October 14 - Palma de Mallorca

Today was our last full day of the cruise.  Tomorrow I will disembark in Barcelona and head home.  It was another bright, beautiful day and actually it was pretty warm.  The ship docked a little distance from the downtown area but there was a shuttle bus running back and forth every half hour.

The last time I was here with Al and we had arranged a private tour that took us to the far side of the island.  Today I didn’t arrange anything.  Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands which are an autonomous zone of Spain.  Catalan and Spanish are the official languages but in school Catalan is used.  

My goal was to visit the Cathedral which is supposed to be quite beautiful, but it was not to be.  The shuttle left us off along the small boat harbor below the hill on which the cathedral is built. There were LOTS of steps to go up to the entrance.  One of my friends went up as I waited halfway below which turned out to be wise.  You had to have tickets to get in and the earliest ticket time was 2:30, later than we wanted to go.  She decided to tour the palace; I opted to walk down and stroll around a shaded promenade which had a lovely serious of fountains.  I sat on a bench for a while and watched the people going by.  There were some cafés around but it was too early to eat or drink anything so I passed.

After a little walkabout I headed back to the ship.  I had yet to pack so I needed a little time for that.  It turned out that we did have one more trivia match and we managed to blow that one too.  Oh well, it is only a game or so they keep telling us.

I had a nice dinner and then I said my goodbyes to some friends and headed off to bed.  I’ll write some final thoughts later.

October 13 - At Sea in the Mediterranean

Today we had a full day at sea.  The temperature was in the 70’s and the sky was a brilliant blue.   I’m not sure but I think it was our last trivia day and rather than awe everyone with our brilliance we finished in last place.

At 1 PM right after trivia they had a signature Seabourn event – Caviar by the pool.  On some cruises they do this on a beach day so it’s Caviar in the Surf but instead we’re doing it in the pool.  Staff members put a surfboard in the pool and dish out caviar with the trimmings and it’s passed around with plenty of champagne.  You have to be there to appreciate it, but trust me it’s fun!  I sat at a table with two teammates and we had a marvelous time.  

My fellow trivia players asked me to join them for Music Trivia in the afternoon.  I’ve been avoiding it because I thought it would all be recent music about which I know nothing whatsoever.  Not so.  I went and lo and behold we won.  The prize was the only one I really like – a Seabourn Teddy Bear, not that I need one.  Anyway, in the future I will try playing since it didn’t include a single rap song.

This evening I met my friend Mae at the Piano Bar for a before dinner drink.  The piano player Neal is absolutely fantastic.  I really envy people who can sit and play almost any song with no music and who can seque from one song to the next.  After dinner we decided to go back there and some of our British friends were there too.  One gentlemen is a retired British musical theater entertainer and I think he had a wee bit too much to drink but it was a hoot watching him get into singing duets with Neal.  In fact we had several sing-a-longs.  I went to bed much later than I should have but it was great fun.

October 12 - Gibraltar

Today we’re docked at Gibraltar, the Rock. It’s an interesting place with lots of history.  In one of the caves, Gorham’s Cave, evidence of Neanderthal inhabitants has been found dating as far back as 24,000 BC.  That makes Gibraltar one of the last bastions of Neanderthal man, actually the skull found was of a woman so we should say Neanderthal woman.  The first recorded inhabitants were Phoenicians (those Phoenicians were everywhere) around 1000 BC.  In ancient times this place was known as one of  the Pillars of Hercules. Visible across the strait are the mountains of North Africa.

The name Gibraltar has an interesting origin.  The first Moorish leader who came here when the Moors invaded the Iberian Peninsula was named Tarik.  The rock and land around it were named Jabal Tarik.  In Arabic that means “mount of Tarik” and over the centuries it evolved to Gibraltar.

During WWII the civilian population of the Rock was evacuated to London, Madeira, North Africa and even Jamaica.  Gibraltar played an important role in that war. Franco, the Spanish dictator, wouldn’t allow German forces to assault the place from Spanish soil.  The British and their allies used Gibraltar to help resupply the island of Malta  which lies off the boot of Italy and was under siege and crippling air attacks for several years.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory.  It was ceded in perpetuity to Britain by the Spanish in the Treaty of Utrecht a little over 300 years ago.  This has been a thorn in the side of Spain ever since.  In the late 1960’s the Spanish closed the border and completely cut off communications  for a number of years.  It was partially reopened in 1982 and fully reopened in 1985 just before Spain joined the European Community.  Because of the closure, Gibraltarians decided that they wouldn’t ever have to be reliant on Spain for things like electricity or water.  They first built a diesel power plant and just recently completed a natural gas plant.  They also supply all their water needs through a desalinization plant.

