Issue No. 25

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Friendly, fun and festive On one night there was a touch of Strictly Ballroom in the salon with waltzing Frenchies and tango dancing Malaysians mixed with disco dancing octogenarians, though 86 year old Evelyn who comes from nearby Avignon refrained from dancing on account she said, of breaking her leg doing the cha cha cha at a party a while back. She did however don a black curly wig to mime to Edith Piaf belting out La Vie en Rose at the crew Show. We all joined in the chorus and gave her a huge round of applause. The crew show is a tradition and it’s clear that they love doing it. The French guests especially love it though it’s probably not what US and UK holiday makers are used to. In fact for a group of cynical women travel writers we found it remarkably easy to let our hair down and join in - who can resist Mama Mia or Le Madison - a line dance favourite in France for more than 50 years - which if you don’t know it before your CroisiEurope trip, you certainly will by the time you’re finished. Sure it’s a little bit kitsch but it’s great fun and if your holiday makes you laugh, then it’s a good holiday! There’s a lot of laughter on this boat. On day 1 the crew are introduced one by one. Anis the Purser strolled in to the sound of “I’m sexy and I know it”, the bar staff paraded to “The Eye of the Tiger”. The guests clapped everyone enthusiastically from the captain and his brother the deputy captain, to the chefs and housekeepers and Lilla the laundry lady (Pretty Woman if you must know). You’re drawn into the “family” of CroisiEurope crew and it’s up to you if you want to or not but on this trip, everyone loved it, whatever their age or nationality. The crew are part of the journey and by the way, they all speak English.
It's a bit Dirty Dancing for oldies The staff, whether bar, wait or cleaners are also the entertainers. At dinner on the first night, the lights were turned off and the staff, one of them sporting a fluffy shark’s head hat (we never did find out why) sang happy birthday to 86 year old evergreen Evelyn. She was delighted and managed to blow out a candle and sparkler with ease. We all sang to her again. The ice was by now well and truly broken. The crew say they get a lot of groups celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, it’s a good place to celebrate. By day two strangers chatted to strangers, there was camaraderie at the quiz event and when we were on a tour, people noticed if someone didn’t get back on the coach! The tours are part of what make this such a fabulous holiday. CroisiEurope have been at it a long time and they’ve perfected things. They know what their audiences want and they have many types of audience. Boats cater for several types of guest - from once in a lifetime trips to the Antarctic, to river cruises in Europe.
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In these difficult days of no trave
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Features continued 80 Lille a Feast
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Gascony “God’s Country…” Ja
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Road trip Gers In the Gers, it’s
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Maison Claude Augé Claude Augé (1
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Top right: 14th century Armagnac To
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Alambic Dinner Each year, some Arma
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A land of officially beautiful vill
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Practical info How to get there: Fr
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Have wheels - will travel... Pas de
Page 26 and 27: Picardy: Birds, plus beaux villages
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Page 30 and 31: From here we decided to stop off at
Page 32: Our last stop was Saint Omer, aroun
Page 36 and 37: 4 City Visits Strasbourg, Alsace At
Page 38 and 39: Bordeaux, New Aquitaine Bordeaux is
Page 40 and 41: 4 Chateau Visits Versailles, Ile de
Page 42 and 43: Photo Béatrice Lécuyer-Bibal Vaux
Page 44 and 45: 4 Village Visits Giverny, Normandy
Page 46 and 47: Provins, Ile de France Photo: Rod W
Page 48 and 49: 4 church Visits Chartres, Eure-et-L
Page 50 and 51: Bourges, Cher Just two hours from P
Page 52 and 53: 4 Cultural Visits Rouen, Normandy I
Page 54: 4 Cultural Visits Castle of Monte-C
Page 58 and 59: Amiens, the capital city of Picardy
Page 60 and 61: Island life I stayed at a B&B in a
Page 62 and 63: Water market At the foot of the Cat
Page 64: Riverside lunch: Overlooking the ri
Page 68 and 69: France’s 4th largest city has a m
Page 70 and 71: Halle de La Machine: magical & mad
Page 72: Secret Toulouse Less than 15 minute
Page 75: Who are CroisiEurope cruises for? T
Page 80 and 81: LILLE A city that's a fea Janine Ma
Page 82 and 83: ART: Palais des Beaux Arts The Pala
Page 84 and 85: ART: Gare Saint Sauveur One of the
Page 86 and 87: ART: La Piscine & Street art Roubai
Page 88 and 89: La Chartreuse de Neuville A monumen
Page 90 and 91: After the French Revolution when th
Page 92 and 93: In 1901 the Loi of Association sepa
Page 94 and 95: Petit peak at Provence Exotic, lush
Page 96 and 97: GoutetVoyage.com
Page 98 and 99: www.lagrange.com
Page 100 and 101: YOUR PHOTOS Every weekend, we invit
Page 102 and 103: Discover the Northern Riviera Fabul
Page 104 and 105: “For some reason there’s a perc
Page 106 and 107: BeaconGlobalWealth.com
Page 108 and 109: You can keep your UK investments in
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Page 112: How to apply for a French mortgage
Page 115 and 116: This delicious Provencal version of
Page 117: Audrey Hepburn learns how to make c
Page 120: I never thought I would be so excit
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