Another day, and another country. For today, Wednesday, the country is France, and the port is Cherbourg. Often described as a place of unfaltering romance, a Gallic goliath, super-stylish….well that is France. With a population of 64 million, and a capital of Paris, no less, this is a culture that produced some of the world’s greatest philosophers, artists, and musicians. Other comments include an attitude that the French live in the best place on earth, but don’t we all? But it has gained them a reputation of being snooty, arrogant, and opinionated, but in an appealing way too. Everyone agrees about the fine food and wine you’ll enjoy while there. Their favorite food has to be crepes, and the best drinks are cider in Normandy, pastis in Provence, and red wine in Burgundy. Trademarks are baguettes, cheese, cafes, red wine, designer fashion, and cabaret. Also Tour de France. Random fact: Some inventions include the first digital calculator, the hot-air balloon, Braille, and margarine. Who knew?
Our one and only stop here is Cherbourg, mainly for Normandy, chockful of World War II history. This port of Cherbourg has a history of being a naval base with the main purpose of protecting the country from British invasions. Now in modern times, the city’s port is home to many ferries arriving from Ireland and England, and cruise ships like ours. This city was most important in the liberation of France during WWII with the Battle of Cherbourg after D Day in 1944. It made this city one of the first to be liberated despite sustaining heavy damage.
As far as this cruise is concerned, the major attractions are not here, but in the surrounding areas in Normandy. Ship’s tours included 8 hour trips to D Day landing beaches, Omaha Beach, and museum and the infamous cemeteries. Mont Sant Michel, a UNESCO World heritage Site of a 10th century monastery, is a 2¾ hour drive each way. These tours ran from $170 to $180, and none of them included lunch. Shorter tours went to closer outlying areas, with only one touring locally. Most of these were priced right and were up to 4 hours.
The Amsterdam arrived to the dock on time around 8am. However, the rain was coming down rather hard, especially when we left the ship after 10am. Dressed with lightweight waterproof jackets, we took the umbrellas too. This is the city that is famous for their umbrellas ever since the movie, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, came out many years ago. There is even a factory that produces them in town. There is an 8 euro fee to take a tour of this factory.
This is the first time we have been here, so exploring town was in the cards today. A shuttle bus was provided to take the guests to the old town, no more than a 10 minute ride. There was no restriction with people walking in the pier area, so in hindsight, we could have walked if the weather was better. Greg and Heo have visited this city before, and told us what to see. The most interesting center of the old city was the place to see. It was like stepping back in time with all of the medieval structures built ages ago. It gave this downtown area a feeling of being in a place of what France looked like centuries ago. Of course, these days the narrow winding streets are full of cafes, bakeries, chocolate shops, fish and produce markets, and small boutique clothing stores. Major historical sights included the Basilique Sainte-Trinite, the Museum Thomas Henry, now an art museum, Place de Gaulle, a huge fountain in that square, and many scattered old stone houses with rows of chimneys on their red-tiled roofs. Hotels lined the waterfront and faced the marina.
The restaurants specialized in seafood, and the most shellfish we have seen in one place. Due to the strongest tides in Europe, the scallops, oysters, mussels, crabs, and sea snails are abundant. Other shops we saw were butcheries selling beef, ham, rabbits, pork, and chickens. One of the best shops sold cheese products, along with baguettes and snacks. Normandy also produces other dairy products like butter and margarines.
We made our way through the whole inner city, looking for the basilica. It’s funny, when you are buried in the buildings, you cannot locate anything on the map. Once again, the local map was well labeled with street names, but hard to find marked on the corners. After crossing paths with Heo and Greg, they gave us the general direction of the church, and we did find it. That’s when something strange occurred. Walking around the back of this very old structure, originally built in 435, we briefly heard organ music being played inside the closed church. But looking for an entrance, we could not find any door opened. In fact, scaffolding was erected in the front, with the peak of the main roof covered with blue tarps. It will remain a mystery since no one was around to inquire about it.
Walking around the waterfront, we passed dozens of cafes and restaurants, some of which were closed. Most of these eateries were intimate and tight with the space. Being able to dine outside at tables with some room was not going to happen today because of the continuing rain showers. Besides the fish entrees, the next top meals included either hamburger or pizza. Beer sounded good, but once again, finding a good place that was not jammed with people was almost impossible around 2pm. So we boarded the shuttle to go across the harbor to the other option.
A more modern area across the harbor was Les Eleis, a mall with 75 boutique shops and restaurants. Carrefour, the main marketplace here, was the largest in the entire city. Since it was still raining, we decided to skip seeing it, and went directly back to the ship. Lunch would be in the Lido, which was OK with us.
Also, next to the pier was a place called La Cite de la Mer, part aquarium, a maritime history museum, and an interactive science museum. A large exhibit of the Titanic, which stopped here before their fate-filled sailing, is included with the fare of 18 euro. The brochure from the tourist info center recommended 4-5 hours to see this exhibit. It was ideally located within steps of the Amsterdam. An easy tour was available with the train-like 45 minute ride around the town for 6.50 euro. They had a pick-up at the ship, or one in the center of town where the shuttle drop-off was located. This tour probably took folks to the top of the cliff where Chateau des Ravalet was built in 1575, complete with 30 acres of beautiful gardens. If the weather had been nice today, we may have ventured up there since gardens are up our alley.
All onboard was 4:30pm, but there were several buses late in arriving back from all day tours. The ship left about 5:30pm, with only a handful of brave folks watching from the Seaview Pool. With rain starting to fall lightly, it was darned cold when we sailed past the old fortresses of the harbor and headed north in the Atlantic Ocean once again.
Dinner was great again, with all of us sharing our day’s exploits. We all did something different. Some favorites were on the menu like lamb shank, chef salad, and chicken cordon bleu. Mahi mahi was the fresh catch of the day. The soups were perfect for a rainy day, and the alternate shrimp cocktail is always a good choice. Sharing a small slice of chocolate cake with coconut filling sort of made up for missing the French pastries today.
Showtime featured a comedian and vocalist, Jo Little. Described as small in stature, huge in personality and talent, we will rely on the guy’s opinion tomorrow, since we were way too tired to attend.
Another day, and another country tomorrow…..Belgium. This is becoming like…..work.
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Report #96 Cherbourg, France April 24, 2019 Wednesday Chance of showers & 59 degrees