It’s interesting that the Spaniards living in the area adjacent to Gibraltar don’t want the Rock to be annexed by Spain.  In its present state Gibraltar provides lots of employment for local Spanish, about 10,000 jobs in fact.  The population of Gibraltar is about 34,000.

I’ve been here many times so I didn’t take a tour.  I took a shuttle taxi into the main square, Casement Square.  There were a lot of people walking around; the Mein Schiffe is here again today and it’s a big ship and maybe they were from there.  The main street reminds me of a street in St. Thomas or St. Maarten.  There are plenty of jewelry, cigar, leather and liquor stores.  Gibraltar has some kind of duty-free status so supposedly there are “bargains” to be found. I walked up to the end of the main shopping district and then headed back to Casement Square.  The little alleys running perpendicular to the street had very grand and quirky names like Parliament Lane, Barrister’s Row and Bedlam Lane.

This guy passed me with his pack and shoes hanging and a couple of walking poles.  I figure he must be trekking across Europe or the world.  Oh, to be young!  (truthfully I don't think I could ever have been a back-packer; I like creature comforts too much.)

Don't these scenes look like something from a Caribbean island?

I considered having lunch at Roy’s Fish and Chips, a place where I’ve eaten before with both Al and my daughter, but it was too early and I’m getting “fooded” up.  Instead I found a shuttle and came back.  It was actually very muggy in the narrow streets and back here on the ship out on deck we have a nice breeze blowing.

Well, now you know all about my actually pretty boring day here, but you’ve also read a little history too. We have a day at sea tomorrow and then our last port on Friday, Palma de Mallorca.  These days have flown by!

October 11 - Cádiz, Spain

I’m batting 1000 in the last two days!  I had another absolutely delightful day. The Ovation docked around noon right in downtown Cádiz.  There are two other ships here, the Oceania Riviera and the Mein Schiff III.  They look massive next to us.

First a little about this city. Cádiz is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in western Europe. Legend has it that it was founded by Hercules, but the truth is that the real founders were the Phoenicians about 3100 years ago. It has been important over the millennia because it’s at the convergence of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The city is on a peninsula connected by a narrow strip of land to the mainland.  The last time I was here with Al four years ago a new bridge had just opened connecting Cádiz and the mainland in an effort to ease the traffic.  It’s a very clean city and I saw not a single panhandler.  Most of the people I saw today looked Hispanic.

I waited until around 1 PM before disembarking.  The bulk of my fellow passengers took a long tour to Sevilla and I waited until they were on their way.  We’re here until 10:30 PM so I had plenty of time. When I exited the terminal there was a taxi stand and an enterprising man named Raul offered to take me on a tour.  This was the same thing we did on our last visit and we had a lovely time then, so I decided to try it again. We negotiated a price and we were off.

I sat in the front passenger seat. Raul spoke not a word of English yet we managed beautifully with the Spanish I’m remembering more of every day and sign language.   (If I stayed here for a week I might actually be pretty conversant again.) Our first stop was the Plaza de San Antonio. I remembered it from an earlier visit. There is a lovely church and the plaza is surrounded by buildings which reflect the Moorish influence. They have beautiful arched windows and lots of tiles on the facades.  We walked down a little street so narrow a car couldn’t pass to a bar where there was a wall with very old casks of local wines.  The proprietor who was a friend of my driver gave me a glass of exquisite sherry from one of the barrels.  The color was a very deep amber and the aroma was literally intoxicating.  It tasted pretty good too!

                                                  The church in Plaza de San Antonio

                                          Raul in front of the very old casks

We got back in the car and zipped through some narrow, twisting streets and came to La Caleta, the long beautiful beach on the opposite side of the peninsula. The promenade along the beach has been featured in many films often filling in for  the Malecon in Havana. From the Caleta we went to a botanical garden and park. They have built a grotto and waterfall there surrounded by hibiscus bushes and other plants whose names I don’t know unfortunately.  The sound of the water cascading down was so soothing I could imagine families coming here on lazy afternoons to stroll and picnic.

