Lyon

March 26:  Cluny Monastery

We returned to the ship at about 1:15 pm from the first excursion today, went immediately into the dining room and after 35 minutes we were alerted that they were ready to board the busses for the second tour.  Kim and I had signed up to visit the Cluny Monastery.  The photos (and later the video when it's published) hardly do this justice.  The size of the monastery was just unbelievably big.  Gigantic!  Before we got there we stopped at a "home" that is owned by an 87 year old woman who lives there along - see it in the background behind Kim and I in the first photo!  The two models pictured below....the first one is a recent one, and if you look closely you can see that the tower on this side of the photo and backwards to the left of the photo along the near bottom of the model is a darker almost orange-ish shade - this represents what is standing today.  The other model was made by a shoemaker who was alive when the monastery was torn down during the French Revolution.  It is hand-stitched and completely made of leather!  What a historical find that was!

Today we leave the Viking Longship Buri as our cruise comes to it's conclusion.  We fly out early Easter Sunday morning and will arrive back in South Florida ate Sunday night.  I am very hopeful to post all the videos and a comprehensive highlight video of the entire trip by the end of the day Monday!