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A drive from Le Havre
through the scenic countryside brings you to the village of Fecamp.
A guide will escort you through the art museum in the 19th-century
Gothic- and Renaissance-style Benedictine Abbey. It has a collection
of historical paintings and beautiful works of ivory, enamel and
wrought iron. You will also visit the Plant and Spice Hall, and make
a brief stop in the Benedictine distillery, which boasts red copper
stills and oak casks. At the conclusion of your visit, you will be
offered a sample of the renowned Benedictine liqueur. The drive to
Etretat follows the scenic coastal road. The village is beautifully
nestled between two impressive high cliffs: Aval, with its
monumental arch, and Amont, topped by a small chapel. You will have
a short, guided walking tour of Etretat with a stop at the covered
market and free time to browse before returning to Le Havre.
Giverny & Rouen The soft light of the Seine Valley so
impressed the Impressionist painter Claude Monet that he moved to
Giverny in 1883. On a guided tour of his charmingly restored pink and
green house, you will see Monet's collection of Japanese prints, and
walk through the colorful rooms he lived in. The adjacent flower garden,
replanted according to Monet's original design, is a spectacular array
of color. Across the road is a Japanese-inspired water garden which was
the subject of several Monet paintings. Following lunch, you will drive
to Rouen for a walking tour of the historical part of town, lovingly
restored after the bombing damage of 1944. Your guide will take you to
the imposing Gothic cathedral dating from 1201; Monet made many studies
of its facade. Walking through narrow cobblestone lanes, you will pass
many 15th- and 16th-century timber-framed homes and Rouen's symbol, the
elegant arched clock tower, the Gros Horloge. You will also see the area
where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431 and Aitre Saint Maclou,
considered the country's richest example of flamboyant architecture. It
is filled with macabre 15th-century carvings of skulls, crossbones and
gravediggers' tools. You will have some free time in Rouen before
driving back to Le Havre.
Highlights of Paris & Lunch Cruise Spend a full day in the
magnificent City of Lights, a three-hour drive from Le Havre. While
it is impossible to see all of Paris in one day, this tour gives you
a chance to see the most famous attractions with a guide. Among the
sights the guide will point out are the Arc de Triomphe, the
cosmopolitan Champs Elysees and the Place de la Concorde, where more
than 1,000 people were guillotined during the Revolution. In the
center of the Place stands Paris' oldest monument, a 3,300-year-old
obelisk from the Temple of Ramses II. It was given to France in 1829
by the ruler of Egypt. The Eiffel Tower, constructed for the 1889
World's Fair, is an astounding engineering achievement. It soars 984
feet on a base of only 1,400 square feet. You'll visit the
impressive Cathedral de Notre Dame, considered one of the most
beautiful churches in the world and a masterpiece of medieval art.
Look for the beautiful central rose window encircling a statue of
the Madonna and Child. Lunch will be served aboard a scenic
riverboat as it glides down the River Seine. Back on your
motorcoach, you will drive past the world-famous Louvre Museum. I.M.
Pei's modern glass pyramid entrance is a striking contrast to the
historic palace. Enjoy the lovely French countryside on the drive
back to Le Havre.
Honfleur & Deauville After a scenic drive through charming French
countryside lined with Norman thatched houses, you arrive at the
colorful port of Honfleur on the Seine estuary. The tiny, perfectly
preserved old fishing harbor was once an important departure point for
maritime expeditions, like the first voyages of discovery to Canada in
the 15th and 16th centuries. Facing the harbor along cobbled streets are
characteristic tall, narrow houses with wooden facades, topped by slate
roofs. You'll see them best on a guided walking tour that also includes
the old dock, the governor's house and the wooden church of St.
Catherine. The church was built by residents in 1453 to show their
gratitude and relief at the end of the Hundred Years War. Seeing the
color and culture of Honfleur, it's easy to understand why so many
French and foreign painters, later known as the Impressionists, came
here in the 19th century. Further down the coast you'll visit Deauville,
a luxurious resort and traditional residence of the parisians and
European elite. View the elegant beach with its pretigious boardwalk
"Promanade de Planches", afterwards enjoying some free time before
returning to your motor-coach and the ship.
Landing Beaches of Normandy See for yourself the historic Beaches of
Normandy. Until June 6, 1944, the coastline east and west of Arromanches
was simply known as the Côte du Calvados, a flat and rather ordinary
shoreline of a few unspectacular chalk cliffs and sand dunes. However,
the fleet of over 4,000 Allied vessels that landed here on that fateful
day turned the beaches into beachheads. Your first stop is the
Arromanches, at the southern end of Gold Beach. There you will see a
fascinating monument to British ingenuity during the landings - two
vitally important prefabricated ports codenamed Mulberry Harbor.
Continue on a drive to Colleville-Saint-Laurent, where more than 9,000
American soldiers are buried on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach. You can
walk through the cemetery and see the memorial to the additional 1,557
soldiers whose remains were never found. Further along the coast will
take you to Pointe du Hoc where 225 soldiers battled for two days before
reinforcements arrived to capture the German stronghold. Stop at the
Caen Memorial Museum, where you will enjoy a lunch break and afterwards
see an exciting film explaining the whole heroic enterprise.
The Sights of Rouen Rouen is known as the City of a Hundred
Spires because of its many historic and modern churches. You will begin
your walking tour in the town center. Although extensively damaged
during World War II, it has been lovingly restored and is now reserved
for pedestrians. The imposing Gothic cathedral, dating from 1201, was
made famous by French Impressionist painter Claude Monet's studies of
its facade. Walking along the narrow cobblestone lanes, you will pass
the elegant, arched clock tower, the Gros Horloge, which is the symbol
of Rouen, and many 15th- and 16th-century timber-framed homes, fine
examples of Norman architecture. You'll see the Vieux Marche, where Joan
of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. The nearby Aitre Saint Maclou is
decorated with macabre carvings of skulls, crossbones and gravediggers'
tools. You will have some time to explore the city on your own before
boarding the motorcoach to return to Le Havre. |