Wednesday, Sept. 1 “at sea”; Thursday, Sept. 2–La Havre, France (Paris/Normandy)

On Wednesday we had a much-needed “day at sea” to just rest and recoup from the many busy days since we departed on this cruise.  That day, the only really significant happening for us was a lunch for the 165 Cruise Critic members who were onboard for this sailing.

On Thursday, our port of call was La Havre, France which was listed as “Paris/Normandy”.  People onboard with connections to World War II and the Allies landing at Normandy--either through family members or just interest in the history of the war-- were very interested in visiting the Normandy area.  Because our connections (through Sylvia’s father) to World War II were in the Pacific we decided to take the day to go to Paris and visit Versailles Palace.

This was the only port where we did not go on a private tour.  Instead, we used a Princess tour that was very long and expensive.  But, because of the scheduling and the possibility of private transportation being delayed in Paris traffic and not returning to the ship on time, we felt that it was the only safe choice.

Our tour in a group of about 50 departed the ship at 8:15 a.m. and was scheduled to return at 6:15 p.m.  Our guide was a French woman who spoke English with a very heavy accent that we had difficultly understanding.

Northern France is fertile and rich in resources of all sorts.  It supports a large, vigorous population with a tremendous variety of agricultural products.  These farms were very obvious as we traveled the little over 100 miles to Versailles.

The beauty of the small village with church steeple shows above this wall (taken from the bus window).

Taken again, through the window of the bus—this river (I couldn’t understand the name of it) and the very peaceful scene reflected in it…

The smaller farming villages…

I noticed this group of signs as we traveled through the “round-about”.  Glad I wasn’t driving!

As we got near the area of Versailles it appeared we were in a park.

The paved area leading to the first gate of Versailles Palace.

Corner decoration of the outside fence.

The inner gate…

Hall of Mirrors…

And, then we look outdoors…

And the gardens…

We look back at the Palace…

This is our guide…

Our tour ended with this view of the road leading away from the property.  Exhausted, I was asleep in a short time.  The return to the ship was a good nap!