PARISCityVISION - Guided Visit of the Palace of Versailles (morning)

Over 200 works by iconic Dutch artist M.C. Escher Most of his most iconic and recognizable masterpieces, including Hand with Reflecting Sphere, Relativity, Belvedere, Eye, Metamorphisis, Day and Night, and Waterfall. Scientific experiments, play areas, and educational resources will help visitors of allages to understand the impossible perspectives, disquieting images, and seemingly irreconcilable universes which Escher combined to create a unique artistic dimension. Among these special installations will be massive photo booths constructed to emulate Escher's hypnotic environments. Visitors will be able to photograph themselves "inside" the worlds of M.C. EScher. The "Relativity Room" turns normal size and scale on it's head. The "Infinity Room" shows visitors their reflection repeated, semingly into infinity.

Shearwater is a classic Newport-style schooner yacht, only recently recognized as a national landmark in 2009.  The vessel was built by Rice Brother Corporation in East Boothbay, Maine, back in a time when yachting was a rare combination of elegance and adventure; Rice Bros. were well known for building luxury pleasure yachts and produced some 4,000 hulls over a period of 64 years. The keel was laid down on January 4, 1929 and a news clip from the Boothbay Register reflects alongside a photograph "Tyler Hodgon at the old Tide Mill is getting out timbers for the schooner to be built at Rice’s. Vessel to be built of native white oak." Traditionally built from hand-hewn native white oak, she was the last boat to be constructed at that yard - likely due to the ensuing Great Depression brought on by the Stock Market Crash that occurred later that autumn.  East Boothbay was a small coastal town with shipbuilding being its only industry. About 40 workmen were employed for the construction of SHEARWATER. Her designer Theodore Donald Wells was born in Hudson Falls, N Y on October 22, 1875. He was a naval architect and marine engineer, a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and also the Institute of Naval Architects London. His education included post-graduate work at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He began his career as a member of the firm Herreshoff and Wells, N. Y. City in 1902. Working with Herreshoff no doubt had an influence on his designs, which bear similarities to many of the famous Herreshoff designed yachts of that time. From 1903 to 1907 he worked for Wintringham and Wells and then began practicing his profession under his own name. Mr. Wells joined the Navy Department in March 1917 and became Superintending Constructor of the Baltimore District U. S. N. Notable yachts designed and constructed under his supervision are "Viking" a 272 foot steel motor yacht built for George F. Baker in 1929 by Newport News and "Karina" a three masted schooner built for Robert E. Tod in 1932 by Staten Island Shipbuilding. Mr. Tod was a well-known offshore yachtsman as was his former yacht ‘Thistle", which competed in the Emperors Cup ocean race. SHEARWATER was launched on May 4, 1929 and photographs in the Boothbay Register reflect her graceful and elegant lines. Her first Captain, Leon Esterbrook of Edgarton, MA, arrived to take charge of the fitting out. Her owner Charles E Dunlap was a member of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, Oyster Bay, NY and this became SHEARWATER’s first homeport after her completion in late September 1929. It was there in Oyster Bay that she first started to thrill those who sailed in luxury aboard her and those who were privileged to crew her on race day. Since her launching and documentation in Lloyd’s Register of American Yachts in 1929, she has had a colorful history and has been carefully maintained and restored to standards that few contemporary vessels are able to match and is truly a piece of American Maritime History. On November 7, 1942 SHEARWATER was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration and became a member of The United States Coast Guard’s Coastal Picket Patrol during World War Two. She was painted gray and bore the numbers CG67004. Based at Little Creek, Virginia she patrolled the waters east of the Chesapeake Bay entrance and south towards Cape Hatteras. Her skipper during that period reflected on how they used their free time while out on submarine patrol to race against other yachts and in his own words "sailed in tandem with the schooner Lord Jim, racing in and out of port, up and down the east coast and winning." She was designed and built as a gaff rigged schooner but during this period was changed to a Marconi rig. She carries over 2,550 square feet while under full sail. A true veteran world cruiser, she first transited the Panama Canal in July 1946 and in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s completed a two and a half-year global circumnavigation. In December 1971 Mrs. John B. Thayer of Rosemont, wife of a former trustee and treasurer, donated SHEARWATER to the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute of Environmental Medicine. She was used by the university as a laboratory for research on physiological responses to the stresses of living and working underwater. Captained by James Shearson, she was fitted with compressors, generators, monitoring instruments and a small decompression chamber. She has participated in many Ancient Mariner and Classic yacht races in U S waters as well as racing in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand while on her circumnavigation in the early 1980’s. It is rumored she was once dismasted in the famous Newport to Bermuda race. She was last raced by the current owners in San Diego in May 1995 in the American Schooner Cup and finished second overall. She entered the yacht charter industry in 1966 whilst on the West Coast sailing to the Channel Islands and was again used to generate income to keep her shipshape while owned by the University of Pennsylvania. During the chartering industry’s infancy in the Caribbean, SHEARWATER was known as the " Queen of the Fleet". Today she continues this tradition offering the most unique sailing experience and has passed rigid Coast Guard inspections and can carry up to 49 passengers. We welcome you to join us for an excellent opportunity to experience the ambiance of a vintage sailing vessel while delighting in the splendors of The Manhattan sky-line, the Statue of Liberty or the beauty of the oceans beyond.

