France

After departing Lisbon, we sailed through the North Atlantic Ocean, passing the coast of our beloved northern Spain, home of Santiago de Compostela. Then on into the English Channel and into the port of Le Havre. Today, we took the shuttle bus from the port into the city, and then walked about a mile to the train/bus station. On our walk to the station, we saw a cute narrow house in a city park as well as the "Star Books" store. Unfortunately, the titles were in French. At the station, we boarded bus #13 and, for €4 roundtrip for both of us, we took the one-hour ride up to Étretat. Located in Normandy, 32 km northeast of Le Havre, Étretat is a beautiful traditional-looking French town. We had a great day, with a mix of sprinkles, a little rain, some sun, and wind, but never too cold. We hiked up to the top of one of the cliffs and really enjoyed watching the nesting birds; explored the beach area; read all the signs about the fishing industry and WWII; and, of course, found some good Normandy tapas and a nice glass of French Sancerre (for €32 - ouch!). The entire day was relaxing and amazing, but especially touching was our late-afternoon encounter with a

group of three cyclists. We stopped them to ask directions, and between Mike's pretty good French and their pretty good English, we shared that Mike’s father had landed shortly after D-Day at Utah Beach in 1944, which is about a 100-mile drive down the coast. They thanked Mike profusely for his father’s service, and even as I write this, it brings on a wave of emotion. The French are not always the friendliest of folks – on our USA scale of friendliness – but during our two trips to Normandy, 2012 & 2023, we have found them to be especially friendly and still thanking us after all these years…. Late afternoon, we took the #13 back to Le Havre and made our way back on board the Viking Neptune, where we set our clocks back one hour – for the last time on the ship – and set sail for England.