Honfleur A Fishing Village Near Le Havre

Honfleur Harbour

      The last day of this cruise. We fly back to Toronto tomorrow afternoon! Many of the tours today headed for Paris or Normandy. Both promised to be long day (over 10 hours) and having been to both places we opted for a “local” tour to the town of Honfleur. It is across the mouth of the Seine River from Le Havre where we are currently docked. It was a great choice of a tour. Le Havre is an old city but it was completely destroyed in WW2 by the allies. It was being used by the Germans at that time. In fact it was bombed so many times that the Allies could not use it as during the invasion in 1944.

        Honfleur is only a few miles away over the 'new' bridge but we took the long way around so that the tour guide could give some of the background to the development and significance of the old port. It was the main port at the mouth of the Seine until it silted in.   In fact Champlain left from Honfleur on his sailing to Canada.

     

Typical Normandy Street

It was a quaint Norman fishing village. Today it is the destination of tourist from France as well as cruise ships. The town is filled with shops, cafes, eateries, etc. The buildings are very old. It was not bombed in WW2 as it had no strategic significance. So unlike Le Havre which was completely rebuilt after the war, the village remained intact.

Old Guard House and Residence

Walking around the town does not take long. In some respects it reminded us of Rouen with the type of construction. The main street along the Yieux Basin looked very much like Canal street in Copenhagen with the many cafes and people strolling along. The only difference is that the basin today is filled with yachts. Gone are the trading ships that were so important to its development.

In Front Of Yieux Basin

      The guide took us a quick tour around the village, stopping at the old salt storage buildings, town square , the Yieux Basin, St Catherine's Church as well as the old streets. The church is interesting. It was constructed completely of wood by the local shipbuilders.  Limestone was too expensive for this small community so they simple used their skills. It was added to twice. It also has a bell tower separate across the street from the church. Being made of wood, if the church caught fire, at least they would not have to rebuilt the entire structure. Wandering around we found a bake shop where Judy had a chocolate eclair and I had a crusty apple turnover. The rest of the time we simply enjoyed the town.

Really Old Butcher's Shop

      We were back at the ship by 1 pm and could have gone into town. Instead we did all the things that we had missed do to the schedule. Lunch was pizza and beer, followed by a swim and hot tub, followed by afternoon tea and then the dreaded packing which went quite well. We will be spending the evening with dinner followed by the International Crew Show. Packing is finished and we fly out tomorrow afternoon.

    Photos shows the views around Honfleur! Cheers!

Last Day At Sea

    Today was the last of the 2 sea days for this cruise. It has been hard to get into a rhythm for the cruise first with the late arrival and departures of the first few days and with the port every day routine. Here we are on the second last day of the cruise and it is only the second sea day.    They have had a hard time fitting in bingo and had 2 sessions today! We did manage to go to to zumba for the last time, the 6^th of this cruise. It is a good way to start the day but with the time advance last night, we have only been able to fit in a quick breakfast. Despite that we both have been eating way to much as you would expect on a cruise like this. We made an effort to walk on the deck today and go see the pools. It was a foggy cool day but a few people managed to get the little sun that was available.

At Sea

   We did have lunch in the dining room and then went to the wine tasting. We both thought that it was not very well done and in fact there was a small crowd. Most were either elite or suite passengers who receive the tasting free. Both groups get the tasting as a comp. The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing around. We will need to pack tomorrow but did not have much incentive to even fill a suitcase today.

     Tonight we did see the Irish comedian again. Same show as on the last cruise but he is very entertaining. They have 'phony' baked alaskas' now. They do the parade but they have the pieces cut and ready to go. Somehow it was not the same as before. A show finished the evening.