Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, 5 Dec. 2009

We left with LY 323 on time and arrived in Paris at the Charles de Gaulle
International Airport terminal 2.
We set back our time pieces with one hour, being that it was cold outside; we
decided not to go to town but to stay at the terminal.
We waited seven hours for our connection, passing the time walking around for a
while, looking at the terminal and finally decided to pick out a nice restaurant to eat
some lunch. We had coffee at another place and finally the time arrived for checking
in for our flight TAM JJ 8055 to Rio de Janeiro.
All went according to plan, boarding the plane and settling down, in the Airbus A320.
After taking off, getting dinner served, by now it was after 9.00 o’clock in the
evening, we tried to fall asleep. The service of the crew was very good, the only
problem we had was the long duration of the flight.
From Paris it is exactly 11 hours and 55 minutes to Rio de Janeiro.
We took naps, watched the movies, walked around the aircraft but from sleeping, in
those cramped spaces, well, that is something else.
We were happy to get out the airplane in Rio, went through passport control and
customs without any problems, and changed some money at the “Mercado de Gambio”
We needed to have some cash to take a taxi to the hotel that we booked
“The Caesar Park Ipanema” right in the middle of Ipanema Beach.
Our first looks at the City of Rio and the surroundings were from the taxi. The
airport is located about 20km from the Hotel. Three most fascinating days we
spend in Rio, sightseeing from early morning till late at night.
From Rio we flew to Iguacu, to visit the most famous and exotic waterfalls.
Two days later we came back to Rio, in order to board our cruise ship. The schedule
was to cruise along the Brazilian coast, past Uruguay to Buenos Aires.
Everyday stopping at another place of the most fantastic nature reserves and areas
along the route.
To mention a few, places visited, Ilha Grande, Paraty, Itajai , Sao Paulo.