Yesterday, Friday, was our last full day on the Sirena. The port of call was Honfleur, France. We were excited to return to Honfleur as it is one of our favorite towns in France. I first visited it on business trips where we had a customer in Le Havre, but staying in picture perfect Honfleur was much preferable. Linda and I have been back a couple of times since then.
However, the day's visit to Honfleur was delayed by a lunch invitation we received on Sirena. We used the morning to do some laundry and begin packing to prepare for the nine days that would follow our leaving Sirena. As for lunch, Linda and I were invited to join not one, not two, but three Oceania General Managers - Ludmila, the GM on Sirena who was leaving that day, Yves, the GM who was taking over for Ludmila, and Laurence, who is on vacation but came to the ship for a visit. Significantly, Ludmila and Laurence were the first women GM's on Oceania. We've sailed with Yves before and with Laurence several times previously when she was the Food & Beverage Manager and we're thrilled with her promotion. Our lunch was quite a treat.
After lunch, we were able to stroll around Honfleur for a few hours. The town was as charming as ever and we even wandered in some parts of town we hadn't before.
I had read about a pastry shop that was supposed to be quite good, so we made our way there and were disappointed in what they were offering. But, as luck would have it, we found a better shop virtually next door that offered kouignettes and macarons. We bought some of both - the kouignettes to have with our coffee stop and the macarons to bring with us.
It was just great to be back in Honfleur.
This morning, Saturday, we disembarked Sirena in Portsmouth, England. It went quite smoothly and by 9:30 am we had dropped our luggage at the hotel we booked for the night and began exploring the city. We decided to spend the night in Portsmouth based on a recommendation from our good friend Sandy and what a great recommendation it was. Thanks, Sandy!
We started by walking along the historic waterfront where we discovered a walk denoted by tiles on the sidewalk with a chain link motif representative of the defensive chain that was historically strung across the harbor. Along the way, we met a gentleman wearing military metals who discussed a bit of the history and then proceeded to show as a photo of him in his Navy uniform being greeted by the Queen! He expressed his sorrow about the Queen and then went on to tell us that he had lost his own queen, his wife of 47 years, last year. Such a touching moment. It was an interesting walk that eventually brought us to the very modern Spinnaker Tower.
We took the elevator, excuse me, the lift, up to the top. Great views, a glass floor 100 meters above the ground to walk on, and a terrific spot for a coffee break.
After that, we lunched at a restaurant near the base of the tower where we were able to watch people rappelling down the tower. Linda declined to do it!
Then we made our way to the Mary Rose Museum within the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Per the description on the website - The Mary Rose was the flagship of Henry VIII that served in his fleet for 34 years before sinking during the Battle of the Solent in 1545, with the king watching from nearby Southsea Castle. Her remains were raised in 1982, and are now on display along with thousands of the original objects recovered alongside the ship, giving a unique and moving insight into life in Tudor England. She is the only ship of her kind on display anywhere in the world.
437 years under the sea! Amazing. And amazing to see what remained of the ship and the incredible collection of artifacts and the story they tell. The museum was constructed in such a way that you walked along the decks of the ship with the floor shaped as the deck. It really made me feel like I was walking on the ship.
It was so fascinating - highly recommended!
Tomorrow, we'll take the train to Chichester and then on to Chilgrove on Monday for the start of our walking tour. Monday will be the Queen's funeral so we'll be mourning with the people of Chilgrove.
Peace and blessings,
Linda and Larry
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