Sailing from Paris to Normandy on the River Seine with Avalon Waterways River Cruises

These are the first photographs we shot as we entered our stateroom aboard the Avalon Waterways Tapestry II from our recent sailing with them from Paris to Normandy and back.

Note: click all photographs for larger views. 

And, to give you the fullest flavor of our stateroom, here is a short video that I shot of Carol enjoying our French balcony as we were pulling out of Paris.

Further still, after we got out of Paris, we were serenaded by cuckoo birds.  Turn your volume up to hear them.

Aaaaaah. Very peaceful.  Right!

Review: Our Avalon Waterways Panorama Suite on the Tapestry II

Avalon Waterways is the river cruise arm of Globus who have been offering moderately-priced coach tours since the era of the Roaring 20s. With the river cruise craze in full bloom, Globus launched Avalon Waterways back in 2003.

Currently, Avalon Waterways has 15 ships sailing the rivers of Europe with six more ships covering exotic destinations like Asia, the Galápagos Islands, the Amazon, and the Ganges in India.

Our ship, the Avalon Tapestry II was built in 2015, is 361 feet in length, has 37 crew members; and offers 12 Deluxe Staterooms (172 sq.ft), 50 Panorama Suites (200 sq. ft), and two Royal Suites (300 sq. ft) holding a total of 128 guests.

We enjoyed a Panorama Suite (#305) and I must tip my hat to Avalon Waterways.  This is the most livable 200 sq. ft. stateroom we’ve ever experienced.

The Most Livable 200 Sq. Ft. Stateroom We’ve Experienced!

While others take a 200 sq. ft. space and try to squeeze a tiny walk-out veranda into the room, leaving you with roughly 175 sq. ft. of livable space; Avalon Waterways says “nonsense” and gives you a full 200 sq. ft of space with a very large French balcony.

When you try to squeeze a walk-out balcony into 200 sq. ft., you are going to make sacrifices elsewhere.  And, it generally has to do with a shower so small that you must be a ballerina to take a shower.

Not Avalon.  Their space is rather ingenious:

• First of all, you got a full 200 sq. ft. of space to enjoy with a massive 11′ wall-to-wall panoramic window with a 7′ wide opening.
• If you look at the diagram above, you will see first of all that the bed is facing the window.  Until I experienced it, I thought, no big deal.  But, it was nice.  I actually spent a fair amount of time on the bed watching the world go by.  And, after dinner, I’d run back to the room, slide open my French balcony and enjoy the cool breezes as we sailed down the Seine.  For me, it was one of my favorite memories.
• Also, again looking at the diagram, they have angled the wall between the bathroom and the bedroom to give you more space in the stateroom but NOT taking away much space from the shower.  So, no ballerina dancing to take a shower.  Kudos, Avalon!

Well, I’m approaching 500 words, and I’ve learned from experience that if I get over that, you are likely to not read it all.

Therefore, I’ll swing back around and share with you more of our Avalon Waterways experience as it pertains to the dining, life aboard ship, our tours, as well as a lot more information about the wonderful places we visited each day.

But, before I go, here is a stunning sunset I photographed from our first night sailing on the River Seine with Avalon Waterways.

For more information or to book an Avalon Waterways river cruise, please call Roaming Boomers Travel Services at (480) 550-1235 or use our convenient online information request (click here) and we’ll reach out to you.

Other River Cruise Articles You Might Enjoy:

• https://www.theroamingboomers.com/best-way-to-book-an-ocean-or-river-cruise/
• https://www.theroamingboomers.com/best-time-of-year-for-a-european-river-cruise/
• https://www.theroamingboomers.com/5-most-popular-rivers-for-european-river-cruises
• https://www.theroamingboomers.com/european-river-cruise-direction-upstream-or-downstream/

 
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