(Les Andelys, Honfleur, and La Havre)
After cruising through the night, we began our first full day by docking in Les Andelys: a small commune made up of two parts – Grand Andely and Petit Aldely.
What a sight it was to open the curtains and outer door to let in some sunlight and be greeted by a fabulous view of Chateau Gaillard and the surrounding white cliffs!
Following breakfast, we set off for our first excursion of the trip with a visit to the ruins of Chateau Gaillard. Unfortunately, we had opted for the “gentle” tour which included a ride up and down the hill, but only provided VIEWS of the ruins instead of exploration of the ruins. The walk up would have been tough, but we probably could have all handled the walk down. Needless to say, Tomi and I don’t plan to do any more “gentle” tours.
Chateau Gallaird was built by Richard the Lionheart in 1198 high above the river Seine.
Following our ride back down the hill, we stopped in at St. Savior Church of Petit-Andely. The church was built within four years and completed in 1202. After a quick look around, we returned to the boat for the afternoon as we set sail for our next destination.
During our afternoon sails, we passed several locks along the river and then enjoyed dinner in the main restaurant.
However, Pops wasn’t ready to turn in for the night. Instead, he wanted to take advantage of Disco Night in the lounge. I didn’t realize he had packed his dancing shoes on this trip, but I was happy to oblige!
We arrived in Le Havre during the night at some point. When we awakened, I opened the curtains to see we were tied off to another river boat – certainly not the best of views from our room, but not to worry, since we knew the best views were outside of our room.
Our first tour in La Havre took us by bus about 15 miles outside of the city to the quaint town of Honfleur. It is an old harbor town where the Seine meets the English Channel. Several Impressionist artists (including Monet) have used Honfleur as a backdrop for some of their works of art. It has homes throughout the village dating anywhere from the 16th to 18th centuries.
We were lucky enough to be in Honfleur on a Saturday when they have an outdoor market lining the little streets. So many sights!
We finished our time in Honfleur at a cafe with a stop for a beer and a coffee. I’ll let you try to guess who had what!
After returning to the boat for lunch, we were ready to head out for our afternoon excursion: a city tour of La Havre. We boarded the busses, and they drove us all around the city. Being a major port city, La Havre was heavily bombed during World War II, and 80% of it was destroyed. Due to scarcity of materials, concrete was used to build most of the new buildings. In 2005, UNESCO inscribed the central city as a World Heritage Site because of its unique post-WWII reconstruction and architecture.
Being located on the entrance to the English Channel, cargo container ships are able to carry up to 24,000 containers and unload them at the port using highly sophisticated cranes. La Havre is now the second largest port in France.
To commemorate the 500th anniversary of Le Havre, Vincent Ganivet constructed this sculpture. It consists of two arches: one arch with 15 containers and the second arch with 21 containers.
The original St. Joseph’s Church was destroyed during WWII, so a new church was built in its place following the war. Completed in 1958, it had a much more modern feel compared to what it once was.
Once we returned from our afternoon excursion, we had a few minutes to freshen up before cocktails and dinner. We called it a night, since our next day was a full day to the Normandy U.S. Landing Beaches. Stay tuned……
