Paris to Conflans

Vernon, France
M/S Bizet

Last night we sailed from Paris to Conflans and arrived around 11:30 pm.  

We were up at 6 am as we had signed up for a tour about Vincent Van Gogh.  Our tour started at 9:15.  

Anne, our tour guide, accompanied us on the 30 minute drive to Auvers Sur Oise.  When we arrived we had another local guide give us a tour about Vincent Van Gogh.

We learned that many impressionist painters lived in this village.  

His apartment was number 5 on the very top floor.

This painting was of the church that he did not attend.

Notice that he painted the back side of the church.

We walked up the hill to the cemetery.  There are so many facts and figures I never seem to remember them, but this one I did.  When someone dies, they rent the space in the ground.  As long as family members pay the body can stay there.  But say, after 50 years no one wants to pay anymore, they remove the bones and use the space for the next burial.

Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo are in these graves.  The ivy represents bonding.




We returned to the ship in time for lunch.  Did I mention that you are served unlimited amounts of beer and wine?  The problem is you start with one glass of wine at lunch and somehow the glass is never empty.  The waiters are very discrete in refilling them constantly.

The ship sailed to Vernon at 1 pm.  Along the way it stopped briefly at La Roche Guyon where Anne gave a presentation up on deck. It really had a very long history.



This afternoon we were giving French lessons by another guide.  That was followed by an introduction to Impressionism.  

At 5:45 we had French Cocktail hour.  Everyone dressed up as French.  There colors are blue, white, and red.  Same colors as USA but in a different order.  Everyone looked great.

The staff all dressed up too.  Here's the bartender.

Everyone was given a mustache and a cigarette.

The waiters played right along with us.

I guess I haven't mentioned the great food and service.  Tonight we had:  Appetizer-Pate filo farci au ragout de feta; Soup-Consomme' Celestine; Hot Appetizer--Escargots a la Bourguigonne; and I had Cordon Bleu for the main course.  Dessert was Opera, a traditional French layer cake stuffed with coffee-cream covered with chocolate ganache arranged with ice cream.

Our table was the last to leave the dining room and by the time we arrived at the lounge the entertainment had already started.  It was  cabaret music with Evelyne.  We really enjoyed it.

Even the captain got into the act.








Turtle Safely.........