                          Some scenes along the Caleta promenade

                     A rare occasion when I put a photo of me in front of the waterfall

                         Inside the manmade cave looking out through the cascade

We passed by the theater, the old cathedral and the Plaza de la Constitucion.  The oldest constitution in Spain was ratified in Cádiz in 1812. We stopped and took photos; actually Raul took most of them because he did a much better job with my iPhone than I did.  I told him he should have been a photographer, that he’d missed his calling.

On previous visits I had noticed lots of towers around the old city.  Today I learned why they are here.  Merchants would build towers above their houses so they could look out to the sea and see trading ships coming in and be first at the docks to meet them for trade.

I had asked Raul if he knew a good local place where we could have a light lunch. He had called ahead and reserved a table.  It was a good thing too; it was packed, but he’s a regular and friends with everyone there. He parked and we walked down one of those narrow streets impassable by a car to Café Rafael. I didn’t see a menu but we had a delicious meal of grilled fish, potatoes and a salad with a very nice local dry white wine.  The meal for the two of us was 40€. It was truly a bargain for what we ate and drank.

After we finished Raul drove me back to the port and we said our good-byes.  He gave me his contact information and if I return I will definitely try to get him to drive me around again.  He was a nice man and a good guide.

So that was my day in Cádiz.  It’s a lovely city with a lot of history and truly friendly people.  Tomorrow we’ll be in Gibraltar.  When Raul asked where we were going next and told him that he had the usual reaction of most Spaniards – the English have no business owning that piece of Spain!

October 10 - Lisbon, Portugal

This morning we arrived in Lisbon, one of my favorite cities. It was just after sunrise and if I do say so myself a couple of the photos I took from the stern of the ship came out pretty well. I didn't touch them up at all.

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and lies near the mouth of the Tagus River. It is the second oldest capital city in Europe, after Athens. Archaeological digs have found evidence that there was an important Phoenician trading post here dating back to 1200 BC Over the millennia it was occupied by Celts, Romans, Germanic tribes after the fall of Rome, and Moors among others.  In some of the architecture you can see Moorish influences, especially in the marvelous tile work on many buildings.  The oldest part of the city is the Alfama district and that name is from Moorish words meaning “of the spring ” literally because that was where some of the earliest fresh water springs were found. The Alfama was one of the few parts of the city which survived a catastrophic earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 1755. Lisbon is built on hills and you need to have strong legs to walk around.  Commanding the high point overlooking the city is the Castle of St. George.

It was from this city that many famous explorers set sail.  Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese, was the first European to reach India by sea.  He made the voyage around the Cape of Good Hope between 1497 and 1499.  While he died in India, his remains are entombed in Lisbon at the Geronimos Monastery.  We think of the Spanish explorers but we don’t always remember that at one time the Portuguese were as intrepid and in fact, the Pope had divided the world between Spain and Portugal.

Enough about that.  I had arranged for a car and driver/guide to take me to some places I wanted to revisit.  My wonderful driver Luis met me and we set out to our first stop the town of Sintra.  Al and I went there several times to visit the palace there but that wasn’t my mission today.  Sintra is a charming little town and the first time we went there (15 years ago) we had lunch and then we went to a little jewelry shop where he bought me a beautiful gold filigree pendant.  Everyone always guesses it came from somewhere in the middle East, but that kind of work is unique to Portugal.  Over the years we went back several times and he gave me other pieces.  Today I wore the original pendant and treated myself to a new one. It wasn’t something I needed but it felt like the right thing to do.

                                                   The town hall of Sintra

When we left the shop it began to rain and that continued for the next few hours.  Despite that we drove to the Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point on the European continent. There’s a monument and a lighthouse there and when the skies are clear a breathtaking view from the cliffs with waves crashing below.  As the song goes “on a clear day you can see forever” except in this case you would see Maine. The area around the promontory has hardy little flowers growing which don’t seem to mind the wind and salt that’s always there and they have been dedicated as part of an international organization that works toward peace among nations (the world could use some of that now).  Hence the flowers are called Sri Chimoya Peace Blossoms.

