April 25, 2024 Le Havre, France

Clocks were set forward overnight to Western European time for the visit to Le Havre, France.

The ship docked in the Port of Le Havre before 6:30 a.m., but Immigration clearance was not announced until 7:15 a.m.. There were excursions going to Paris which can be a three hour journey one way.

We climbed to Lido Market on deck 9 for breakfast. The sky was covered with grey clouds and the temperature was only 4°C with the bow flag fluttering in a gentle breeze. We were in the World Stage by 7 a.m. to wait for our tour to be called. Everyone had their stickers and were in the bus by 7:30 a.m. for the 75 minute drive to Rouen. The distance to Paris is about 190 km.

We were given VOX audio receivers and ear phones for the walking tour in the old section of Rouen that had been rebuilt after the WW2 bombing - once by the Germans in June 1940 and then by the British in April 1944. Our diver was Vincent and the guide was Alain.

Le Havre and Rouen are in the French region of Normandy. The port is part of the Seine Estuary. Le Havre means marshland. Normandy is the size of Belgium but has only a population of 3.5 million compared to Belgium’s 11 million. Le Havre was established as a deep water coastal port in 1517. Today it is the biggest container port in France.

I saw gasoline prices ranging from €1.850 to €2.049 per litre. A package cigarettes costs

€ 11.

In the 900s, the Normandy area was attacked multiple times by Vikings seeking warmer weather than in Scandinavia which was experiencing cooling climate. The Vikings were coming from England wanting more land and money from the rich abbeys and monasteries of the lands bordering the Seine River. The abbeys and monasteries were charging tariffs for ships to pass on their way inland. The Viking flat bottom boats were ideal for navigating the shallow river and its sandbanks. The Seine River is affected by the ocean tides as far in as Rouen. Vikings burned Rouen in 840 AD. After 70 years of Viking invasion from their bases across the channel, an agreement was made that gave the area of Normandy to “the men from the north”. In the east of Normandy were the Danish Vikings and the west had the Norwegian Vikings. They were converted to Christianity and through bloodlines with the Anglo-Saxons in England there was a connection to Normandy. The kings of France and Normandy had an arrangement for French boats to use the Seine for access to Paris until the Norman kings acquired England. In 1065 Edward the Confessor of England, shortly before he died, named William of Normandy his heir. When Edward died his brother-in-law Harold decided that he would be king before William could be told. When William (the Conquerer) heard of Edward’s death and Harold’s deed, William assembled an army and invaded England and defeated and killed Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. As king of England, William’s Normandy became part of England. The king of Paris lost his access to the sea and relations were strained. Effectually Normandy reverted back to France in the 13th century. However the Norman kings ruled England for more than 100 years. They included Henry I, Henry II and Richard the Lionheart. From 1066 to 1204 all the English kings were born in Normandy.

The Romans built a temple in 56 BC where the cathedral is now. Rouen was an important Roman port and in the Middle Ages. There was a thriving ship building industry in the 15th and 16th centuries. Much of France’s flour is milled in the area. The greater Rouen area population is about 400,000. In France, the Easter school break is two weeks long, but divided into three zones. Rouen is in zone 3 and this is the second week of the break, so not quite as much traffic as usual as we approached Rouen. Rouen is affected by the higher tides of April and October which sometimes floods the roads near the Seine River in the city.

Our walking tour of central reconstructed Rouen began by passing the Rouen theatre, then to the Notre Dame de Rouen Roman Catholic Cathedral’s south entrance used by the wealthy. The temperature was 7°C. Across from the cathedral was another building designed by the same architect that designed Notre Dame de Rouen and St. Maclou church. From a second storey window of that building, 19th century Impressionist artist, Claude Monet, painted the cathedral’s south side. The church and state separated in 1905. In Rouen, not sure if elsewhere in France, a Protestant church is called a Temple. A Roman Catholic church is Église.

Notre Dame de Rouen Cathedral was constructed from limestone over many years and was damaged by the German and British bombings. Much of the interior is late Romanesque or Gothic architectural style. The arches are more pointed in the Romanesque style. The lighter limestone is due to restoration or cleaning whether on the exterior or interior of the church. It was the later Gothic architectural style that introduced flying buttresses. In the 13th century stained glass the colours blue, red and yellow are predominant, however in the early 16th century, in the stained glass windows, the colours are only used for the people depicted and not the background. There were side chapels in the cathedral. The group exited through the north doors which the poorer people used, and later we viewed the west entrance. It is a very large cathedral. Some of Richard the Lionheart’s remains are lying in a tomb in the cathedral not far from the first Normandy king, Rollo.

We continued to a square of 16th and 17th century buildings and St. Maclou church which is now a concert venue. The tall houses’ colour had to remain the same when a new owner purchases a house, since there were no numbered addresses and the colour is the address. Next we walked outside the old city wall to a cloister built for Plague victims which became a cemetery for the dead victims. People were taken there to die, very few survived. The walk continued toward the modern Jeanne d’Arc church located where she was burned. We passed the ornately decorated Salon de Thé. Alain explained that houses were taxed on the number of windows in a house. At different times, the panes of the windows were small or large. We passed the Gothic style Palais de Justice.

Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc), who lead the French against the British in the 15th century, was burned at the stake on May 29, 1431 in Rouen by Roman Catholic church’s authority on the claim that she wore men’s clothing while fighting the battles. The bishops and hierarchy could not believe that the Archangel Michael could appear to a woman as she claimed, only high church or social officials were allowed this vision. The appearance of the archangel to her spurred Jeanne d’Arc to raise an army. She was considered dangerous since she could inspire followers. Although supported in her battles by the French king, he did not intervene. Her ashes were thrown in the Seine River. The Roman Catholic church realized its error in 1456 and started the process to make her a saint.

The ancient square named Place du Vieux-Marché is where Jeanne d’Arc church was built at it’s center and was completed in 1979. There is a small garden, Le Bouchet, where a tall concrete cross, marks the exact spot where she was burned. The church’s stained glass windows were from a church that was not restored after the war. There is a modern market in the church’s shadow. The walking tour ended here. The group was given an hour of free time to wander or find a bar or restaurant. We walked for about 30 minutes nearby then found Etienne Coffee & Shop for two small (100 ml) coffees, a croissant and a madeline. Everyone was back to the meeting point on time for the ten minute walk to where the bus was parked.

We were back on the ship about 1 p.m. and went to the Grand Dutch café on Deck 3 for coffee and apple pie. We dropped off our jackets and grabbed our laptops to start work on the blog as we enjoyed our lunch.

Many people took ten hour excursions into Paris, which is a 2.5 to 3 hour drive each way. There were not a lot of people on the ship in the afternoon. We had dinner with Eric and Lois and were surprised when Lynn and Bill arrived a few minutes after the four of us had sat down. Both Heather and Sharon were not expected to return until 6:30 p.m. around the All Aboard time. Eric and Lois had walked around Le Havre and Bill and Lynn went to the Normandy beaches.

Brent Cave, the pianist, was back for a second show. Larry was able to upload the photos again at the Grand Dutch Café faster than yesterday.

Steps 11,377