May 18 – Le Harve, France

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Viva la France! The ship reached mainland Europe this morning, but we slept in while many of the other passengers headed for long excursions to distant places. The most popular is a 2 ½ hour ride to Normandy to see Omaha and Utah Beaches, along with the American Cemetery. The other big trip is a 3-hour train ride to Paris. Those are each one-way time frames, so it would be a lot of time in a bus or train. The time-on-site is probably very interesting, but the logistics are just more than we can handle. Staying in Le Harve, there is a 30-min walk from the port to town and its attractions, but that’s not for us either. So, we planned all along to stay on the ship and just enjoy the day here.

All that being said, we slept in and had to hurry to get to breakfast. But we got good sleep and are feeling better today. David brought down a plate of food and drinks, and we had breakfast in the cabin. Then we had another quiet afternoon of watching TV, reading, and stitching. At 4:00 we went to the Princess Theater to see a Folkloric Ensemble singing French songs. That was interesting.

We went to dinner at 6:20 in the Palm Dining Room. Tonight is the farewell meal for many of the travelers, but not us. But they put on a delicious final meal to celebrate the conclusion of the cruise. Janet had a Seafood Cocktail and Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf. David had the Chilled Passion Soup, Watermelon with Feta Cheese, and the Surf & Turf – grilled shrimp and sirloin steak. For dessert, we each had a slice of the Deep-Dish Apple Pie. A very good dinner. Mid way through the meal they paraded all the waiter and assistant waiters, with some of the kitchen staff so everyone could applaud their efforts during the cruise.

All the folks who will be leaving tomorrow had to put their luggage out in the hallways, which made some additional obstacles to avoid with Janet’s walker. So, we adjourned to the cabin for the evening. Tomorrow we will be back in England so tonight we actually get one hour added to the clock for a change.

Au revoir France!

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