We left the cape and began the drive back toward Lisbon, winding our way through what I would call the Portuguese Riviera. Two cities along the way, Estoril and Cascais, have been for many years favorites of exiled kings, dictators, and entertainment celebrities. There’s an interesting story, at least to me, about these places.  Portugal was nominally neutral during WWII. While it was neutral it was very popular with spies of all sides.  (As a side note, if you have seen the movie Casablanca, all the people there were trying to get transit visas to Lisbon and Portugal to make their way to the US.) Anyway, in Estoril there was, still is, a casino.  Supposedly there was a very dashing Hungarian spy who gambled there.  Another gambler was a British man named  Ian Fleming and many people think he modeled James Bond 007 after this sophisticated Hungarian. It sounds like a good story.

After wending our way along the coast we arrived back in the Belem district of Lisbon.  That was the third place I wanted to stop.  Belem is the home of the Monastery I mentioned earlier, a lovely monument to Portuguese Discoverers and the Belem Tower, an old watchtower on the Tagus. They weren’t my reason for going there though, and I’ll leave it to you to google photos of them if you’re interested or look back at older trips I wrote about on this blog to see them.  I went there to get some Pasteis de Belem, the very famous custard tarts made here.  This little café produces as many as 15,000 a day and one can sit and have a coffee and eat one or get them to go.  There was a very long line, but Luis knew someone so we went in a special way and I bought some to go.  I got enough for my trivia teammates and my cabin stewardesses because I felt that everyone who stops in Lisbon should try the pasteis at least once.  (They were a big hit at our late afternoon trivia game.)  Luis and I then had a light lunch at a little typical Portuguese place down the street.

On our way to Belem Luis took a little side trip to show me a most remarkable graffiti street art someone did.  Can you tell what it is?  Whoever painted it has real talent.

Then having  driven down memory lane and thinking about wonderful times I had at these places, I told Luis I was ready to go back to the ship.  All aboard was pretty early today so it was just the right amount of time that we spent. I sat in the front seat with Luis and we had an interesting conversation about all sorts of things from religion to politics and lots of things in between. I know, those are two things you shouldn’t talk about, but I found it was interesting to get the perspective of someone from a different country.  It was a wonderful day and I’ve made a new friend.

Oh, the graffiti is a raccoon face. Do you see it?  Tonight we go forward another hour and tomorrow we’ll be in Cadiz, Spain.  So hasta mañana and buenas noches.

Oh, Katie, õ is pronounced with a very nasal “o” sound which Luis did several times but I couldn’t seem to get right.  

October 9 – Leixões (Oporto) Portugal

It’s Sunday afternoon in Leixões.  It’s warm but overcast.  This is the port for Oporto, famous for its port wine, and the second largest city in Portugal. We had an uneventful sea day yesterday and last night we got back an hour so we’re now 5 hours ahead of EDT.  I’ve been dragging a little the last couple of days.  I have a cold.  I have tested with my handy-dandy Chinese made covid tests and I am so far negative so I think it’s just an old-fashioned cold.

The last time I was here with my husband we took an all-day tour inland to a winery. I didn’t feel a need to do that again so I didn’t book anything which in retrospect might have been a mistake. The choices were going for a port tasting at 9:30 AM or a visit to a fado café, also early.  Somehow those seemed like afternoon things to me. Instead I slept late and took the shuttle bus to town.

Oporto lies at the mouth of the Douro River. Archaeologists have found evidence of settlements in this area dating as early as the 8th century BC and some artifacts indicate there was a Phoenician settlement here.  Just think of that – from the eastern Mediterranean to here on the Atlantic coast.  When the Moors invaded the Iberian peninsula in 711 AD this area fell to them. For the next hundred fifty years the Moors controlled most of what are now Spain and Portugal and one can still see their influence in the architecture. In 868 AD a king of a little kingdom in northwestern Spain (Asturias) sent one of his vassals to reconquer this territory which he did and he established a settlement called Portus Cale.  That later became Portugal, the name of the modern country.  The Moors were expelled from here several hundred years before Ferdinand and Isabella managed to expel them from Spain.

By the early 18th century the British signed a treaty with the Portuguese for the production and export of wine from this region.  The British enjoyed their port wine even back then. The British quickly dominated the wine business and the Portuguese Prime Minister, the Marquis de Pombale, decided to counter that. He established a firm that had the monopoly on wine from the Douro Valley and he tried to control the standards.  The small winegrowers rebelled and burned down the firm’s buildings.  It became known as the Revolta dos Borrachos, the revolt of the drunkards.  I like that name!

