Author Archives: Geoff O'Reilly

… is a sprawling metropolis along the wide River Tagus … a 7 hour visit is ridiculously short for one of the oldest cities in Europe, so we just touched the historic city centre … Arriving early we went straight … Continue reading →

The grapes are grown hundreds of kilometres up river in a hot and dry summer, and cold winter, climate. Then the wine is shipped down to the humid Atlantic coast for blending and storage in French oak barrels. Our highlight … Continue reading →

The ship docked at La Coruna, Spain. Not a significant place on the tourist map it seems, but it’s near Santiago. Santiago is the third most visited destination for religious pilgrims in the world. (These ones Catholic). It’s the end … Continue reading →

This isn’t a tourist destination, and I’m not quite sure why a cruise ship would come here given all the other places in Spain one could go???  The contrast with the last couple of stops was palbable. Sensing this in … Continue reading →

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is only about 10km from the border and 32km from San Sebastian in Spain. So in the afternoon we took a bus through the beautiful Basque country, across the border to San Sebastian. What a treat. This town was … Continue reading →

We anchored off the beach at Saint-Jean-de-Luz … French for holiday resort! … and tendered in to the little fishing harbour. French royalty holidayed here. Indeed Louis XIV built this for his wedding night … It’s August, and France shuts … Continue reading →

Marvellous Bordeaux … seems like it deserves it’s moniker of “Paris of the south”. After 4 hours sailing up the Garrone River we docked right here in Bordeaux mid morning, for an overnight stay … this our view from the … Continue reading →

… obviously not a highlight on the itinerary, we made this a shopping/rest/haircut day. The ship docked right at the old town and we walked through it about a km to the Mall. … three pubs in about 100 metres … Continue reading →

We were first off the ship and into the central market square early. Hardly a soul in sight.    … just some horses waiting for the tourists to wake up. 366 steep steps to the top here … (Jan demurred) … Continue reading →

We came through this lock in the morning to be let DOWN to river level … The cruise along the river for a couple of hours was fascinating. This Mercedes dealership well below river level! … and lots and lots … Continue reading →