360 Chicago Located 1,000 feet above the Magnificent Mile, you'll soon see why a visit here is rated an 'absolute must do' by tourists and locals alike. Enjoy breathtaking 360 views stretching across 4 states, and Lake Michigan. Watch the spectacular sunset from 1,000 feet, or go up at night to see Chicago shining in lights. You'll see why 360 Chicago has been voted Chicago's best view. New Chicago History Exhibit Discover Chicago's rich history and identity while learning about nine of the city's culturally unique neighborhoods. Multimedia and mirror effects fully immerse guests in this truly innovative learning experience. Tilt - Chicago's highest moving experience. Enjoy the thrill of being tilted 12,000 feet over the Magnificient Mile. Take in unsurpassed views of the city from a never-before-seen angle. TILT is a moving experience that holds up to eight visitors per cycle - approximately 50 people per 30 minutes. *Please note that TILT is an additional charge of $7.00 per adult, $5.00 per child.   SHEDD AQUARIUM EXHIBITS UNDERWATER BEAUTY – A SPECIAL EXHIBIT Our living world is full of wonder. Celebrate with us the unbelievable beauty living in our oceans, lakes and rivers in a new special exhibit at Shedd Aquarium: Underwater Beauty. Get a glimpse of the grandeur beneath the waves as 100 species from around the world come together in an evocative new space. What is beauty? Spark your curiosity as you see all the ways beauty moves and coexists. Watch sea jellies pulse, eels ribbon and a rainbow come alive with reef fishes. Feel the rhythms, embrace the colors and savor the patterns found only underwater. Experience a world worth celebrating – and saving. Waters of the World Travel the world in 80 habitats. Dive into Oceans, from coastal kelp forests to the seafloor. Explore the self-contained ecosystems of Islands and Lakes. Visit Rivers—big and small—and learn more about our local waters in the new At Home on the Great Lakes exhibit. Meet hundreds of amazing animals, from tiny mantella frogsto a a giant octopus, from a Grand Cayman blue iguana to Nile knifefish, and from moon jellies to sea stars. We even have map turtles, in case you get lost. Caribbean Reef Take a 360-degree tour of an underwater reef community. Follow a green sea turtle. Peek at a moray eel in a rocky crevice. Watch regal rays glide by. Get eye-to-eye with parrot fish and sharks. Visit Caribbean Reef, Shedd’s award-winning 90,000-gallon circular habitat in the grand rotunda. Amazon Rising Take an exotic journey in the Amazon, home to one-third of all living things. Watch out for anacondas and piranhas, spiders, rays and a camouflaged caiman. In churning river channels, still lakes and even flooded treetops look for tetras, turtles and fruit-eating fish called tambaqui. See how the region’s animals, plants and people adapt to the water’s dramatic annual rise and fall. Abbott Oceanarium The Abbott Oceanarium immerses you in the vibrant coastal ecosystem of beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, sea otters and sea lions. You’ll also find a host of fishes and invertebrates that make their homes where freshwater flows into the ocean or where tides turn seascapes to landscapes and back again each day. Use our self-guided map to discover how animals are linked to each other, their homes and you. Polar Play Zone Kids have a place at Shedd that they can call their own—Polar Play Zone. It’s cool as ice and twice as nice! The penguins think so, too. Play! Splash! Pretend! What would you like to be? A sleek sliding penguin? A deep-sea explorer? How about both? In Polar Play Zone, you can slip into a penguin suit and try being a bird in the Icy South play area. From there, head to the Icy North to explore the belugas’ Arctic waters in a kid-sized submarine. Don’t forget to shake hands—or is it arms?—with colorful sea stars in the touch pools. In Polar Play Zone, you’ll learn about polar opposites—big and small, fast and slow, shallow and deep, even north and south—while you play. The Oceanarium Aquatic Presentation​ is included however based on available seating and remaining show times at the time of guest arrival. (2018 Aquatic Presentation Schedule) Stingray Touch (seasonal experience) is included. Open late May through October. 4D Experience is not included however the 4D experience tickets may be purchased at the theatre for $3.00 per -person

