Europe, with an Arctic cruise, a Balkan tour and bits of France and Malta

[FlyingFiona]

Those meringues are called "merveilleux." I LOVE meringue but without some kind of fruit to cut through things, I find merveilleux to be too sweet.

 

[RooFlyer]

Moving on the church Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais, built in the 16th century. We went inside and sat down, which was welcome given the continuing heat outside.

On 29 March 1918, a German shell, fired by the long-range "Paris Gun", fell on the church, killing 91 people and wounding 68 others; the explosion collapsed the roof when a Good Friday service was in progress. This was the worst single incident involving a loss of civilian lives during the German bombardment of Paris in 1918.

A remnant of this can still be on some of the columns.





The apse is the oldest part, early 16th century

 

[FlyingFiona]

If you have time on another visit to return to St G-St P try and go when the religious community are praying Evening Prayer. They (the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem) are the only order I know of to chant the Divine Office in four part harmonies so it's really lovely to listen to as you sit silently, or walk around quietly.

 

[RooFlyer]

If you have time on another visit to return to St G-St P try and go when the religious community are praying Evening Prayer. They (the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem) are the only order I know of to chant the Divine Office in four part harmonies so it's really lovely to listen to as you sit silently, or walk around quietly.

Our guide mentioned that. I'm being brief, trying to wind up the TR

 

[RooFlyer]

Things we walked past

Bibliothèque Forney



Mémorial de la Shoah, the Holocaust memorial in Paris (closed that day)



One of the old city walls of Parisbuilt by King Philip II in 1200



And there, so modern France. This mark in the bitumen where a plastic rubbish bin was set on fire - see the green plastic traces.



Onwards to the Jesuit Eglise Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis built in the early 1600s, entering from the side





The altar was rebuilt in 1840s, incorporating fragments from Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides.



Sculpture 'The Virgin of Sorrow' 1588 with Christ in the garden of Olives (Delacroix, 1827)





Fabulous front entrance door

 

[RooFlyer]

Finally, n the tour Hotel de Sully







and the Place des Voges, the oldest planned square in Paris, built in abt 1610 by Henry IV and lined with fashionable apartments. Victor Hugo lived nearby.

 

[RooFlyer]

On the recommendation of the tour guide, I went to the The Carnavalet Museum – History of Paris, which is the oldest museum in Paris, opening in 1880. 625,000 pieces.

Being such a huge subject - it covers from the neolithic to the present (8,500 years), and the last stop for me after 5 weeks, it got shorter shrift than it deserved. Just a sample

Street signs and a preserved shop front



Door of the town hall 1870s



A canoe made from a single piece of oak (one of 10 pieces found at Chasseen in Paris), neolithic 6,000 to 2,000 yeas BP





Parade of Bacchus, 3rd century





The salamander of Francois I again, from the old Hotel de Ville ~1533. Below the salamander is St Michael slaying the devil.



I then went to the top floor, where the exhibition was on the French Revolution. Lots of models and paintings of the Bastille, executions etc.



The Mayor of the Bastille about to meet his maker.






And this seems an appropriate subject to conclude Paris, and France.

 

[RooFlyer]

Terminal 1 the next morning to start the journey back home. T1 and its silly circular design and you inevitably go the wrong way and walk further than you need to. Check in easy, and security too (amaze!). QR lounge closed, which was a great disappointment. Sent to the Extime Lounge; similar to their lounge inn T2, but not as large and a bit less good.

As I recounted elsewhere, QR pax were told individually in the lounge that the flight was boarding 20 mins early and as unlikely as that sounded, we went down and found this



QR42 dep CDG9:05 arr DOH 4:50pm, 2D

My TA alerted me to some changes in my seating - I always choose 3A or 5A (or the equivalents on the other side) which are rear-facing, but with the seat by the window. The chaos caused by the short was a week prior sems to have had some flow-on effects I guess, but why I in a single seat should have been shunted around is anyone's guess. 2D had seat by the aisle, but as it was a day flight, it didn't matter too much.

QSuites, and maybe people wonder what they are. Hard to take good pics on boarding, but here goes



The round thing by the seat is a storage bin, that can be raised & lowered. Air vents, lights and more lights lower down.





Screen is touch, or use the controller.



Unfortunately you have to put up with this cough in the safety video. One of the few I cannot listen to.



PDB of choice of drinks with Arabian coffee & dates. Also post take-off drink orders taken, which are served immediately after seat belts off. Wifi 200Mbps available from time of boarding to time of de-boarding.



Amuse bouche and starter of dill marinated crayfish



Main of sea bass - one of the best fish dishes I've had in the air. Cheeses were good too.

 

[RooFlyer]

I made a beeline for the new-ish north business lounge, by the Orchard, which I discussed on the out-bound journey. I had 3 hours, unfortunately couldn't eat anything else I'd spoil the in-flight experience! Wifi 34Mbps - slower than in the air!

Its a classy lounge - I hung my jacket on the back of my chair and chap brought this coat rack.



Its a classy lounge, but that doesn't extend to all the gusts ...



Some views around the Orchard







Time for boarding and it was odd. Usual economy and business rope lines, but they called economy first. In fact three economy groups before someone realised that business was still there. Even then, missed comms between the desk and the rope-line people.



