Wendy and Bill’s Great French Adventures

On August 2nd we flew to Paris via Air Canada and Air France.  Air France, as you might expect, serves excellent food and surprisingly expensive wine (at least in Business Class).  We arrived more than a little sleep deprived mid-morning Paris time.  After a longish walk with a young man pushing Wendy in a wheel chair (Wendy’s walker had been checked through from Ottawa), we were welcomed by AmaWaterways representatives and whisked away to the ship AmaLyra by BMW limousine no less!  Once in the hands of AmaWaterways our luggage was magically transported to our stateroom.

This picture gives some idea of the size of the AmaLyra.  The ship accommodates 154 passengers and has a crew of 45, most of whom were Bulgarians and Rumanians. The meals on board were first class and were paired with excellent French wines but then Amawaterways has a reputation of spending more on food and drink than the other cruise lines.

\

On arrival we retired to the spacious lounge where Alan, Wendy’s brother, and his wife Brenda joined us.  While we were sitting there we connected with an American couple.  She overheard Wendy telling Alan and Brenda about our star Weimaraner “Gypsy” and joined the conversation as she had dogs of her own.  Her husband had been an officer in the US Army and so there was an instant bond with me.  Another couple joined us and guaranteed raucous company at meals throughout our cruise of the Seine.  Our new American friends included an economist, a geologist, a meteorologist and a charming stay-at-home mom.  All were very interesting people and definitely not Trump supporters.  Below is a picture of Wendy and her brother Alan at dinner before the wine flowed too too much…

As this was billed as a “Wine Cruise”, we had expected to taste French wines on board representative of the regions we passed through.  I should have known better as the Seine is hardly a place of vineyards.  Instead we were treated to tastings of wines from St Francis Winery based in Sonoma County California.  Thus, most days there was a lecture and tasting of fantastic St Francis wines with a sub text of joining their wine club.  As bottles were $40 and up, it would be too rich for me – I get nervous at spending more than $15 a bottle.

August 4th saw the first stop at Vernon with a short bus ride to Claude Monet’s estate at Giverny.  The gardens were spectacular and I was taken by the pond which is in one of his impressionist works.  I took several photographs but the one I like best is below.

 

The one jarring note was the presence of armed soldiers patrolling the site.  They moved in groups of four and I noted that their weapons had a bullet in the chamber, which was a bit disconcerting considering their evident youth.  As Giverny had hundreds of visitors that day, it being a holiday in France, I could see Giverny being a potential easy target for terrorists.  Also, on the way out, I noted a group of Gendarmes setting up a road block on the road leading to Giverny so perhaps there was some intelligence of a possible attack.

This visit was followed by a bus ride to Chateau de Bizy referred to as the “Versailles of Normandy”.  It was done in the same style as Versailles but much scaled down.  As well as a tour of the chateau, there was a tasting of Norman apple cider, apple tarts and wonderful cheeses.

From Vernon we sailed overnight to Caudebec-en-Caux the nearest port before the open Atlantic.  It is interesting that on the Seine unlike the Danube, the Captain has to watch the tides as well as normal river levels and bridge clearances.  The tide reaches as far up river as Rouen.

From Caudebec-en-Caux we rode the bus to Honfleur.  Honfleur was the port from which Samuel de Champlain set out to found New France.  Wendy and I did a gentle walking tour of the port and then settled into a street side café to people watch.  As you can see below it was a beautiful day. The 16th Century houses were clad with slate but the Governor’s mansion of the same period in the background was of limestone.

That evening we were treated to a French themed dinner starting with Norman delicacies: charcuterie of all kinds plus cheeses galore.  France has a cheese for every day of the year and probably more.  I took a photo of the buffet starter layout before the other courses were served at the tables.

August 6th saw a trip to the Normandy beaches.  Alan and I selected the British Commonwealth and Canadian tour rather than the US beaches where the bulk of the passengers went.  The first stop was the Abbaye d’ Ardenne near Caen, which was the scene of the execution of 20 Canadian POWs by 12th SS Panzer Division troops.  Then we did the Canadian Cemetery at Reviers the first of three we visited that day.  It was all rather depressing and terribly sad when one noted the youth of the fallen.  A highlight was the visit to the Juno Beach and the Canadian privately funded Juno Beach centre.  The centre was very well done and staffed with young and fully bilingual Canadians.

I was a truly ugly Canadian on this tour.  The French guide stated that Canada was unique as it had no conscription in World War II.  I could not let this slip and corrected him publicly that there were three conscript divisions in Canada and that conscripts were sent overseas in late 1944 when the Canadian Army was running out of infantrymen.  He may not have believed me but I am certain he will now do some fact checking before the next tour.

As well as Juno beach, we visited Gold and Sword Beaches.  The highlights were the remnants of the artificial harbour “Mulberry” at Arromanches and Pegasus Bridge at Rainville to the East of the landing beaches.  Pegasus Bridge over the Caen Canal was taken by glider borne infantry.  The glider pilots were magnificent as they landed their huge Hamilcar gliders (Each carried 30 men) within 50 metres of the bridge in utter darkness. You can see the gliders in the background in the photo below.

That night we moved up river to Rouen.  The next day, August 7th, I did a walking tour of the historic parts of the city.  The walk was easy but the constant halting, as the guide explained the sights, was hard on my back.  My old prolapsed disc does not tolerate standing in one place for long.  I did see where Joan of Arc was tried and then burned at the stake – not much to see but I can brag that I visited the sites.  Of the city I rather liked the medieval half-timbered houses still in use of which this is one of many.

August 8th we stayed aboard the AmaLyra still docked in Rouen.  The tours were too strenuous for Wendy and my back was hurting too much to try another walking tour.  (Old age really is all about pain!).  As a result we missed a tour of Chateau Gaillard built by Richard Coeur de Lion then Duke of Normandy.  Also, we missed a visit to Les Andelys a medieval village that housed the Chateau Gaillard builders.

 

August 9th we returned to Paris.  In Paris Wendy and I ventured out on a gentle walking tour of Les Passages Couverts.  These are 18th and 19th century glass-roofed shopping galleries.  The highlight for me was sitting in a café within Les Passages Couverts the very one illustrated below drinking café au lait and eating chocolate filled croissants with our guide and another couple.

August 10th Wendy and I moved on to the next tour but more about that in the next installment.