There are no hotel pickups for the Hop-On-Hop-Off Tours. However, all Hop-On Hop-Off routes pass within 5 blocks of nearly every major downtown tourist hotel as well as in various locations at Fisherman’s Wharf. A hotel shuttle to Fisherman's Wharf is available in the morning. For further information and specific schedule times, please call the City Sightseeing office at +1.415.440.8687. AUDIO GUIDE in VARIOUS LANGUAGES: The tour is available with audio guide in English, Spanish, German, Mandarin, and Korean on every other bus throughout the day. Please ask at the City Sightseeing office for further information.

Get up close and personal to Manhattan's famed Macy's 4th of July fireworks spectacular, aboard a fun and casual cruise on the Hudson.  Circle Line gives you a front row seat to the brilliant display of pyrotechnics.  Premium Experience tickets include festive 4th of July menu and open beer, wine and soda bar.    

One Hour Sunset Expedition with Boggy Creek Airboat Rides - Closest Airboat Ride to Orlando Attractions! Experience the Park Transformation Over the past two years, the 32 acre Southport Park has undergone a $1 million renovation that includes a complete facility facelift, including newly built and remodeled structures and a landscape overhaul. The exteriors of the buildings are now made of Cypress, cut and milled by Native Americans. Invasive, non-native plants and trees were removed to make way for a wide range of newly planted vegetation native to the area. All changes were made with great care to further restore the park to its indigenous landscape. Native American Village Towering Chickee Huts cover genuine artifacts and hand-made creations of Little Big Mountain and his wife Laura, as they are immersed in the daily workings of the Native American Village. Deeply rooted appreciation for Native American heritage is brought to life by the Big Mountain family for guests through the traditional stories and techniques of their culture that once thrived in Central Florida. Various presentations of the primitive way of living on the southern plains, including demonstrations using “man’s first cooking technique” are shared with the audience for a captivating display of the indigenous lifestyle exclusive to the Native Experience at Boggy Creek! Swamp Shack The Swamp Shack is stocked with the latest of “Old Florida Outdoor Wear” from camo to overalls to help guests be picture perfect ready for a Florida memory! Pose and model the outdoor fashion in front of our cracker style shack while sitting on an airboat. Say cheese, take a selfie! Gator Pond Get an up-close and personal view of Florida’s most famous reptile, the Alligator! The brand-new gator pond and viewing area houses alligators in a natural oasis. Visitors will also hear an educational presentation with baby alligators and answer any curious questions guests may have. Airboat Tours Boggy Creek’s fleet of airboats can be seen continuously docking and setting out again on exhilarating tours conducted by friendly, informative captains - day and night. Discover territory that remains unaltered in the wilderness of the Central Florida Everglades. Our captains take you into the breathtaking beauty of nature, including wetlands and wildlife. See alligators, turtles, birds and more in their natural environment. Each safe and educational airboat tour is a unique experience and never the same. You’ll feel like you’re flying through the wetlands as you enjoy the best Everglades experience in Central Florida. The night time one hour tour takes guests on a quest to find the red glowing eyes of the alligators as they come out to feed. Especially during the summer, this is the best time to see many alligators and have an experience that cannot be beat! Tours offered include half hour daytime, 1 hour daytime, 45-minute daytime, 1 hour sunset and a 1 hour night tour. Tours begin as low as $27.95. Romp in the Swamp: The VIP experience of “Learn to drive an airboat” is up and running!  NEW! Gem Mining Station Be sure to check out the Gem Mining Station at Boggy Creek Airboats Adventures! Guests can purchase a range of bags and buckets filled with treasures that are native to Florida and take to the mining station.  While mining, they will discover various gems, alligator teeth, shark teeth, rocks, and other treasures! Boggy Bottom BBQ Sit down inside the brand new full service restaurant now open at Southport Park or dine outside for an unforgettable lake view. Serving true Florida style bbq and all the fixins’ made from recipes handed down from generations of Floridians. Also on the menu are Florida favorites such as gator tail, catfish and the “you can’t get this back home” swamp cabbage stew. Enjoy the restaurant 7 days a week from 10:00am-10:00pm. Check-in:  Please plan to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your tour departure   Why not combine your visit to Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures with other famous attractions and activities in Orlando such as Ripley's Orlando or Wonderworks?