Thursday, October 22, 2015
Breakfast was at 6:30am today. Luggage out by 7:30am. We had
to be out of our cabins and turn in our keys and settle up by 8:30am. We owed
nothing this time. At least this time we didn’t leave with them owing us
forever. Our cabin stewardess asked us where the hairdryer was as we returned
after breakfast after Clay tipped her extra. We were wondering the same thing
since we never found it either. She apologized. A private driver in a van was
scheduled to pick us up at 10am. We shared the van with 1 of our dining
companions who we have been sailing with and dining either with or near since
Budapest on October 1. We 3 were evidently the only people in the
English-speaking world to bite for Amras’ Complete Europe. The original couple
that we have been dining with since Budapest left for home today. I am sure we
will miss them. I do already. So, the
driver arrived minutes early and we loaded up and set off in a light rain and
heavy traffic. It took about 30 minutes to get out of Paris traffic. Once we
got on the E15 we actually had pretty light traffic. The clouds were very low
all day and it rained harder and got colder the further south we drove. It
seemed to me though that we also increased elevation or altitude so maybe that
explains it. It was about a 4 hour drive. Our driver today spoke English but
the van was very loud and noisy for some reason (Ford Transit) and he didn’t
really talk to us that much. It was even difficult for me to speak with Clay
and Graham. I was sitting alone on the back row since you had to crawl back
there. They sat on the middle row together with an empty seat between them.
That row has lots of leg room and they both have sore knees. We made a comfort
stop and a light lunch at a freeway truck stop kind of place at Sceaux at about
12:30pm. We arrived in Chalon-sur-Saone at about 2:45pm. We found 3 other
riverboats. Nicko and Tauck right near the old town and Viking out at an
industrial wharf. The industrial wharf was the address the driver had. He got
out and asked them as they were loading their gangway where our boat was and
they didn’t know but said it might be coming here since they had to leave. The
driver didn’t eat when we did and was hungry now so we drove back to town and
checked the other docks again as he looked for a place to park near a café.
There was no parking for blocks around. He had called the Diamond and asked
them for a phone number for Symphony. Something all of us should have been
provided but weren’t. Finally after he ate at McDonald’s (we got a speculoos McFlurry!) and didn’t get the
phone number texted to him, he called again and got a man at reception. He
offered to call Symphony and find out where they were to tell the driver what
to do with us. He told him Symphony had arrived at the industrial wharf while
we were gone. We drove right back since the McDonald’s and a bowling alley and
an industrial building are all that is within walking distance of the boat.
Another black van was just driving off as people were boarding and suitcases
were being loaded. It looked like they had a sheet with fewer than 2 dozen
names of people they were boarding today. This boat is similar to Diamond so
both are older than Silver II. It is also a lot smaller than Diamond and the
deck plans are completely different. So, in addition to being moved to the port
side from the starboard side after 3 weeks, we are no longer on the same floor
as reception and the restaurant. Amadeus Club is forward before the Panorama
Lounge and not aft. The restaurant is up and aft instead of forward under
Panorama Lounge. We will be completely befuddled for our last week! Well, we
got all unpacked and settled in to 220. The program says the boat will move at
5:45pm or 6pm and dock again in the center of town. Maybe we had to wait for
Tauck or Nicko to sail. It says we’ll stay overnight here. At 6:15pm we have a
safety briefing in Panorama Bar and dinner is at 7pm. Clay says I should go
look at the menu. He finds it hilarious. Evidently he thinks I will find
nothing to eat. He is asleep and I am tired so I think I’ll stop here and go
scout things out and see if I can find a self-service coffee machine on
Symphony.
Well, everything on this boat is turned around but it is
much smaller than the others. I not only found the same coffee machine but I
got an ice bucket! I just hope I can keep this one and housekeeping doesn’t
take it away every day. The ship & safety briefing and port talk were
interesting. I was sitting in the bar keeping our dining companion company
before hand when the CD was brought in and given a tutorial on where to stand,
how to use the microphone etc. She introduced herself as Lorelei, with 3 years
with Luftner, but clearly she’d spent as much time on this boat as had we.
