For our first River Cruise, we chose an Avalon Waterways trip called “Windmills, Vineyards, and Paris”. This was an opportunity to experience France, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, and Holland on this fantastic river cruise vacation. Our adventure started with two overnights and guided sightseeing in Paris, the incomparable “City of Lights.” Our fellow passengers flew into Paris at different times and from a variety of destinations to arrive at our hotel, Hilton Arc de Triomphe. We were delighted that the hotel was very centrally located and only a ten minute walk from the Champs Élysées.



Our morning excursion took us to Montmartre and the artists’ quarters before we took the high-speed TGV train from Paris to Metz. We then travelled to Remich, Luxembourg, to board our river vessel. We enjoyed guided sightseeing in Trier, Cologne, and Middelburg, cruised through the dramatic Rhine Gorge, took pictures of the famous windmills at Kinderdijk, and visited the Delta Works in Veere. We also visited a local wine cellar in Bernkastel, Reichsburg Castle in Cochem, and Siegfried’s Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum in the pretty wine village of Rüdesheim. In Arnhem, we went on a guided tour that featured the Airborne Museum Hartenstein, visited St. Baaf’s Cathedral in Ghent, and explored Amsterdam on a cruise through its fascinating system of canals.