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 Photo Gallery - see all the pictures related to this article here. The River Baroness
This boat is slated to sail up the Seine River, northerly, toward the beaches of Normandy, and back to Paris. The brochure indicates it starts in Paris with a full morning of sightseeing, with Versailles or the Louvre available as a separate tour in the afternoon. It then says the boat travels north, with stops, all the way to Le Havre, which is actually on the Norman coast beyond the Seine estuary. Excursions involve impressionist painters, D-Day beaches, Rouen, capital of Normandy and historic city and coastal towns Honfleur and Le Havre. The River Baroness is a smaller riverboat, with a passenger capacity of 140. There are two inside decks, with passenger cabins and public rooms on both. The entire front of the vessel is public rooms -- a comfortable open lounge with bar on the top deck, as well as a small library with 24-hour coffee and espresso available from a machine, and the reception area. The lower deck has the dining room, gift shop, workout room, laundry (not self-service) and a massage room (by appointment). The top deck is for daytime viewing only. Part is glass-enclosed; the rest is open-air. click on pictures below for larger images:
Getting the few negatives out of the way; Staterooms come in three categories, but there seems to be little difference among them. None of the stateroom windows are made to open for fresh air. And according to other passengers who knew, the layouts of upper and lower cabins were virtually identical, so upgrading for $400 doesn't seem to offer much benefit. The bathrooms are so small even the most intimate of couples cannot occupy one at the same time unless one person is in the shower. Another drawback was very limited drawer space, though there are ample shelves, so much of what you unpack will be in open view. For Internet users, there's another drawback: The vessel has just one computer with Internet access (for about 75 cents a minute), and no wireless or other access for your laptop. For working professionals who need anything other than web-based email, this means your Internet access will be confined to the few spare minutes you have to find an Internet cafe in port. Small disappointments aside, we found one of the friendliest and most professional staffs we ever encountered. The small passenger load makes for very personalized service. By the end of the cruise almost everyone onboard, passengers and staff alike, were known by their first names, and conversation came easily with almost anyone. click on pictures below for larger images:
Another highlight was the excellent cuisine. Dinner comes with a different fixed menu each night; the only choices are among meat, fish or vegetarian entrees, plus a few selections of cheeses served buffet-style, and a choice of desserts. The chef embodies perfection, but the coup de grace was the boat's saucier, whose delicately spiced toppings put the perfect note on almost every dish. Paris to Normandy and Back
One tour to the town of Auvers sur Oise covered the last 70 days in Van Gogh's life, during which he did some 78 paintings. Little has changed in this small town in the last 130 years. And even for someone (like myself) who cannot draw a stick man, it is fascinating to stand in the spot where Van Gogh stood to paint some works you have known your entire life, and to compare what he painted with what he saw. As the tour guide noted, Van Gogh died penniless, having only sold one painting professionally in his entire life. There was but one small gift shop here selling his prints, and it was empty but for us. click on pictures below for larger images:
In stark contrast was a visit to the home of Claude Monet, who did achieve fame in his lifetime, and wealth that is still on display at his home, now a museum dedicated to his work. The home includes a flower garden where he found subjects for some of his most famous paintings, including "Lilies." Not only was his home a stark contrast to Van Gogh's rented room, but the gift shop swarmed with people buying up anything remotely connected to the artist, even kitchen utensils in the same color as his. click on pictures below for larger images:
The third day included a tour of Rouen, a northern French city famous for half-timbered buildings, a towering cathedral also called Notre Dame, an astronomical clock called the Gros Horloge, and the spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. Rouen is compact, amazingly well preserved and interesting for its architecture and quaint, authentic French ambience. The Notre Dame cathedral contains a tomb for the heart of Richard the Lionheart, and an added spire made it the world's tallest building from 1876 to 1880. But the modern (1970s) church dedicated to the memory of Joan of Arc is breathtaking. It has walls of stained glass murals and a ceiling built to resemble the hull of wooden ship. Outside is a simple flower garden over the spot of the actual burning at the stake. click on pictures below for larger images:
The fourth day was spent in the seaside town of Honfleur, changed little since the 13th century. It is a picturesque city with old buildings, a beautiful waterfront, plenty of tourist shopping and precious little time to do it. The tour wrapped up at 11:15 a.m. and the shops start to close at noon. Then we took our 15 euro lunch bonus and headed to a typical bistro for a slow lunch. Forget the reputations of Parisians for hard-heartedness: A couple from Paris sitting next to us with their American sister were so friendly they even shared their lunch of locally-caught mussels with us. I don't normally like mussels, but simmered in a pot of Normandie cream and butter they are ambrosial. click on pictures below for larger images:
