Legend of the Seas–April 28, 2014–Paris

Our 30th wedding anniversary we happily spent in Paris. We met with Valerie’s French girlfriend for lunch on the Champs Elysees followed by a quick trip along the Seine on a Bateau Mouche, one of many river boats whizzing up and down the river.
Knowing Paris well, this was sufficient for this very quick visit to this beautiful city. It is always lovely to catch up with old friends and Chantal and Valerie have known each other for more than 50 years.

No need to say anything

Beautiful gilded gates to the Grand Palais

We walked the entire length

Our lunch spot

Celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary in this city was wonderful

My beautiful, elegant French girlfriend of 50 years

One of the many bridges across the Seine, now completely covered in locks which tourists have attached to any bridge they can

I love this view of the famous cathedral which you can only see from the river

Le Chatelet – the former prison

The Louvre – or at least a miniscule part of it!

The gilded dome of Les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried

Many upscale shops on the Champs Elysees

Leaving Paris, we travelled along Avenue Victor Hugo, a very upmarket residential street

The rain held off for the day while we were in Paris, but we passed through a heavy rain storm. Coming out the other side this was what we left behind. A colourful end to what was otherwise a wonderful day

Celebrations awaiting us back at the ship despite our late return
Tomorrow, Bruges

Legend of the Seas - views around the ship, food and towel animals

It's hard to imagine, sometimes, what is the attraction of big ship cruising. Sometimes I take lots of photos around the ship, sometimes I don't. Here's a small sample from Legend of the Seas

There's always music in the public areas when you board the ship. This Caribbean duo was very good

 Enjoying drinks in a lounge area

 Looking down the Centrum from an upper deck

This ship offers an aerial show (depending on sea conditions) in the Centrum on some evenings

 Disco night - an opportunity for some fun and lots of dancing

 The choreography for this show is amazing

Winners of the progressive trivia - our team came in second - Desmond, the host was so funny, he made it a very entertaining event

 Dining companions

Best time to be on the pool deck - night time when no-one else is around

Sailaway drinks with friends

The guest entertainers on board are excellent. This violinist was quite an entertainer and very talented

Crossing the equator is the usual excuse for crew antics. On this cruise it was crossing the Atlantic. All in good fun, but surprising everyone was the fact that the Captain was involved

Another of the terrific entertainers on board. He had already done an evening show earlier in the cruise. This time he catapulted a yo yo to the top level in the Centrum (a record breaking feat) and then went skipping on his mono-cycle!

 The fun begins

 Now the captain's turn along with a couple of other senior officers

The captain has iced water poured down his back. This is followed by tomato sauce, spaghetti, slime, eggs and flour - quite a mixture!

Then it was the turn of the Cruise Director. This young man from Finland is the front man for all the entertainment on the ship. He did a really great job

 Our beautiful Serbian table waiter, Snjezana, in the bistro

Another side to Topi the Cruise Director. Hosting Quest - a regular game show on the ship

 Snjezana provided us with a plate of cheese and biscuits every evening to go with our wine

 Our second progressive trivia group - third this time

 Desserts are always beautifully presented

 Sailing up Geiranger fjord. The view from our balcony

 This Sea Walk arrangement certainly beats getting on and off tenders

Enough of the desserts. How about some towel animal fun. Every second night our cabin steward would create an animal out of bathroom towels. A fun feature of cruising

Sometimes it's a little difficult to guess what the animal is, but it's a nice touch