If Downton Abbey were to be reincarnated as a ship....
..it probably still wouldn't be half as grand as the Queen Mary must have been in her heyday.   My last tour before heading off to the airport home to SF was suitably entitled "The Glory Days" and was described as "the general historic tour where guests will explore with a tour guide many of the First Class areas of the ship, including the First Class Lounge, Smoking Room, Dining Room and an actual suite".    Funnily enough, as I write this blog from home a few days after getting back from my trip, I happened upon a documentary on telly about Wallis and Edward and there - featuring prominently throughout the original footage - was the Queen Mary.  I recognized the places they were photographed in and had walked the exact same deck just a couple of days before.   Felt kinda cool.

So, to wrap up my little sojourn on the QM, here are a few photo highlights of her glory days - the pics don't do it justice, but maybe they give you just a little taste of what it must have been like (minus the vomit, of course).

Art deco lamp in the Grand Salon

Grand salon where movie stars, politicians, royalty & new
world rich rubbed shoulders and danced the night away,
while Bob Hope compered and Duke Ellington
 thrilled the crowd.... 

http://www.queenmarystory.com/2009/11/take-aboat.html

Gilded in silver and gold, embossed wall mural in the Grand
Salon. The square cut-out shapes are where the film projection
 equipment used to go - the first ever cinema on a ship 

Musical themed adornments in the Grand Salon

Listing the 10's of different types of wood on
the QM - all showcased in the fabulous picture below

Each panel represents one of the different beautiful
woods on the QM

What the art deco Observation Bar looks like
 when its not full of drunken pipers

The soundproof music room where the entertainers
could relax and rehearse

Bedroom in one of the suites on-board

Dressing table in the King George suite

Groovy 3 D mirror sculpture in the 2nd class lounge

The stately & magnificent First Class dining room

Detail of the door at the end of the First Class Dining room -
used exclusively by the captain every night to greet the
assembled guests who rose from their seats as he entered

Glass etching in the lobby on what used to be
the main promenade deck

Ceiling of the First Class dining room -
 which remains the largest room ever built on a ship.  The lighted
panels running down the side are original Lalique glass.

Map detailing the transatlantic route - if you look really closely,
you can see 2 crystal ships marking the passageway