Anyway, I took the shuttle into town.  We drove along a long beach dotted with some impressive rocks.  A few brave souls were in the water. Brrr! It has to be cold. The bus dropped us off at a square where there were lots of people; it is Sunday so the locals are out for Sunday strolls. There was an impressive church tower which someone informed me I could pay to climb to the top.  I don’t think so.  I couldn’t find an entrance to the church that was open so I gave up on that idea.  There was a stand with a bunch of tuk-tuks and I thought I’d take a ride around the old city on one of those.  That didn’t work out either because to get in the tuk-tuk there was about a three-foot-high step. The only way I could have made it in was if someone had given me a very large shove in the derrière and that seemed a little undignified.  Instead I wandered a little and then waited for the next shuttle bus to take me home.

So this is a pretty boring post.  I did learn that I’m truly not as young as I used to be and hopping in and out of things isn’t as easy as it once was.  Oh, the bus driver that brought me into town had pepper and salt hair and he was listening to what sounded like German rap music first and then what sounded like the theme from the Marlboro Man cigarette commercials of days gone by.  It was a really eclectic radio station and it seemed an odd choice for a man of his age.

Tomorrow I have a private tour booked for all day from L:isbon.  Once again I’m going to take a trip down memory lane.  I hope I won’t be disappointed. Sorry if I've bored you but that's the kind of day it was. Even the photos I took are kind of gray and dull but I'll upload a couple anyway.

                    This is the tower someone told me I could climb - in my dreams perhaps.

                           A fort guarding the port

October 7 – San Sebastian and Hondarribia

I’m behind again. I’m actually writing this on Saturday the 8th at sea (thank goodness for sea days!).

I'm inserting a photo here from the day before yesterday as we sailed from La Rochelle mainly because I was proud of myself for capturing the moment the pilot stepped from our ship to the pilot boat. If you look you can see him in mid-jump.

Yesterday morning we docked in Bilbao, one of the largest cities in Spain and the largest in the area constituting the Basque Region.  The ship offered a tour to San Sebastian and it was an opportunity for a trip down memory lane – more about that later. Our tour left early (another early wake-up call) and we boarded our bus and were off to nearly the border with France on the easternmost corner of the Bay of Biscay.

The ride was pretty long, about 1 and a half hours. The countryside was low hills and mountains with pastures here and there and some pine forests.  The mountains aren’t the Pyrenees; they are a little further east. Our first stop was the town of Hondarribia, which is right on the border with France.  In fact it lies on the river Bidasoa; there’s an imaginary line down the middle of the river separating Spain from France.  Across we could see the town of Hendaye, its French counterpart.

Hondarribia has an old town perched on a promontory overlooking the river.  The town is centered around a Plaza de Armas, so called because one side is dominated by what was the old castle.  There have been a number of battles fought over this place because of its strategic location.  To me the most interesting thing about the place was the castle.  In the 1920’s the Queen of Spain, Victoria Eugenie, came to visit for some reason or other.  The castle was dilapidated and falling down.  The Queen suggested that it  be renovated and turned into something that could bring in revenue and voilà, it became Spain’s first parador. The paradors are a system of hotels run by the government around the country. They are old castles, monasteries, convents and other historic buildings converted into hotels.

                                                    The old city gate

                                              Entrance to the Parador

                                                    One side of the Plaza de Armas

Our stay there was short and then we back-tracked to the city of San Sebastian, the capital of the Basque province of Gipuzkoa.  I want to say just a few words about the Basques. The region occupies part of northern Spain and southern France around the Pyrenees.  The language spoken there is different from any language in the world and is believed to predate indo-european languages.  There are many words with x,y and z in them and combinations thereof which to me at least seem improbable and unpronounceable. There has been ongoing conflict between the Basque people and the Spanish government because the Basques wished to secede and form their own country.  Under Franco’s rule use of the Basque language was forbidden.  The Basque separatist groups have been responsible for some terrible terrorist attacks in the past. I think things have cooled down some now.

Anyway, back to San Sebastian.  I wanted to go there because when I was a pre-teen and teenager we had visited  San Sebastian while my father was stationed in Spain and we lived in Madrid.  We had gone here and to another city further west, Santander, and this was an opportunity to relive a childhood memory.  The city didn’t become a popular destination for tourism, despite its excellent location on the southern coast of the Bay of Biscay, until the second half of the 19th century when Queen Maria Christina of Spain decided to summer here in the Miramar Palace. Once she came her courtiers followed and it was the place to spend the summer for a number of years.  Of course that was way before my time but I still remembered quite a grand hotel that we stayed at and the long beach, La Concha.