The D-Day beaches of Normandy were an unexpected highlight. I knew it would be interesting, but I had no idea how much history has been preserved, and how effectively the new attractions would explain what had happened there. It begins with the D-Day museum near the beaches stormed by the English and Canadians. One sees films, slide-shows, life-size dioramas and scaled-down displays of the temporary docks and how they were deployed for the invasion. click on pictures below for larger images:
Next we drove to the "American Cemetery" with its resplendent statuary, tombs and rows of crosses and stars for each soldier buried there. Finally, we ended up at Omaha Beach, where a small force of U.S. rangers scaled a sheer cliff held by Germans in massive concrete bunkers that still exist, with 150-mm guns at the time. The bunkers, barbed wire and barracks dot a sea of bomb craters resulting from the air strikes launched to keep the Germans at bay while the Rangers advanced. One can only get a sense of what happened that night by being there, as it is hard to conceive the scale of the setting by looking at pictures. An unscheduled stop on the way up-river was at Chateau Gaillard, the remains of a castle built for Richard the Lionhearted, the legendary crusader and King of England. It was the strongest castle of its age, guarding the Seine valley approach to Normandy. It is now little more than a few massive walls crowning a steep limestone cliff, but in the early morning light with fog steaming off the river below, it was a highlight of our trip. There was one building still intact that would open later in the day for tours, but its main entrance was closed by a massive iron gate. click on pictures below for larger images:
Naturally, Paris is also a highlight. Unfortunately, with our Easter-induced itinerary change we had to make a day-tour choice between Versailles and the Louvre. This should not be a problem for future cruises. However, even on a regular schedule you are limited to a half-day at Versailles, a half-day at the Louvre, and a half-day of seeing the rest of Paris. Anyone could easily spend two or more days seeing any of these attractions, so I suggest arriving in Paris a few days early and getting a hotel. Photo Gallery - see all the pictures related to this article here. Issues with this Itinerary
The other reasons are still affecting this boat and will continue to do so. First, riverboats of this size will no longer be allowed to sail on the Seine in Paris at night. While this nighttime sightseeing features prominently in the brochure, it will henceforth be on a different boat chartered for Uniworld passengers. This decision seems sensible, as the river gets unbelievably crowded at night. On our cruise, Uniworld paid for each passenger to take one of the popular Seine sightseeing boats, which depart every half hour daily until about 10:30 p.m. from the Eiffel Tower. A larger, yet-to-be-resolved conflict is a ruling by the French government that the River Baroness is not structurally qualified to sail on the Seine past the inland city of Rouen to Le Havre, which is more on the English Channel than the river. The government is apparently concerned about the boat's ability to deal with the fluctuating tides of the English Channel, which affect the river's flow all the way to Rouen. Uniworld had this boat previously certified by the Dutch for this type of sailing, but the French decided they need their own findings. This is still in the process of being settled. As a result, our boat was limited in travel (and will be until it is re-certified) as follows: docking one night in Vernon, then docking the next night in Rouen where it remains for three days. Sailing to Le Havre and back, as the brochure states, is not being done. The tours scheduled for those three days were conducted by bus. This meant as much as five hours on the bus for two of those days. Still, I have to give Uniworld credit for striving to keep passengers happy despite the unexpected challenges. Not only did we see everything as promised, but they made up for the shortcomings out of their own pocket, including:
What's Included
I admit that with the confusing brochure (somewhat common to riverboat companies) and all the changes in our itinerary, I was unsure how to plan anything personal during this vacation. Our Monday schedule was moved to the following Saturday, and everything else was moved up a day except Versailles, which was squeezed into Paris sightseeing on Saturday because it's closed on Monday - got that? In truth, the scheduling of meals, excursions, talks and transportation on this cruise (also common to riverboat companies) is jam-packed, and you have little free time for anything else, including shopping. Most passengers just went along with what they were told, and seemed happy to do so. Bottom line: Some pre-cruise planning to arrive a few days early for extra sightseeing, and to avoid any airline mix-ups at this busy time of year, is probably a good idea. This cruise has stark contrasts with something for everyone, from the D-day beaches to the flower garden of Monet, but one could say there is precious little in between, including personal time.
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