Honfleur, France

‘Sorry I missed last night. We went to the entertainment last night which was the farewell show. The entertainers sang, the Hotel Manager spoke and the captain gave a speech. He told us if we started in Ft Lauderdale, at the end of the trip Thursday, we will have gone 32,204 miles. Then add the 5,437 miles from London to Los Angeles, we will have traveled 37,641 miles on this trip! That’s a long way. After that the entire crew of 437 people came into the theater. It was a nice show and made me sad that we’re leaving. But as the cruise director said, we’ve loved having you as family, but now it’s time to go!

The show went long and we were very tired after our day in Honfleur. It is a beautiful small city that had very little damage from World War II. The old buildings and narrow, winding streets are very picturesque. We got to the town and started our walking tour. All the streets were cobblestone. After our trip to Mont Saint Michel the day before, our feet and legs were complaining. I had been here in 2018 on a tour of Normandy. We passed by an old jail, the place where the salt was stored to preserve the fish caught by the local fishermen. It was the only way to preserve the fish. There is a beautiful yacht basin in the center of the town. It is surrounded by restaurants and shops, plus a very old church, now used for city gatherings. The city hall also faces the basin, as well as a 2 story carousel. We walked to an old wooden church , completely made of wood. The other interesting thing is that it has two naves, with 2 altars. The bell tower is in another building, to prevent fire in the main building. From there we left the group and made our way to a cafe on the yacht basin. It was a beautiful day. We ordered lunch and waited. It shouldn’t take too long for a hot dog and a croque monsieur, French grilled cheese. Well it did. By the time we got it, we had 15 minutes to eat and get back to the bus. We just made it. My croque monsieur was delicious! As we approached the bus I thought I recognized one of the tour guides. I asked her in French if her name is Marie. It is and she was the guide for the week I was here in 2018. What a coincidence! She didn’t remember me, but I didn’t expect her to. We chatted a minute, then I got on our bus to go back to the ship. She was the guide on the other bus that went back to the ship. We talked some more and she did remember me because I left a jacket in the room and she tracked it down for me and had it sent home. I had a photo of us from the first trip still on my phone. I found it and we reminisced a bit. Then I asked one of the ship employees to take our photo. It was a lovely day, but we were worn out…too many cobblestones!

Tomorrow I will tell you about our day in Dover today. And Greenwich, which is our stop tomorrow.

Photos: an anchor on the way to the basin, the carousel, city hall, a view of the basin, the old church on the basin, a building that was a jail , the courtyard of that building, horse drawn carriage, wooden church, 2 naves, half timbered buildings, two cats on the roof and Marie and I 6 years later.