Day 1 continued - Boarding our Bateau-Mouche in Paris

Paris arrival on our own

Day 1 morning on our own


We met up later in the afternoon and checked in with the river cruise company to begin our journey.

We were bused from the Eiffel Tower to the Avalon Ms Creativity.

You can see the Tower in the distance. Rene, the captain can be seen in the watch house.

We boarded our river boat the MS Avalon Creativity around 4PM. It is docked with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Checking in is so easy on a riverboat, you literally arrive at the Reception desk and get your keys and then are escorted to our rooms on the Sapphire Deck.  The rooms measure 172 square feet,, these staterooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows makes your room feel like a French balcony. Our luggage had already arrived. 

We took a tour of the boat with our cameras in tow.

The Avalon Creativity is a a sleek vessel with sharp, contemporary décor. The ship is designed so that you can enjoy the outdoor scenery at all times as all of the public areas are surrounded by windows The top of boat is the Sky Deck with ample seating and unobstructed views everywhere you look. 

The Club Lounge on deck three features always-available coffees and teas, fresh fruit and cookies as well as a small library and a number of board games. 


Forward on deck three, is the main Lounge, home to the bar, plenty of comfortable seating and the ship’s entertainer, keyboardist Mitko who turns out to be a very boring entertainer!

Once we got settled we met in the bar to have a libation and soak up the atmosphere of sitting on the Seine River in Paris!! The lounge has wall to wall windows and charming views of the Parc Citroen.

Then it was time for the Welcome Reception. We were greeted very graciously by our crew and each player was introduced.


Our embarkation dinner aboard.

The Dining Room is located on deck two just below the Lounge where all meals are open seating. Dinner was quite an event with five-course meals (seven courses on two of the nights) and free-flowing wines from the region we are cruising through. All of the food is freshly prepared, attractively plated and properly portioned.

The chef, Orlando. does an outstanding job making sure the courses all complement one another as well as the wines.

Breakfast and lunch are served buffet style, each with an item or two that can be ordered from the galley if desired. They offer complimentary sparkling wine and mimosas at breakfast.The lunch buffet has plenty of variety and always included freshly made pasta and hand carved meat. As an option they offer lunch outside up on the Sky Deck featuring freshly grilled steaks and sausages.

We remain docked in Paris for this evening and could catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower as she glittered every hour.