Wednesday morning, Tom and I took Kelsey and Jamie to Williams Veterinary Wellness. Kelsey had a vet check-up. Both dogs received their monthly Librela injection. We then took them to Wags and Whiskers Pet Resort in Flagstaff. They will be guests there for 21 days.
They are staying a suite with two beds and a television.
During the day, Kelsey and Jamie have access to an outdoor kennel.
It is nice how Wags and Whiskers sends me photos of my pups. Tom dropped me off at the Flagstaff Amtrak station at 11:30 a.m. I paid for a Groome Airport shuttle to take me to Sky Harbor. There, I called the Green Tree Inn & Suites. They arranged for an Uber driver to pick me up at Terminal 3 and transport me to their hotel. Rick had a very nice Toyota.
The next morning, I had breakfast at the hotel. The front desk arranged for another Uber driver to take me to Terminal 4. That is where Air France check-in and gates reside. I walked to Gate B23 with my hand bag and my small suitcase.
I had a one hour layover in Paris before taking a KLM flight to Amsterdam.
Barbara Coad was already in Amsterdam. We reunited at the Meeting Point at
We had dinner at nice place called NRC --- New Rotterdam Cafe. The building used to house the New Rotterdam Newspaper.
The next morning, Barbara and I went to get coffee at a Starbucks in the nearby train station. I looked on the geocaching.com website. I saw that there was a cache less than 400 feet from the train station. So, Barbara and I went to look for it. It was tricky because we had no internet to use for navigation. Only this one screenshot.
.
The hint for the cache referenced the number 76 and a bike path. Barbara found the 76 sign. I found the micro cache container. Good teamwork!
At 11:00 a.m, a van shuttle driver took four of us to the Holland America terminal. The couple were Barbara's friends from prior Holland America cruises.--- Mary and Joe Batzel from Dallas.
Later in the afternoon, we were enjoying our mini suite.
Every night, we have dinner reservations in the dining room. There are six of us assigned to Table 222. All of us dressed up nicely. Barbara took a photo of me on our deck with the sun setting.
Let
the 15 Day Atlantic Sojourn begin! Day 1 we are in the Port of
Rotterdam and we are sailing on the beautiful Holland America Rotterdam
VII. Barbara is always so thoughtful. She had Dutch dolls created in our image.
Later, I found two ducks on the staircases of the ship --- at different locations. Holland America has a "ConQUACKulations!" program. These ducks can be kept or hidden. I will hide them again later.
That evening, our cabin steward created a little dog out of towels.
Barbara and I also took advantage of the thermal spa.
We had planned a visit Mont St Michel, but our guide
canceled, and an alternative could not be secured through ToursByLocals.
We will instead participate in Geocaching in Rouen.
Our
vessel arrived at the Port of Le Havre on Day 3, and we embarked on a
motor coach excursion to Rouen, a city renowned for its half-timbered
houses and the site of Joan of Arc's execution on May 30, 1431. There was a church and monument to Joan of Arc.
Our
knowledgeable tour guide, Lana, enriched our understanding of the city's
history, including its status as the capital of Normandy.
The
Gros-Horloge, a 14th-century clock, was a notable highlight.
We enjoyed the Main Street in the Historic town of Rouen.
The Rouen Notre Dame cathedral has been painted by Claude Monet 28 times in different times of the day and evening.
During our
free time, Becky and I discovered a geocache on Rue Massacre, logging our find in the Geocaching app and receiving a sticker from France.
That evening, after dinner, we went to the Rolling Stones Lounge. Linda Kennedy, Barbara and I decided we need to do some dancing to some great live music!
People in Northern Arizona are seeing the magnificent Northern Lights. This is from the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon.
Wags and Whiskers continues to send me photos of Kelsey and Jamie. How wonderful!
On
the fourth day, our journey continued with a cruise from France to
Portland, England. Barbara and I had an early shore excursion to Athelhampton
House. Our first stop was to a place that has a huge chalk giant on a hill. This is an aerial view.
Our next stop was Athelhampton
House.This ancient structure, initially built in 837 AD, was later
expanded during the Elizabethan era.
The house's serene gardens inspired
author John Hardy --- who often composed poetry there.
After returning to
the ship in the early afternoon, Barbara and I explored the D-Day museum. We discovered a cache that earned us a United Kingdom geocaching souvenir.
We then enjoyed dinner at Tamarind, a specialty restaurant, and
indulged in their signature cocktails.
The evening's entertainment
featured the 'Hey Mr. DJ!' show at the World Stage auditorium. It was a fun show!
On
the sixth day, the final day prior to embarking on the Atlantic
crossing, we visited Quimper, France, approximately one hour southeast
of Brest, France, where our vessel was berthed. Our guide for this excursion was Armela.
It was lightly drizzling in Quimper --- but it didn't interfere with the sightseeing. We walked up a wide cobblestone road toward the Cathedrale Saint Corentin.
The church had some very nice stained glass windows and a priest in attendance.
On the way back to the bus, Barbara and I stopped at the Central Market for some Brittany crepes. The gentleman made our crepes while we watched.
Quimper has three rivers that converge. There are very nice canals.
Back on the ship --- before dinner --- Barbara and I played Trivia in the Billboard lounge with Mary, Rick, Linda, and Joe.
I saw a recent post on Social Media of Giulia Roca's wedding in Florence, Italy. This photo included the bride and groom with Thomas and Francesco.
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