Thursday 16th December 2021 Le Havre
Our last port on this cruise was Le Havre. We left the busy port on a shuttle bus that took us into the centre of Le Havre near to the Town Hall.
In the square we could see the small Christmas Market and a ferris wheel. We now had a tourist map and we followed the streets away from the town hall to the promised shopping mall (not great). We noticed that further up the street there was a venicular.
Le Havre Venicular
There were no queues and the helpful operator showed us how to pay for the trip. There were only a couple of other people in the car and we were able to sit at the ‘front’ and look back down the track.
Once at the top we walked along the Rue Felix Fauvre to the viewpoints. This is when we realised that the venicular was more for local residents than for tourists. The area was residential and had lots of students waiting at bus stops.
Back at the venicular we were again only joined by a couple of people. This time the ‘front’ was taken up by the operator.
We both wore masks along with the other passengers.
Coffee time
By now it was time for a break and we stopped at a cafe on the way back to the market. We sat outside to avoid any complications or so we thought!
We ordered cafe au lait and were asked for our Covid pass. This had worked OK in Belgium, now for the more difficult test of working in France!
And it worked OK for both of us. Outside we sat and chatted to fellow passengers as we enjoyed the fresh air and watched the passers-by.
Le Havre Christmas Market
We had to show our AntiCovid app again to gain entry (just like Blankenberge). Our main interest was the stall selling mulled wine and pretzels!
Compared to Rotterdam’ Market Hall this was great value wine and it was very good (and very welcome to warm us up!).
The Volcan
After the market we walked around the square and followed the pedestrian precincts to see the Volcan. Down the steps we approached the building which from its name did indeed represent a stylised volcano. From our guide, we learned that it contained a stage and huge media library.
Walking around it we came across this hand and quote.
At 1.30 we then joined the long queue for shuttle busses to take us back to Iona.
At the passenger terminal as we queued for the obligatory search we could see a screen that gave the details of Iona’s passengers and crew.
Guests: 3,158
Crew : 1,638
Lunch onboard was our first time at The Olive Grove. We hadn’t booked our lunch and were lucky to be able to get a table. However, it was curious that the majority of the restaurant was empty! Where we sat we could see passengers walking around the Deck 8 Promenade Deck.
The salads and pizzas were excellent. I did by mistake order an alcohol free beer but that was soon corrected!
Leaving Le Havre
In the late afternoon, we looked from our balcony out onto Le Havre and could see the ferris wheel now open and lit.
We had booked The Beach House for our evening meal. Just like the Glass House the menu had changed and in particular my favourite starter of prawns was gone, there was no longer a mushroom with the steak but the steak now came with prawns. Linda’s nacho starter was rather spoilt by the plastic can sprayed cheese- YUK!
Through the window I grabbed this shot of Le Havre as the ship left port.
To end our busy day we went to see the 9.30 pm performance in the SkyDome of TRIBOO.
