Le Havre, France

We are now in northern France and it's another gorgeous day, weather wise. Early this morning the Vista docked in Le Havre (means "the harbor" or "the port" in French). Thirty minutes away is the beautiful city of Honfleur, another port town in the Normandy region. I spent the day there in 2024 when Ronnie went to see the D-Day beaches and it was very tempting to go back. We considered taking a 30 minute uber ride over, but since neither of us have been to Le Havre, we decided to just stay here and sight see around on our own. So after breakfast, we caught the shuttle into town to save ourselves the 2 mile walk from the port into the city.

 

sculpture made entirely of shipping containers

War Memorial near port

Le Havre Cathedral survived WWII

With suggestions from AI, we set out to see St. Joseph's Cathedral and the Appartement Temoin, a  perfectly preserved 1950s flat that gives a glimpse of life in post-WWII France. We first headed toward the church and of course I was taking pictures along the way. We were happy to find it open when we arrived. No way do my photos even begin to do any justice to it! I don't think I've ever seen more stained glass in one building! 

 

St. Joseph's Cathedral

looking toward "lighthouse"

 

organ at back

view to the top

 

Sometimes called the "Lighthouse Church," its 351 foot octagonal "lantern tower" serves as both a spiritual beacon and an actual lighthouse for ships entering the port. It was designed as a permanent memorial to the 5,000 civilians and soldiers who lost their lives in the 1944 bombings of World War II.

The interior of the cathedral consists of 12,000+ multicolored, hand blown stained glass windows! The colors change from dark at the bottom to bright white at the top as the natural light reflects on the raw, unpainted concrete. It is far more magnificent and colorful in person than my photos suggest.

From there, we headed over to see the Appartement Temoin, a preserved 1950s apartment that shows what a pre-WWII living quarters might have looked like. However, by the time we located it, the tickets were already sold out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While wandering between it and the cathedral, we came upon a couple of markets, some patisseries and an outdoor vintage sale. Some of the items looked like donations to Goodwill, but others had actual antiques. I noticed that many of the sellers offered vinyls, which are quite popular now. 

clever idea - earrings displayed on 33 rpms

 

 

It was already past noon and my back was telling me to get back to the ship, so we headed to the pickup point and caught the shuttle to the port in time for a late lunch. Ronnie's watch said we had walked about 6500 steps. But after only a few hours, we felt like we had a good idea of what Le Havre is like on a Saturday morning. One things for sure - I wouldn't lose any weight living here!

 

macarons invented in Parisian patisseries in the 1830s

  

Goodbye La Havre, Goodbye macarons and baguettes!