                                                 Tower overlooking La Concha

                                                       La Concha (which means the shell)

Our bus dropped us off at the central underground bus station and then our guide set forth at something between a trot and a gallop to get to the old part of the city.  My feet and knees were feeling very put upon because we’d already walked quite far in Hondarribia so I asked him if there someplace along the way I could stop and have a drink and some tapas (we were supposed to do lunch on our own anyway) and then meet them at someplace later.  We agreed on a plan and that’s what I did.  After I rested and had something to drink (the food I ordered was  inedible), I literally strolled back toward the aboveground entrance to the bus station.  It was a lovely afternoon and the walk was along the river Urumea where they have created a tree-lined paseo with benches.  I sat on a bench waiting for my group and struck up a conversation with a couple from Belgium who were waiting for their group to retrieve them.  We commiserated about how fast guides often walk. I enjoyed people watching as I sat there because folks were coming up from the station or heading there to go someplace else.  Let me tell you, I saw all kinds of outfits and footwear and myriad hair colors.  It was almost as interesting as sitting and watching people walk by in New York City.

The architecture in the old part of San Sebastian is pretty interesting. Many buildings are in the neo-classical Parisian style and one can almost imagine sitting at a café on an avenue in Paris.  One other interesting fact about San Sebastian is that it was one of the first cities with an outbreak of the great influenza outbreak in 1918.  Authorities tried to keep it secret because they were afraid of losing business but the disease quickly spread through the whole of the country.

                            A few scenes of the grand old buildings and a very ornate bridge

Eventually my folks came along and we went down and boarded our bus for the return trip to Bilbao.  What I discovered was that I shouldn’t try to relive a memory because it’s not possible.  I knew that logically, but except for the beach and the old hotel which was next to the terrace where I sat and had a drink, there was nothing to remind me of those summer days in the past. Thomas Wolfe said you can’t go home again and he was right.

By the time we got back to the ship it was approaching 5:30 and I was bushed.  I even debated skipping dinner or having room service, but I got cleaned up and went to the restaurant where I met my friend Mae.  After dinner I went straight to bed and even missed the dance party on deck which I usually love.  In my defense I had walked over 11,000 steps again and I needed to put my tootsies up. Sea days are wonderful!

October 6 - La Rochelle, France

Bonjour from La Rochelle. This is a city of approximately 80,000 on France’s Atlantic coast midway between Brittany and Bordeaux.  The area was first settled by a Gallic tribe but eventually was occupied by the Romans after their conquest of Gaul in the first century BC. The Romans developed salt and wine industries in the area and exported both throughout the empire. (Those Romans knew what people needed.)

The city of La Rochelle was founded in the 10th century AD and became an important port in the 12th century. For a couple of hundred years it fell under the English Plantagenet kings’ domain through Eleanor of Aquitaine  who married Henry II.  I won’t write about her here but if you are interested in learning about strong, scheming women, she’s a good one to read about. During the Hundred Years War, the people of this part of France defeated the British ending their rule. An interesting fact is that the English were defeated in a naval battle, the Battle of La Rochelle, which included the first use of handguns on warships.

Evidently the people of the area were independent-minded because in the 16th   and 17th centuries many became Protestant, both Calvinists and Huguenots, and fought against the Catholic French. The English, who still had an eye on reacquiring territory in France decided to do some meddling and eventually suffered a resounding defeat.  Some of the events going on at the time are part of the backdrop of Dumas’ book The Three Musketeers.

Because of its location on the Atlantic La Rochelle was a good jumping off spot for French explorers headed to the New World.  There was an unsuccessful expedition to settle a colony in Brazil.  Others went to what is now Canada, the Canaries, and the Caribbean with more success.  The French engaged in their own triangular trade, bringing slaves from Africa to the Caribbean, and sugar from the islands and furs from Canada back to France.  La Rochelle became a wealthy city because of it.

