Tuesday, April 9, 2019

We left Lyon, the Viking Delling, and the Rhône behind and traveled by coach to the train station where we boarded the TGV to Paris. The TGV is France's high-speed rail service. We signed on for Viking's 15-day "France's Finest" cruise that combines two separate cruises "Lyon and Provence" (that was the first cruise) and "Paris & the Heart of Normandy." I'm guessing that maybe one-third and possibly up to half of the Viking Delling passengers, including us, signed up for the second cruise. The train also included passengers who had opted for the 3-night post cruise extension to Paris.

We were picked up by bus in Paris and transported to our new boat, the Viking Rinda, which was docked in a western suburb of Paris, Le Pecq, about an hour's drive from the city. We were now on the Seine, the second longest river in France and, as we would soon learn, its busiest inland waterway.

We arrived too late for the shuttle bus service into Paris and we opted not to do the welcome walk through the nearby Saint-Germain-en-Laye, one of the more affluent suburbs of Paris. Instead, we settled into our room--307, same as our other cruise. This boat is identical to the last one and we thought it would be easier to keep the same room. We also attended the cheese and wine tasting prior to the safety drill (which we had missed on the Delling due to the flight delays).

After the drill we went to the welcome briefing and met our new staff, including the 32-year-old captain Julien and our program director Lionel. Our on-board musician was Giuseppe, a Paul Shaffer doppelgänger.

Alan, Lyn, Gordon, and I scoped out the restaurant for the best waitstaff. We think we found him-- Dobo from Bulgaria. We enjoyed a nice first dinner on the Rinda and looked forward to tomorrow.