24 hours in Paris

Hello my faithful readers!

How are all of you doing today?! Well, I hope! Honfleur is peering at me through the windows of the ship as I sit here in the onboard internet café. I am on In Port Manning (IPM) today so I won’t be able to debark, but instead get to write to you fine people. Lol. Well there is a lot to catch you up on! Internet duty, for those of you who don’t know yet, is where one of the cast members parks themselves in the internet room to be of assistance to the guests when they are getting online and so on. Oh yeah, for an hour. Ugh. Thus, a great time for me to write my blog! Well, luckily it’s only been about a week since I last wrote you so this blog shouldn’t be too far behind.

Glasgow came and went, I was on IPM (in-port manning, remember?!) So that was fun. Hah. Our port after that was Dublin, so I can’t complain, because it has been one of my favorites so far. It’s so full of life. This time, I went exploring with Nina, as opposed to last time with Vicki, Oli, Kelly, Anton & Olga. We did a little shopping, (sorry mum) but hey, I love a deal, and found a a shirt in Top man, that has a scarf attached to it, (you have to see it to realize how cool it is) originally 30 euro, and I got it for 3 euro! That’s right 3 euro! We took a walk in my favorite park there, St. Stephen’s Green. A lovely young man offered to take our picture, so I will have to post it when I get the chance! After the park, it started to drizzle, not so much that you NEEDED an umbrella, but enough to be annoying lol. We took a walk down a little side street in Temple Bar, and found a little Bakery called Queen of Tarts that was sponsoring a showing of Alice in Wonderland in the streets! Alice herself, and the Mad Hatter were walking around handing out cupcakes. It made me think of all the wonderful times I’ve had at Alice’s Teacup with all my friends and family.

Next came Cork, and let me tell you, I took a fabulous trip to the Jameson Distillery in Middleton. What a neat excursion. We had a private tour of the old distillery and after viewing how the whiskey was made (including seeing the largest wash still in the world) we sat down, and eight of us volunteered to become Irish whiskey tasters! They took us through the different whiskeys of the world a bit like my mother’s wine tasting evenings, when she was becoming a sommelier. At the end they presented me with a certificate from Jameson & son, saying that I was an official Irish whiskey taster! Hah, perhaps they didn’t know I was an honorary Devlin! Anyway, I bought a couple of hats for me and my Devlin brothers (surprise?!).

After cork came Falmouth again, and I took to the streets to seek out wifi, not without getting some of that brilliant clotted-cream & blackcurrant ice-cream again. That stuff is insane. Walking along the beautiful coastline high street is always a pleasure; but, not as much as the next day brought.

Sailing into Southampton for the second time, this time Uncle Barry and Aunt Kim were visiting granny so I got to see them and give them a tour of the ship! Of course, we went back to the same fantastic restaurant that I went with my mum and granny just three weeks prior. It’s always a pleasure to see Granny and a special one when I get to see my favorite Canadian Uncle and Aunt! I showed them all around and unlike my mother, they we’re snapping photographs of everything and asking our stage manager how many watts and what type of lighting the ship had! That’s Barry, always trying to find the best light. So please go bug them for some great pics and stories about the ship.

A new cruise has started and I’m sad to leave the last group who were most likely my favorite to date. I made some real connections, including a wonderful Floridian couple who I will be seeing hopefully in New York late this fall! I also met a wonderful Texan dinner party that now travel the globe together and I will most certainly stay in touch with them too!

This is an interesting cruise because while I was showing Barry & Kim around, we ran into a new couple on board from non other than Carmel, California. Of course I already have their information, and I’m ready to put them in touch with my mother and see them over the holidays! They are just a lovely pair, and live right near Sunset Center! Amazing.

The next day we landed in Plymouth! (I couldn’t help but sing the opening lines of Anything Goes all day! “Instead of landing on Plymouth rock, Plymouth rock would land on them.” We had it all planned out that the cast was going to go see the new and final Harry Potter; however, the shuttle bus into town dropped us right outside of the Theatre Royal, so I said I’d like to go check it out before the film. Everyone else went across the street to get lunch before the film started and in I went to the box office to try to get a tour of the theatre. Little did I know that on a Thursday afternoon I’d be giving up my Harry Potter movie ticket and purchasing a ticket to see the matinee of the UK tour of Jekyll & Hyde the musical (starring rockstar Marti Pellow of Wet Wet Wet who’s hits include “love is All Around” you know, it was recreated in Love actually?!)!! It was so fantastic to see live British Theatre again! They really did a fantastic job and without boring those of you who have no idea what the Wildhorn musical is like or about, The Emma was unreal, and her rendition of “In His Eyes” with the Lucy was amazing. Now, I’ll have to find another place to see Harry Potter by myself as the cast has seen it, but it was so worth it! Ten rows back and center for only £26! Not a bad day. Of course I couldn’t leave without visiting the famous steps of where the Mayflower departed for America!
We are anchored at sea in the English Channel at the French Island of Jersey next! That means we tendered to port, which means that we have a little boat, called a tender, which takes passengers from the ship at sea to land. I was able to go ashore with Kelly and Nina and we explored the main streets and market areas! I caught up on my heytell messages on my iphone and bought some post-cards. One thing I have been doing is getting a post card from every port I get to see! I’ve created quite the collection!

Then came Rouen. Well really, I should say then came PARIS! Nina and I had been planning to overnight in Paris as the ship overnighted in the Seine town of Rouen (made famous by being the burning spot of Joan of Arc- of which I got a glimpse!). We took the hour and a half train ride into Paris and did EVERYTHING, and I do mean, everything in our 24 hour span of not sleeping! I guess I am younger than I thought I was. Having both been to Paris before, we didn’t feel in necessary to go inside many of the museums and such, but we did take some incredible photos which will have to come later. We jumped on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower, took pictures next to statues and the the great glass pyramid of the Louvre. Viewed the stunning architecture of the Notre Dame de Paris. Enjoyed some Moules-frites at a Parisian café. Walked probably over 10 miles around the city including the entire length of the Champs-Élysées. We went to a wonderful night club and danced into the wee hours of the morning, before climbing the to the top of the Sacré-Coeur to watch the sunrise. (something I haven’t seen in a long while!) After breakfast and macaroon shopping at Laduree, we boarded the train back to Rouen and I immediately changed and got ready for my tour. Somewhere that I have always wanted to visit was Monet’s home and gardens in Giverny. I finally got the chance to do it, thanks to Silversea, and looked over the beautiful water lilies that inspired some of the most famous artwork in history. I walked through his brightly colors house of green, pink, blue, yellow and purple, each room having its own theme, and even stepped inside two of his three studios, including the one in which he created the water lily masterpieces. It was an incredible experience.

That brings us up to date and into the internet café on board the ship! With pictures to come next time, I hope you are having fun exploring the world vicariously through my strange and exciting adventures! I’m off now and send my love to everyone all over the world!

Xoxo,
Rhett