France 2024 - Week 5 - Paris to Portland

We..are..home. 😊

The trip was wonderful, but home is always best. Smooth flights, easy customs check at Dulles/D.C., then to PDX with an early arrival. 

We loved the many small towns and villages we visited. The food was excellent everywhere, of course. As you might guess, we did lots of walking - over 130 miles. Lots of stairs and a few hills were ascended, including a climb up to the Chateau Galliard. So much fun!

The French countryside was beautiful, but Paris is very chaotic due to the upcoming 2024 Olympics. Traffic is a nightmare, and some locations and sites are closed until after the events are completed later this summer. We did manage a walk to the Arc de Triomphe and croissants on the Champs Elysees, a guided tour of Montmartre, and a cabaret show.

I will leave you with a GREAT TRAVEL TIP from our wonderful Viking River Cruise program manager. It seems that some past guests have forgotten to clean out their room safe before leaving the boat… abandoning things like passports, cash, and other important items. Solution? Put in ONE of the shoes you plan to wear on departure day. You’ll see from our picture that our safe was full, with iPad, 2 Kindles, 2 passports, and our cash envelope - plus one Nike shoe. We didn’t forget a thing.

Thanks to all of you who have read these posts over the past month. I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about our adventures. Have a lovely summer!

Team Sorensen