There is an older woman with the same number of stripes who greeted us when we
boarded and she is the area expert. Lorelei never actually gave her title but
treated her as her assistant. For some reason, they were both wearing uniforms
with stripes. The last several CD’s have worn civvies. No idea. It appears that
we are sailing with 32 or 33 guests. All of them except for the 3 of us on
Complete Europe seem to be escorted by a Celebrity Cruises host. I guess this
co-marketing between Celebrity and Amras is working out pretty well for
Luftner/Amadeus! While the talk was going on, the boat unmoored from the industrial
site and backed all the way back to the center of town where we tied up
alongside a Croisieres boat. I don’t know why we had to dock here twice then. There
must be some explanation but I can’t figure it out. Tomorrow there is coffee
and croissants for early birds in the lounge as usual at 6:30am. From 7 to 9am
is a breakfast buffet in the restaurant. I guess we’ll find out if they really
mean nothing cooked to order. You could still order dishes on Diamond, but it
was so badly done that we had mostly given up. We’ll see tomorrow if they mean
no ordering and only a buffet. We depart Chalon-sur-Saone at 6am. We arrive in
Tournus at 8:30am. The walking tour there starts at 9am and ends at 11:45am. We
go back onboard in Macon. At noon there will be a one hour lecture on the restoration
of old books or manuscripts in French. I am chagrined to say that this will be
the first enrichment lecture since Oct. 1 when we joined Amadeus and that the
subject and timing could not be of less interest to us. I can’t imagine it will
be well attended! Lunch will be served in the restaurant only at 1pm. We have the
afternoon at leisure. I can only imagine that the book restoration lecturer had
another engagement that conflicted with having the lecture at 2pm or so during
our otherwise free afternoon instead of from noon to 1pm, a 2 hour lunch with
rigidly enforced course service followed by free time or a lecture. Anyway.
That is the schedule for tomorrow.
Dinner was not very pleasant. We were some of the last to
leave the bar even though the restaurant was not announced as open until after
we were seated. Only about 1/3 of the tables in the room were set all clustered
on one side. We were greeted and told to find anywhere we wanted among those
seats. The circular tables at the front were taken. We passed the 6-top
rectangles and took the last circle set for 6 in the back of the room. Since
service is so rigidly regimented onboard I knew we’d be served last but it got
away with our dining companion and he reamed out a couple of waiters and then the
maître d’ who explained their method to him. He explained back why that was
crap particularly at this per diem and with so few people to serve and if
anything, we got served even more slowly. Clay and I are trying to figure out
how to avoid lunch entirely since they don’t offer the light buffet in the
lounge here. Anyway, they have done this
on all 3 boats with making the entire restaurant all eat one course at a time
no matter how few courses you order so every meal takes hours and the food is
not that good and the wine this boat and the last served in FRANCE is
appalling! The service and food on Silver II did not seem up to the per diem
expectations but the wine was always local and excellent. Diamond and Symphony
don’t display bottles with labels when pouring but have the included pours in
carafes. Diamond did at least have the name and source of the house wines in the
menu but Symphony did not even bother. It is bad. Food was hit and miss. The
end is in sight. After dinner, Clay wanted to take a walk because he wanted an
ATM. I used up all our free cash buying the reusable ace bandage and cane for
him. He never let me wrap his knee again after we removed the adhesive one the
front desk gave me and now he isn’t using the cane either. Anyway. We got a map
and exchanged our keys for boarding cards and went across the first boat to get
ashore. It was eerily deserted and shut down in town. We came upon a statue and
museum of Nicéphore Niépce. We’d never heard of him before but he
is supposed to be the inventor of photography and he was born here. Who knew? It looked like an interesting but dying
little town. Since we learned that stepped level houses were outlawed in France
in 1521, it appears that the town is very old since we saw a couple of houses that
had to have been built earlier.
Well, it is past my bedtime so that it for me. Good night.
And Happy Birthday tomorrow to Clay!
