We arrived in Paris where we spent two wonderful nights at the L''Hotel du Collectionneur, where Viking included a Paris City Tour...the city of lights! We also saw the Arc de Triomphe, Opera Garnier Palace, Louvre Museum, Notre Dame, Paris Town Hall, Eiffel Tower, and many more fantastic sights! Every evening we walked to different local restaurants in the area and were never disappointed with the food...save room for the desserts! On the third day we left for Luxembourg, where we saw the American Cemetery where many Americans lost their lives during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. This is also where General George Patton is buried. A place where you only hear the birds singing, as all of us are in a very solemn mood as we take in row after row after row of headstones with the names of all of the fallen soldiers!

We then go on to Trier where Viking has a wonderful welcoming reception before dinner aboard the Viking Gefjon's maiden voyage! The next day Trier, Germany's oldest city, awaited us for a tour of the Roman Amphitheater and the Roman Baths and the Roman City Gates called Porta Nigra, Trier Cathedral and the Church of our Lady. We then cruised on to Bernkastel later in the afternoon and walked on the cobbled streets where you can see half timbered houses, the town hall and the town gate. The next day we went to Cochem and Koblenz...we saw Reichsburg Castle which was built more than a thousand years ago! We had time afterwards to do some shopping before we cruised on to Koblenz with all of it's hills of vineyards! Koblenz became a city in the 13th century. We then cruised on to more beautiful old cities over the next 4 days including the middle Rhine and the Rudesheim area where we saw the Marksburg Castle and took an optional wine tasting tour which we thoroughly enjoyed!

Everyone will enjoy seeing Heidelburg and it's castle and the walk through the old town center, the 600 year old University, which is Germany's oldest. We then headed on to Speyer where we had free time to explore on our own! The next day we had a walking tour of Strasbourg, France, with all of it's many historical sights. Our vacation was coming to an end with our last stop in Basel, Switzerland, with all of it's historic history and it's Lackerli cookies! Read more