I commented to someone that I was surprised at the percentage of Americans on this trip – there are 110 guests and of those: 4 are Canadian, 2 are British, 2 Brazilian, 2 from Singapore, and 2 from East Asia. That is unusual on these cruises; there is often more of a balance among nationalities. She pointed out that today is all about D-Day and the Normandy Invasion – it only makes sense at the larger percentage from the US. For today Uniworld organized 2 specific full-day excursions: one that focuses solely on US beaches and memorials, and one that focuses on Commonwealth beaches – the latter is a much shorter tour, so they add in the Bayeux Tapestry. I nearly went on the tour just for that; I would have loved to have seen it. But the beaches and the war don’t really interest me, I feel there is enough war in the world at the moment without my spending a whole day re-visiting one, and the bus trip was 6 hours (round trip), so 11 hours doing things I didn’t want to do just for 60 minutes at the tapestry didn’t make sense to me.
Instead I stayed in Rouen and wandered around. Jeez, these people were church-mad in the Middle Ages – at one point I thought I had got lost and ended up back at the same cathedral I had just visited, but then realized that, no, it was just another massive, yet equally stunning stone church less then 3 blocks from the cathedral. They are all very beautiful – I like thinking about the artisans and craftsmen who built these churches – altho the buildings are not to my taste, they are very, very beautiful. I had planned on dining in L’epicurius, a one-star Michelin starred restaurant (the website said open), but the sign on the door said closed for Easter week. Ah well, there was a creperie next door, so I sat on the terrasse, surrounded by locals, and had a lovely ham & cheese gallette and a glass of rosé. So French.
Eventually it was time to go back and unpack my suitcase. (I think we all know what’s coming next, don’t we?) Back onboard – no luggage.
It was 3:30 – we called the transport company who advised us that indeed, my suitcase was in Rouen. Yay! And they would deliver it tomorrow. Boo! We explained the boat would be gone by then, and were met with the telephonic version of the Gallic shrug. Qu’est-ce qu’on peut faire?
I asked if I could come and get it and was told, bien sûr. So the boat called me a taxi and off we went. 40 minutes to a little village in the middle of nowhere (I really thought he was trying to scam my fare) to the Chronopost outlet. They looked at me blankly when I asked for my suitcase. “No madame, il n’y a pas de valise ici.” When I just stood there, staring, she tried to explain in very broken English. “Non,” I said in French, “I understood you, I just can’t believe you”. She went on her system and said, oh yes, madame, Chronopost does have your suitcase, but not here in Crichebeuf; it’s in Petit Quevilly. Of course it is. I got back in the taxi (the meter was already at 60 Euros) and off we went. We drove and drove, and next thing I knew I was at a warehouse 5 minutes away from our boat, just across the river. My suitcase & I were re-united (it was a touching moment). And I headed back to our ship. That 1 & 1/2 hour, €118 trip could have been 20 minutes and €15. Ach weel, I have my clothes. Let me just say it again: I HAVE MY CLOTHES!
*Just to wrap up the Normandy beaches story – the others returned late in the evening and said it had been an informative, interesting and very moving day, so that’s nice.