There was the usual separate entrances for business and economy, so dunno what was going on. I got over it.

 

[RooFlyer]

QR942 dep DOH 7:45pm arr SIN 9:00+1, Seat 10A. Again, the seats had been mucked around. I was in the rear business mini-cabin, with seat by the window,



Hauling out of Doha; a bit close to the engine for my liking (noise)



This time I scored the caviar, then a great tenderloin and a nice Bordeaux



Cheese and then bed.



De-boarding at Changi. I had to take a pic of this guy - he has 2 parcels in his right hand, so 5 actual carry-on items!



My SQ flight onto MEL wasn't until the evening, so I had booked a 10 hour day-use room at the Crowne Plaza. You do this by e-mail and you can have 8 or 10 hours. I was 60 mins early than the start of my time, but the check-in agent very kindly extended my time . A God-send for me, as I don't sleep well on planes and I could get some sleep during the day. It was a great room in the Jewel wing.

 

[RooFlyer]

After a bit of kip, I walked around the Jewel for about 90 mins, all floors. It really is a nice place to spend time at an airport.



My flight SQ227 dep SIN 10:10pm arr MEL 7:25am, seat 14K was, like the MEL-SIN leg, an SQ award mostly using transferred VA points. A couple of weeks prior to the flight, when checking my itinerary, I had a "What were you thinking!" moment. I had booked an overnight flight on SQ in J. Now, I know many people would be thrilled to be in any business class, and I'm sorry - I'm spoiled, but I have had a set against the SQ J bed for ages and I can't remember why I chose this flight. There are usually multiple options for SQ redemptions.

Anyway, the menu. Do you have to ask for the famous satays? I chose the Kway Teow and it was OK.



The bed. The horrid sleep-bent with the fold-over bed configuration, unable to be adjusted. I got no sleep at all



Then there is the non-touch screen and IFE controlled by the tiny track-ball on the controller. No air vents, no pyjamas and no amenity kit. Not a fan.

Anyway into MEL and luggage came out super quick, so it was across to VA for my onward flight to Hobart, in 4 hours or so; but there was a flight I could 'fly ahead' if I got to check-in quickly.

Well, I arrived but it was chaos at the new VA check-in. ONE agent looking after business and the pax at the counter was the one from hell. Phone calls and then the agent even walked over to somewhere, lost in the melee. Disappeared. A couple of us shanghaied one of the mobile agents and I asked if she could fly me ahead. yes, but she's not logged in. FFS. Eventually got directed to an economy counter and yes, can fly ahead, boarding in 10 mins!! Ran to security, ran to the gate and just made it.

A very chirpy and chatty FA in the Virgin business flight down to Hobart perked me up a bit and saved the end of the trip from being a downer. . Arrived in Hobart to 7 degrees

 

[RooFlyer]

So, that's it (at last!). Its been a super long one, but as well as being a TR, its also the story for some family and friends, and a record for myself. And 5 weeks is my longest trip for a very long time.

To summarise:

Exodus tour: Bosnia and Montenegro are beautiful and full of history; wonderful guide and driver. Could easily be done independently. Exodus seem to have moved to max of 18 pax (from 16) and this met with general disapproval by our group, experienced with Exodus. That said, the 36 seater coach gave us plenty of room and the group was very good at being on time.

Paris: Wonderful, as ever. I got to some lesser-visited places and sights which was great for me. Novotel at CDG was a good choice for multiple stays.

Loire Valley: Terrific. Would be better if it wasn't so hot. Choose your chateaux. My best was Breze, which is also one of the lesser-visited ones, followed by Chenonceau. San Souci B&B/restaurant was terrific - stay there if you are visiting the Loire.

Ponant cruise to Svalbard: The scenery was wonderful but to be honest, about 2 days of the seven were much the same and wouldn't have been missed. Wildlife not as abundant as Antarctica, but different of course. We were lucky to see 2 polar bears. Cruise itself left something to be desired for the anglophones. Def not treated the same as the French group. Some of the expedition crew not up to scratch. Food very good and wines pretty good. The French/English thing has led me to cancel a Ponant Med cruise next year, ending in Nice. I think the French contingent would be more dominant and the Anglos second class.

Malta incl Gozo: Wonderful; visit it if you can. Even if you are not into history, there are terrific swimming, snorkelling and ?diving opportunities in wonderfully blue waters and some great food & drink experiences.


God. A month before its Spain, Scotland and Greenland.

 

[FlyingFiona]

Thoroughly enjoyed your detailed and photograph-filled trip report, Roo. Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us and introducing many (it seems) to new places to add to our must-visit lists.

 

[RooFlyer]

Thoroughly enjoyed your detailed and photograph-filled trip report, Roo. Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us and introducing many (it seems) to new places to add to our must-visit lists.

Oh, and I forgot to thank everyone who made suggestions and recommendations which made the trip much better. Thank you!

 

[Black Duck]

Thanks, great report to read and beautiful photos. I really like the look of the San Souci and it has been ages since I visited the Loire.

 

[ellen10]

Thanks @RooFlyer , great trip report, wonderful photos and stories.
Lots of details and information. I really enjoyed following along.