Cherbourg and the Normandy Countryside

Cherbourg, France, May 15, 2014

St. Malo in Brittany was originally listed as the last French port on our itinerary.  The big tourist attraction there is Mont St Michel, a famous monastery and commune that juts out into the English Channel.  Michael and I had not particularly planned to go to Mont St Michel because we had been warned that it is usually swarming with tourists (3 million a year) and wait times are hours to get in to see the medieval fortress/church/city.

When we embarked in Lisbon, we were told that the docks at St Malo had been damaged in a storm and the port of Cherbourg would be substituted.  The SilverSea tour operation did wonderful work setting up shore excursions on short notice to nearby points, even an all day trip to Bayeux to see the famous tapestry. They also offered a ten-hour tour to some of the famous WWII Allied landing sites on the coast of Normandy.  This was especially appropriate as this year marks the seventieth anniversary of the D-Day landings that lead to the eventual fall of Germany.  

As impressed as I was with the offering of an all-day trip to WWII landing sites, we were not willing to take this excursion.  This was the day we planned to pack for our return home the following day.  Michael and I were more interested in a half day tour; seeing the Normandy countryside of the Cotenin peninsula where Cherbourg is located.

We spent a pleasant four hours touring the Normandy countryside and listening to a very French centric version of English-French history from our tour guide. According to him, the Norman French were really Vikings who took over England and held large parts of France for centuries.  The French eventually intermarried and absorbed them; thus England was really ruled by Frenchmen. Our guide thought the hundred years war was just a family feud.  Anyway, the countryside was beautiful, the villages quaint and the ride entertaining.

The Normandy Countryside,  Stone Fences, Hedgerows and Stone Houses

Lighthouse at Pointe de Barfleur

Port of Barfleur

Seaside Village of Barfleur

No Need for Air Conditioning

The Day's Catch Has Been Unloaded,St Vaast la Houge

Poisson Shop (Fish Store)

The Tour Guide Directed Us to Tourist Land at St Vaast la Hogue

Back at the ship, we had a late lunch and began packing. The trusty scale we brought along let us balance our large suitcases at exactly fifty pounds each to avoid overweight luggage charges.  British Air has a fifty pound weight limit on carry-on luggage also so the only practical restriction on the carry-ons was how much weight we each could lift into the aircraft's overhead storage bins.  

 Silver Whisper stayed relatively late at Cherbourg as it is only a few hours sail across the English Channel to Southampton, our disembarkation point.  Michael and I had time after packing to take the shuttle bus the short distance into Cherbourg and to walk about and see the nearby sights.

Old Part of Cherbourg

Cherbourg was an important port during the Napoleonic Wars.  The harbor was heavily fortified against an attack by the English.  A French naval architect named Vauban started rebuilding the harbor in 1776.  The project was not completed until 1860.  When it was done, Cherbourg had the largest man-made harbor of its time.

This Gangway Looks Old Enough to Have Been Used on the Titanic

The Titanic called at Cherbourg as the last stop before it set out on its fateful journey across the Atlantic.  During World War II Cherbourg was an important German naval harbor until heavily damaged by the Allies and retaken at the end of June 1944.  Today it is an important ferry terminus serving Portsmouth and Poole, England, Rosslare, Ireland, and the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel. Otherwise, Cherbourg is a sleepy tourist town, a place for a relaxing vacation on the northern French coast.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Cherbourg is the extreme difference between high and low tide.  Michael and I were walking about at low tide in the afternoon.  Small boats moored at the local marina were almost aground.  The distance from the water to the top of the docks must have been about twenty feet.  By the time we departed in the evening, the boats were floating at a level almost even with the top of the pier. I had not realized the effect the English Channel has on magnifying high and low tides.

Michael and I fell asleep while the ship was docked at Cherbourg; we woke to see a familiar sight - the pier at Southampton.  All we saw of England that day was a view from the motor coach that took us from the pier to Heathrow Airport.

Our spring 2014 cruise was unique.  Almost all of the ports we visited were new to both Michael and me.  I feel as if I had an intensive look at various aspects of Spanish culture even if I only saw Spanish people out and about in the morning and early afternoon.  Neither Michael nor I can stay up late enough to experience a Spanish dinner and we totally missed the nightlife on the days Silver Whisper was in port late.  I have a better appreciation of Portugal and its Atlantic island territories.  Bermuda was deeply British even though it is fiercely independent. Visiting France is always a joy.  I’m looking forward to next March when we board Silver Wind for a journey from Singapore to Athens.  With that trip, I will have sailed completely around the world (over the course of six years) and I will finally see India.  The world is indeed filled with many wonders and I feel privileged to have seen as many of them as I have.