Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Walking about in Le Havre





After Mont Saint- Michel, we returned to the ship in Le Havre.  We had heard that Le Havre didn’t have much to do, and we were in an industrial port that was at least a mile walk from any civilization. Undaunted, the last morning in port, we got up and headed out on foot.  


The entire city was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2005 to reflect its modernistic look from the rebuilding after the almost total destruction during World War II from Allied bombing.  Some of our shipmates had spent the previous day here and had shared a few gems during the previous night’s dinner.  One of the sites was the fish market, and we found it just outside the port on the city edge.  Fish dealers sold interesting fish, and even cleaned and cut them for you.  There was the distinct odor of fish, but we found it pretty interesting.





Our map took us to a square to visit the local cathedral to see what it was like. It was not as ornate as some places we had visited, and I like the simplicity of some of the windows.





By then we were ready for our first cup of coffee that was so good in a little bar with tables out front and men who seemed to have nothing better to do than sit and drink coffee. I could do that for an hour, but then I would get bored.  We had a bag of pastries the we had already bought in a “I can’t walk past this patisserie” moment.  We could see the ship from where we were sitting.  


Then we were off to the Malraux museum which got good reviews from our friends.  It was a nice little museum with some good art.  There were some pieces that you said “I really like that”. The current exhibit was works of Nicolas de Staël , and you could tell that the curator had taken great pains to get a very nice layout. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photos, but you can visit at http://www.muma-lehavre.fr/en.
Just across the street was the sailboat harbor which immediately brought forth the thought in my head of “Honey, where did we park the boat”.  We watched a few boats go out, and I remembered that I had always wanted a sailboat.




The next star on our walking tour map was to a new church.  This was certainly a contrast to churches and cathedrals that we had seen all over Europe.






Lunch time took us to a grocery store for bread and cheese and some metal spoons for those times that the only ice cream we can find is in a grocery store.  We sat in a beautiful park and watched the people while we ate our lunch.





Then back to the city center,  looking at sculptures along the way.

 




This is a modern city.  It even has charging stations for electric vehicles.
 




And a new library that is due to open soon but doesn’t look ready yet and a beautiful swing bridge to allow the boats to pass
 





What this city did not have was a good souvenir shop.  I have been collecting sew on patches from every country, and I was sure I would find one in Le Havre, but I was left stumped, no matter how many streets I walked down.  We got back to the ship in time for dinner and a beautiful sunset to bid us adieu to France.
 








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