Sedona - Wedding / Utah

 First stop was three days in Sedona AZ for Patrick and Monica's wedding. They were married in nice report on the outskirts of Secdona we a view that cannot beaten. Because of the size of the location the limit was 30 which makes it even better.  The drive down Oak Creek from I-40 to Sedona also can't be beat.  

We then drove over to Mexican Hat Utah for two nights,  With our one day we drove up part of Comb Wash and the drove across the Snow Route trail on may first off road drive with the Tacoma.  We then drove over to Natural Bridges National Monument.  

We then had travel day and went from Blanding up to Hanksville and then to  Green River and down to Moab. That drive from between Blanding and Hansville is as good as it gets. 

We then spent four days in Moab.  Day One we took the Willow Springs trail which is a back road into Arches NP.  We then went to Dead Horse SP which has great views of the canyon below.

Next day we took drives into the La Sal Mountains,.

Next was a drive up Gemimi Bridge trail and drive down Shafer Canyon and Potash Road,

 

November 25 Cruise - Paris to Paris

 We leave for our first stop at 6:00 pm and wake up in La Rochelle -Guyon.  First excursion is a trip to the chateau with good uphill hike to the cliff top.  One interesting room was a cut out of the limestone cliff and then smaller holes out of the walls.  Pigeons would come to roost there at night and they would collect the poo to be used as fertilizer in their fields. There were over 200 of these cutouts for the birds.  Or next excursion was a coach ride to Auvers-sur-Cuse which the last home for Vincent Van Gogh.  He had many well received paintings here and was cool to see many of the places in those paintings.  

First excursion after stopping in Rouen is a day trip to Honfluer which a nice port city as the Seine enters the Atlantic.

Next up was a stop over at Omaha Beach and the museum for history lesson on the battle for Normandy. Nothing else to say.

 Next was a day stop at  Les Andelys which had a castle built by Richard the Lighthearted around 1200.  Not much left of the castle but it looks impressive on top of the cliffs overlooking the town. They also have a Norte Dame church but there is quite a few churches in France that use the Norte Dame name. 

 Last stop before getting back to Paris is the Chateau de Maimaison. Famous as the beloved home of Josephine Bonaparte, Napoleon's first wife, who bought it in 1799 and lived there until her death.

  We now head back to Paris for three nights before starting the Paris to Zurich leg. First we took the Metro down to the Louvre and did a tour by ourselves.  The only floor we visited was the European Art work.  This museum has a crazy number of works so I guess we will have to come back to check out one more wing.  Went on the Hightlights of Paris tour with an extended stop at Norte Dam Cathedral and then headed over to Versailles  for the castle created byLouie the 16th as he did not like hanging out in Paris.  This ended up being a problem for him in the end as the people of Paris started to feel disconnected.  Last stop before the next step was a nighttime visit to Paradise Latin Cabaret.  Much like Molin Rouge with very good performers.