Following the Napoleonic wars in the late 18th and early 19th century,  and the abolition of slavery around the same time, La Rochelle’s importance declined. Then in WWII after the Germans occupied France they built a submarine base and sub pens in La Rochelle.  Following the Allied invasion in June 1944, the Allies moved to capture the sub base and actually laid siege to it from September 1944 to May 1945.  For movie buffs some of the sub base scenes in Das Boot and Raiders of the Lost Ark were filmed in La Rochelle.

Today is an absolutely gorgeous day with a Carolina blue sky and not a single cloud around.  The dock is in an industrial port and Seabourn is running a shuttle bus to the old town. I had booked a tour which was canceled so I decided to just walk around a little. The old town is charming with lots of cafés and bistros. I didn’t see many shops which was probably a good thing because I really don’t need anything.

I was on the same shuttle as my new friend Mae so we strolled around.  It was lunchtime for the locals (they don’t eat as late as Spaniards do) and the cafés were filling up.  We passed one restaurant where a man was shucking oysters outside and arranging them on  beds of ice on platters.  After we walked around the little harbor we headed back to André’s and went in to try the local wine and some shrimp and oysters.  We hadn’t had breakfast too long before, but how could we not try these?   They didn’t disappoint us.  I am always amazed at the difference in taste of oysters depending on where they were raised.  These were saltier than ours at home but absolutely delicious and the large shrimp had been cooked to perfection. The wine was pretty good too!

After our little break we headed back to the shuttle bus stop.  It was a nice, relaxing visit to a very pretty place. I’m doing something I hardly ever do; I’m including a photo of Mae and me.

Oops, I uploaded two of the same photo and I can't figure out how to delete it.  Oh, well!

Tomorrow we’ll be in Spain so this evening I’ll have to wave goodbye to France for this trip.

October 4 & 5 - The Seine River and Bay of Biscay

I've been without an internet connection all day. Perhaps Seabourn needs to make a deal with Elon Musk to use Starlink as Royal Caribbean will be doing.  It's no great loss though because there’s not a lot to report today. We've had two nice relaxing days on the Ovation.

Tuesday morning around 11 AM we set sail from Rouen for our journey back down the Seine, out into the Channel at Le Havre and then around Brittany to the Bay of Biscay. When we sailed it was clear but cool, much better than yesterday.  The countryside along the way was very picturesque with lots of farms and orchards. Many of the houses were half-timbered, some that must be quite old because the roofs sagged and they just looked ancient.

It was interesting that on our port side there were more grand  houses than on the starboard.  There were lots of pastures with some very happy-looking cows and sheep. All and all it looks peaceful and almost idyllic.  It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like less than 80 years ago when war was raging across this countryside.

I played trivia at noon both days.  We have a team with one British gentleman and the rest of us women with a mix of American and one Australian.  On Tuesday we finished in last place. Today we did better (third out of eight).  But, after all, it is only a game.

The captain had told us yesterday when we sailed that the weather conditions would be deteriorating and he was true to his word. Tuesday evening we started moving around a little and this morning we were doing some pretty good rocking and rolling.  I don’t mind it but we all looked like drunken sailors (how unfair to use that expression) moving about the ship.  It was also rainy and very windy.  I had an appointment for a pedicure at 10:30 AM and as I was sitting in the chair with my feet soaking a beautiful rainbow appeared.  A good omen I hope.  This afternoon the seas have calmed and the sky has brightened.  I hope that’s a sign of good weather tomorrow when we’re in La Rochelle, France.

We solo travelers are getting invitations every night and usually with the same staff member so we're getting to know one another well.  The retired aeronautical lady I wrote about earlier is from Virginia originally and since she lived on the Peninsula for a long time we can talk about a lot of memories we share. Tonight we dined with two of the singers on the ship.  The young man is from Fredericksburg and the young woman is from Maryland outside of DC. Neither is married and since they only perform evenings they are able to go ashore at nearly every port.  I thought what a great way for a young person to see the world.

Anyway, that's about all for now. Boring, I know, but I thought I should report in.   I'll add a few pictures from our trip down the Seine.  Adieu!

The last picture is one of the two tall bridges we sailed under on our way to the sea.  They are tall enough that we and small freighters could pass under but one of those big container ships couldn't make it.

October 3 - Château Gaillard and Lyons-la-Forét

Overnight we crossed the English Channel and sailed up the Seine River to the city of Rouen, which is approximately 65 miles inland.  The river is still navigable for ships like ours and so Rouen also happens to be France’s sixth largest port.  Among other things Rouen is famous for being the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and it’s also the home of the beautiful cathedral whose façade Claude Monet painted 30 times in different light.

