http://hutchings.smugmug.com/ (photos)
Sun 3 Aug- awake at 6 am to have breakfast and depart by 7:45 - what a shock after following our own schedule for the past 3 months! We saw our luggage loaded on the bus, boarded and departed for Trier, Germany at 8 am, accompanied by our Program Director Monique Vanmierlo and her associate Sabrina.
On the way, we stopped by WWI and WWII cemetaries museums and monuments at Verdun and Ardennes. Even after 90 years, the French pay tribute to the tens of thousands who died in WWI; and have even fresher memories of WWII.
We had lunch at La Toscana, a little restaurant in Verdun, a large salad that Kiyomi and I shared, and a 'moelleux au chocolat' (chocolate brownie with ice cream and whipped cream) that was mainly enjoyed by Stan.
We arrived at the ship about 6 pm, boarded, and settled in to our cabin. The cabin was smaller than we expected; we've been staying in castles, chateaux, and have been spoiled. We got 'sticker shock' when we found the Internet is E10/hour - that's $16! And it's very slooow, a satellite connection that really drags. I won't get many photos uploaded.
Then we had a very nice first dinner, trying a nice German white wine, with terrine appetizer, consomme, shrimp on rice, the main course fish for Kiyomi, veal for Stan, and finally a dessert dish with apple strudel and other tasty delights. One interesting package we could buy is E300 (that's $450) for all the beer, wine and several daily cocktails, plus soft drinks, etc. We decided to skip it; we'd have to drink ourselves silly to take advantage of it, even though the alcoholic beverages are rather high priced. There is a free coffee maching that provides all kinds of coffee drinks at the push of a button, available 24/7 - a great invention.
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