Day 18 - Honfleur , France and Private tour and Picnic lunch - Ken’s Birthday

We woke to an overcast morning in Honfleur a port adjacent to the principle port of Le Havre which is the entry point to Paris.

The Serina is berthed some 10 minutes outside this picturesque and beautiful township of Honfleur.

We have arranged to meet with 2 other couples and we have a provate tour of several parts of the adjacent area with hopefully a picnic lunch to be arranged.

This is a very busy part of the world for shipping with Le Havre taking many container and other freight ships on a daily basis and we see then lined up to enter port.

We meet our driver at about 8.15 am after a delightful breakfast. We have a little shorter day as the ctuiseship dparts at 4.30 pm for sailing to arrive tomorrow morning at Portsmouth UK..

We depart in a comfortable van to travel down the Motorway and across several largew bridges to the village of Le Tilleul with its delightful architecture and drive on to the seaside and beach at Etretat. Simple spectacular we walk though the town and purchase some food, then have a coffee after walking along the Esplanade St Thomas.. we stop for mornuing coffee at L’Aiguile-Creuse a hotel overlooking the beach. Weather is cool and threatening.> We drive through several roundabouts with wonderful characters depicting local farmers such as at Octeville-sur-Mer. We thren drive to Rogerville again agricultural land and farms before heading south to Sandouville , Port de Normandie then via Touques, and finally at our next stop at Deauville which is a favourite beach and tourist township, with a lrage Casino. The architecture is stunning ,ut the weather deteriorates.We take many photos.

We return to Honfleur a little disappointed by Deauville and the cold and extreme weather.

We stop at a sypermarket to purchase some food.

We have the wine. We have the cutlery and the white napkins from the ship.

However, our driver doesn’t know or cannot find a park for a picnic. So he drives back to the Car Park not far from the ship, parks the Car, and doesn’t explain that there is a park some 200 yards from where we are parked. We are disappointed, but being industrious, we decide to have lunch sitting on garden seats on a walkway beside the Canal and watch the yachts, etc going in and out of Honfleur.

Unbeknown to us we are parked less than 2000 yards from a beautiful garden named Les Jardin Retrouve, Honfleur. But we make the most of it. Have an enjoyable meal and drink wonderful French wine. Unfortunately, one of our guests becomes ill, perhaps with a sugar deficiency. We decided to have the Driver take them back to the Ship. We cancel his remaining 90 minutes, and the other 4 of us will walk into the township of Honfleur. Ken is disappointed and frustrated, but our other guests are understanding. We enjoyed the day, the driver was excellent at driving and spoke some English. But not what we wanted. Ken would later communicate and receives an apologetic response.

We walk the 300 metres into Honfleur and have a most enjoyable 90 minutes walking around the little harbour with its yachts and pubs and eateries of every variety. We see the wooden Church, the Ships Crew are enjoying a relaxing afternoon.

The ships’ Shuttle is about a 500 metre walk . We find that. catch the bus back to the ship by !5.30 pm and await the sail away.

We have a drink in the Martini Bar , before a Special dinner in the Steakhouse for Ken’s birthday. We are later than we wanted but Ken receives royal Treatment including French wine, and then a birthday cake. A memorable evening .

Then we go downstairs to see the last of the Shows featuring the Serina Singers and Dancers doing a major Show called Showdown. Very good, we thank several after.

Following thew show we have to return to the Suite and finish packing to have our cases outside the door by 11.00 pm.

We do that then Ken goes up to the horizon lounge to listen to some music. Back by 11.45 pm after a lovely day.

We discuss briefly how quickly the Cruise has come and gone and how Oceania fits us very well.

Tomorrow we have to be out of our Cabin by 8.00 am.

then Breakfast and off the ship by 9.00 am.

Has been a very special holiday and we now look forward to our time in Bath , Oxford and then London.