Last night I was exhausted and we had to set our clocks forward one hour.  Then this morning my tour was scheduled to meet on the dock at 8:30 AM.  When I awoke it was incredibly foggy outside and because of the fog we arrived in Rouen one hour late. I would have really enjoyed having that extra hour to sleep.

Finally we were on our way for our tour to Château Gaillard, a ruined castle built by Richard the Lionhearted,  English king and Duke of Normandy,  in 1196 on a hill overlooking the Seine.  Normandy was fought over for hundreds of years by the French and English and Richard was worried about incursions by the former.  He had a chain pulled across the river to stop intruders.  After the end of the Hundred Years War a French king had the castle, which was largely in ruins already, destroyed.  All that remains now are remnants of the three concentric walls, the dry moat and the castle keep.  Below at the river’s edge is a little town called Les Andelys.  While it’s quite pretty, most of the buildings are fairly modern because during WWII it was home to an ammunition factory so it was heavily bombed.

                                        Château Gaillard (not much to see really)

                                         The misty Seine below the castle

                             A very pretty rose window in the church in Les Andelys which I saw as we passed by

The fog had lifted some and there were just wisps around which made the ruins look a little mysterious. After having a look around we boarded our bus for our next stop.  We drove through beautiful farmland and beech forests to the little village of Lyons-la-Forét.  The area we drove through is eastern Normandy and is primarily agricultural.  They grow maize, wheat and sugar beets and raise cattle among other things. Lyons-la-Forét is considered one of the most beautiful villages in France because it is largely intact as it has been for centuries.  Many of the buildings are half-timbered and stone.  Some had thatched roofs.  On most of those there were iris planted in the thatch.  Our guide told us that iris and lily plants are symbols of the Virgin Mary and so they are planted on the roofs in order for that home to be under Mary’s protection.The structures are long and not too wide.  They were built that way because their width was limited by the size of the timbers being used to construct them. Parts of the streets are still cobbled. In many of the tiny front yards along the streets there were lovely flower gardens with things still in bloom.

                                        Some photos of the streets of Lyons-la-Forét

In a little area of the village not large enough tp be called a square, there is a memorial to soldiers from the village who died in WWII.  Even more interesting was attribute to a woman of the village Huguette Verhague who worked with the Resistance during the war and saved a number of Allied airmen shot down.  I’m attaching a link here to an account of her exploits I found on the internet. She must have been a truly remarkable and courageous woman.

http://102ceylonsquadronassociation.org/Story%20of%20Huguette%20Verhague%20by%20Olek%20Brezski.pdf

We had a walkabout to have a closer look at the houses, many of which had interesting doorknockers.  They reminded me of a visit we made years ago to Orvieto, Italy, where many homes had sometimes fantastical knockers.  The village looked kind of sleepy and I asked our guide Christian why.  He said that on Mondays many things are closed in France.  Later on back aboard I heard some people talking about their time in Rouen and they said even in that much larger city, many places were closed.

There was a patisserie/boulangerie open and I and most of my fellow travelers decided to buy something.  There are not many things more wonderful than stepping into a French bakery and having the aroma of freshly baked bread and pastries assail your nose.  One couple bought two loaves of bread. (I wondered about that because they do feed us very well on the ship.)  I bought an almond pastry and a bottle of locally made cider.  In Normandy they actually don’t produce as much wine as many parts of France, but they are famous for their Calvados, an apple brandy, and cider.

After a nice interlude it was time to get back on the bus and head home to our ship in Rouen.  It was pretty chilly outside and since many things were closed I stayed aboard.  I had heard that even the cathedral was closed for some kind of renovations.  That was too bad for anyone had hadn’t been here before.  I had thought about dining ashore tonight since we are staying here overnight.  Unfortunately when I looked online most of the restaurants I saw that sounded interesting were closed on Mondays.

I had declined my dinner invitation with a couple of the entertainers and instead when I went to the restaurant I was invited to join a lovely couple, Barry and Victoria from Sussex, England.  We had a delightful evening talking about all sorts of things and in fact we were close to the last people to leave the dining room.  You meet some of the nicest and most interesting people on ships.

Well, that’s all for now.  It was another good day.