9th July

9^th & 10^th July – At sea

Two days steaming from Lisbon to Le Harve in France gives us a chance to rest and get some energy back and with a bit of luck perhaps shake off this sinus and drummy head sensation that refuses to leave us both.

Yesterday (Thursday) we were travelling around the coast of Portugal in typical Atlantic swells. A cold strong wind was blowing and you couldn’t find a satisfactory sheltered spot to sit in the sun as we climb into higher northern latitudes. Wind whipped spray from breaking waves even as high as our balcony on deck eleven, but the ships action wasn’t uncomfortable and we just lay on the bed and read.

Today (Friday) Wind strength has decreased considerably but it’s still a cool breeze, we have clear pale blue skies, the wave height has dropped from 12ft to 4ft and water colour has changed noticeably from the deep blue of the Mediterranean to a green colour.

By lunch time today we would have been off France at approximately the top of what I assume is the Bay of Biscay.

Shipping traffic has increased considerably as we get nearer to the English Channel.   

11^th July Saturday – Le Harve

‘Perhaps no other place in France holds more associations for English-speaking visitors

than Normandy.

The historic Allied landings on D-Day - 6 June, 1944 - live on in the memories of British and Americans alike.

Nor has Le Havre forgotten the dark days of the war.  The port was nearly completely destroyed during the Normandy campaign.

Today, Le Havre is France's second largest port and the gateway to Paris, "City of Light,"

the Norman countryside, and the historic landing beaches.’ – Brochure

Many passengers opted to take tours to Paris from here. Being a three hour drive each way wouldn’t give a lot of time to see Paris but I guess they can at least say they’ve been there.

We tossed up between a tour to the Normandy battlefields or to Monet’s home and garden and the city of Rouen. We decided to visit Monet’s garden assuming it would be in full bloom, which just means we have to come back again to visit the Normandy Landing sites.

It was a pleasant couple of hours drive through French countryside to Monet’s place where we shuffled along with the crowds photographing all the usual cottage garden flowers. The outside and inside of Monet’s house and puked at his idea of an internal colour scheme and of course the famous Japanese lily pond and its replica green bridges made famous through his paintings.

Lunch was a pre arranged stop at a restaurant converted from a beautiful old water mill in a very attractive setting and all washed down with a nice bottle of wine from the south of France.

Our next stop took in the city of Rouen where we visited the ‘Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen, a superb example of French Gothic architecture that took 300 years to complete. The cast iron spire is the largest in France and the central portal features an elaborately painted "Tree of Jesus. Our guide escorted us into the interior, ‘which features a Lady Chapel, the tombs of Rouen's archbishops, secure behind wrought iron gates, and impressive 15th-century stained glass windows.’

Frome here we continued our walking tour through the old section of Rouen. Down narrow cobbled lanes lined with ancient, timbered houses looking very much like old Tudor styled buildings in the UK. Rouen boasts over 700 of these medieval structures.

We continued down the ‘bustling Rue Saint Romain and the Rue du Gros Horloge, passing Rouen's old fortified clock tower and law courts, housed in a Renaissance building.’ These old cobble stoned streets are now set out as pedestrian way only. Nancy needed to Make a visit to MacDonald’s always a safe bet for a clean toilet so I grabbed a McCaffe and we finally caught up with the group at the ‘Place du Vieux Marché, the Old Marketplace, the site where the English burned Joan of Arc at the stake. Today, the square boasts the Great Cross of Rehabilitation erected in tribute to the Maid of Orleans, a daring modern church is dedicated to her memory.’

Rouen a lovely place – worth re-visiting.