we learned a lot and saw a lot of this main part of the city.

After the tour, we went back to the hotel to relax for a short time.

Then we back out and found a great outside restaurant.  We ordered a combination plate and as hungry as we were, we could not finish it.

The major walking street in this part of the city is İstiklal Avenue (Turkish: İstiklal Caddesi, lit. 'Independence Avenue') is a 0.87 mi pedestrian street in the historic Beyoğlu (Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey.   Day and night the people are walking this street and it is very wide and very crowed always.

This is also a cat friendly city, with cats everywhere.

This main part of town is going full blast from morning to late, late at night and it has been quite an experience.

While we were walking during the day we passed a staging area for the police.  Later we  heard that there were going to be protest tonight in the Taksim Square which is only  a 5 minuite walk from the hotel.

We we went out to eat, there were at least 8 busses full of police, and a truck loaded with shields heading to the Square.  

Starting a about 10:00pm, we saw lots of ambulances heading to the square.  Lots going on just beyond us and we are staying in for the night.

Tomorrow, we pack and have an 11:30am pick up to take us to the airport and we fly to Paris, before coming home.

Night from Istanbul

Tomorrow Paris

Again, the pictures are not in order as it is late and we are tired after a fun day

                                                      Dinner for 2 - we couldn't finish it

                                            Leaving in the morning

                                                       Barb'sbreakfast

                                              he is hauling away garbage

                                      Barb with her pretzal

                                                    Sweets - so many to choose from

                                                Our small group tour guide

        One of several churches we visited - first non-mosque church that was allowed to have a dome.

                                            Ina vintage clothing store

                                                     Lunch for us to share

   Notice the cat on the bottom shelf - people put out food and water and don't disturb them

                                            Where we hada wonderful dinner

 

Day 13

We first went to breakfast overlooking the Bosphorus Strait as and as usual in a foreign country, lots of healthy choices.  There will be a video in the Video Page on the Blog that I will post towards the end of the trip.

After breakfast, the hotel arranged to a reliable, fixed price taxi to the famous Grand Bazaar which is the largest and oldest shopping center in Istanbul, founded during the Ottoman Empire.

Words cannot describe the maze of tiny walkways with so many shops.  See the pictures of the map of the Bazaar below. 

After that we took a tram abut 30 minutes to the base of this huge bridge.  We walked over the bridge and then along the waterway to get to our boat which was to take us on a 3-hour cruise along the Bosphorus Strait which is a waterway dividing Europe and Asia.  It is interesting in that Istanbul is on both sides of the strait so you could live in Istanbul and be in one of two countries!

After the tour, we walked to our hotel as it was only a 30 minute and was that a huge, huge mistake as the last part of the walk was up the steepest hill we have ever walked.  WE must have stopped 12 time to make it to the top and our hotel.

A fun day – hope you enjoy the pictures and later on some videos that we will post.

Night from Istanbul

          That's 7,508 Turkish Lira wqual to $179.00 - that's a wad of paper money to carry around!

                                                 Traffic on the street below our window

                                                 One of the several entrances to the Grand Bazaar

                                                           Candy and spices

                                                               Yes she bought it

                                                          Just one of many corridors

                                                                  Lunch - A Kabab not Shish Kabab

                                                    Part of the Blue Mosque

                                                         Riding the train

                                                  Fishermen on the bridge, fishing for Sardines

                                                                        On the boat

                                                              Serving us a snack on the boat

                                                       The were very good

    Just one of many Mosques - undeer the main dome, the men can go in pray, but the women pray in a side room

                                         One of the smaller palaces

                                           More food on the boat - they even provided blankets!

                                                            The famous Blue Mosque

                                                            The Grand Bazaar

Day 12

Since we arrived in Istanbul last night, we just had to decided what time we wanted to get off the ship and we choose 9:30am.

We had packed our big suitcases and left them outside our room last night so we just needed to eat breakfast and pack our carry-on bags.  The goal was to pack our carry-ons with our clothes for the rest of the trip.

Our Butler met us at our room and took our carry-ons off the ship with us following.  The distance from the ship to our waiting car was probably a full block, maybe more before we got to where our car was to pick us up.

We checked into our hotel and it was a disaster to say the least!!  Ed had researched the hotel through a company we had used before to book small boutique hotels and hey have been great– this was not.

While Ed researched to find a Marriott Hotel close, Barb went out on the grungy balcony and saw 3 hotels close.

So, we walked to the first one and they were full.  The referred to the second one and they had rooms which we looked at first.  The room was perfect and the cost was reasonable.

After checking in and unpacking, we started walking towards our meeting point for a 3-hour walking food tour.

It was probably the best food tour that we have ever had.  Just Barb and Ed with the guide.

Then it was back to the hotel and go to bed.

Night from Istanbul.

Tomorrow Barb will put captions on all of the dishes we had.

They are also out of order.

                                                         Barb always finds a perch!

                                              Lunch - Potatos and vegitables and fried zucchini

                                                         Our Guide

            Meat wrapped in grape leaves. The white food in the dish to the left is rice and cinnamon

                                            This was lunch with the picture above

                                        All kinds of pickled vegitables in pickle juice - yes, it was good!

                                                    We ate sweets at this place

                                             More sweets to sample

                                           Istanbul from the balcony of our cabin 

                                                     Time to go

                   Cameilia - the Yacht Club Director - we had met her on a prevous cruise.

Leading us out to the ship to the street

An amazing sweet

Sausage and meat balls - a crusty dough with Lamb inside

The place where we ate the dish right above