As we boarded the boat after a magical day in Alsace, I decided I wanted this vacation to just go on and on and on, just like the river Rhine unspooling endlessly along the Grand Canal d'Alsace.
Our Tauck river cruise felt like sleep away camp for adults - our only responsibility was to enjoy ourselves, an art we were well on our way to perfecting.
But what was this sheaf of papers awaiting us when we returned to our cabin? I saw, to my horror, the words like disembarkment, luggage, transfer. There must be some mistake. Why would anyone want to disembark?
Our Tauck hosts, in their infinite wisdom, understand the shock that comes with departing our floating cocoon, so they had given us two days' warning that the cruise part of our tour was nearing its end. The end? How could this be happening?
To soften the blow, a special dinner had been planned that night, and our illustrious chef Fenna Hummel had pulled out all the stops:
Food on a Tauck cruise is not only plentiful, it is excellent. And all culinary preferences and quirks are honored, including tasty gluten-free and vegetarian options.
And our winsome crew, many hailing from Indonesia, entertained us that evening with dancing, skits and a sampling of their own regional music:
This all helped us adjust to our upcoming fate, and besides, we still had one more port to explore. The next morning found us in Basel, Switzerland, where we enjoyed a walking tour of the Old Town, including the 16th century Basel Minster church
with its lovely cloisters…
and the imposing Rathaus - town hall:
We stopped for a lovely view of the river Rhine - a little too chilly today for any residents to be seen in their seasonal pastime of floating on the river to and from work.
We whiled away the afternoon…
including a stroll to the point in Basel where one can stand in three countries at one time - Germany, France and Switzerland - a fitting culmination of our river cruise experience.
Then we were back on board for our last night on the boat, noting that the swans we saw out on the river were a fitting omen for our swan song on the cruise portion of our tour. Next morning was a transition day - as it turns out, of course, nothing perfect goes on forever…
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