WHY GUIDED HOLIDAYS?
The Avalon diary
By HOT blogger, Anna Sarjeant.
“ Last August I embarked on a luxurious French Avalon Waterways river cruise. One week of glorious waterways, fine wine and French dining.”
Saturday 30 July: Paris embarkation Avalon ' s‘ Paris to Normandy’ s Landing Beaches’ is a deluxe seven night cruise which weaves along the Seine, past pretty French villages characterised by famous painters and pockmarked with WWII scars. Today we depart Paris on-board The Tapestry II. A ship that gleams with glass, brass and golden service.
For now, I am content to do nothing more than wrap myself up in Egyptian cotton sheets, kill the lights and watch Paris dissolve into the distance from my bed. It’ s 10pm and with dinner done, dusk is only just upon us. With floor-toceiling patio doors in every Stateroom, my curtains are ajar and the laps of water serenade me to sleep.
Sunday 31 July: Giverny & Monet’ s Garden Monet’ s Garden. You can imagine how busy this oasis gets in the height of a European summer. So it is with relief that utters of‘ skip the queue’ privileges float down the coach aisle, as we travel from the town of Les Andeleys( where the ship’ s now docked) to Giverny. We arrive early, another tactic deployed by Avalon to avoid the hordes, and one that also benefits the eldest lady in our group; a woman enjoying her 88th birthday in the presence of Monet ' s garden. So inspiring is this botanical enclave, it would influence even the most lack-lustre artists to fold out an easel and paint. As for Avalon guests, we have members as young as 10 and as well-versed as 88, and we are all perfectly catered for.
Monday 1st August: Caudebec & The Abbey Road Tour We’ ve embraced the‘ Avalonian’ culture to treat all staff like friends and found ourselves Sailor Man Ben. Having absconded to the upper deck the night prior, we came across the bridge, the Captain and his dashing right-hand man. Cordially invited inside we marvel at the ship’ s state-of-theart equipment. And let’ s be honest, at Benjamin too. Sailors aside, we spend Monday morning soaking up the rich tapestry of Jumieges Abbey, a former Benedictine church. Founded in 654, its ruins provide a fascinating insight into France’ s past. Tales are brought gloriously to life by our French guide, who regales us with history through our headsets, and we conclude the excursion with a visit to a fully-operational Benedictine monastery.
Tuesday 2nd August: Normandy D Day Landing Beaches On a cruise titled‘ Paris to Normandy’ s Landing Beaches’, we all know at least one sobering excursion is in the midst.
Today we visit the Normandy D-Day Beaches and the weather is appropriately drizzly; not dissimilar to the conditions 72 years earlier. It presents a harrowing vision into one of WWII’ s bloodiest assaults: the storming of Normandy’ s beaches. An experience that resonates with all those whose relatives fought for the Western Allies. A day earlier Avalon invited guest speaker, Nigel Stewart, to deliver an on-board WWII lecture and now we are all moved by the plight of our soldiers- ancestral or otherwise. Later, the American War Cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer leaves me with a particularly large lump in my throat. Avalon provide a fresh rose to lay at the foot of a gravestone, but when faced with almost ten thousand of them- poignantly adjacent to Omaha Beach – choosing one proves difficult.
Wednesday 3rd August: Rouen lit up Last night, on the recommendation of our Cruise Director, Tony, we jumped ship and walked into the centre of Rouen to watch the‘ Cathedrale de Lumiere’. I’ m still revelling in its magic today. Free throughout summer, Rouen’ s already formidable cathedral is illuminated every night at 11pm by an incredible display of animation. Knights scale the towering
22 INSPIRE ISSUE 01. 2017 | HOUSE OF TRAVEL