Bill&Theresa: Le Havre, France

Le Havre!!! Tanks! Tanks! And MORE Tanks!!

At 5:30AM, it looked beautiful! :-)

Well, it had to happen…they kicked us off the ship! But not before our last fancy breakfast with baby lamb chops and Swedish “pancakes” with lingonberry sauce! Off the ship we went through passport control right behind the ship’s Captain’s family (wife, son, and daughter). We had seen them around a number of times and talked with her, so we chatted a bit, including thanking him for the awesome view when we docked!

I sat on the balcony and tried to enjoy, but this is all I saw.

The Bus and the Hotel...very close!

We took a taxi to the bus station, and found out he only took cash. Having neither enough Euros (12) nor USD (15) we gave him a cobbled together pile of random monetary units (a 5 Euro note, and $9 US Dollars). Our “FlixBus” was due in 40 minutes and France was unseasonably warm, so we waited inside where it wasn’t exactly airconditioned but was shaded. When the bus arrived, it was a scene of chaos conjuring up notions of Ryan Air (people scrambling like seats were in jeopardy). The driver opened up the cargo doors and people started loading their own bags. If you’ve ever put more than 2 bags in a trunk, you are far more qualified that this bunch, as they plopped bags in as though theirs might be the ONLY bags going. I intentionally waited to be late, so my bag might be “last on, first off”, but I had to start resituating the loads. The bus ride was about 3 hours and uneventful. We arrived at the “airport”, which happened to be right next to the Hilton, so a 2-3 minute walk with the bags.

Uhhh...OK. Not the prettiest lobby!

We chose this location since it has an executive lounge (so free snacks to make for lunch and dinner). But the lounge was (sort of) closed due to refurbishment of the restaurant/bar. So, we headed to the airport to find out how long to plan and how easy it would be with rolling big suitcases. Along the way, we found a store with prepared food, and made a lunch plan. It was a tad humbler than my baby lamb chop breakfast!

Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

We hung out in the room watching some British TV. About 5:00 we headed down to the “lounge” to get a soda, coffee, and some peanuts.

We also had a voucher for ONE appetizer and ONE drink (x2). But it was in another spot. So, about 6:30 we headed over to see what the appetizer choices were. Some kind of salmon, and carpaccio. Theresa HATES salmon and raw is so so soooo much worse. And she wasn't digging the carpaccio. So, we had a little moment with the front desk, and magically she had the option for a salad OR fries (french, we presume).

But we had already communicated to the lady "one of each". There was a lot of failed communication, as the woman did NOT speak English (yeah, yeah, we're in France, but at an airport hotel to find a person who doesn't speak English is pretty unusual).

We ordered our two drinks. Theresa got some beer, but doesn't know which. Bill got the Lagavulin 16, and finally enjoyed some Islay Scotch.

Then up to the room for some end of the day relaxation!