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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