Oct 3-4 - Les Andelys and Rouen

10-03: Today our stop is Les Andelys. We will see the Château Gaillard, visit a cathedral and the cider farm. We took the optional “gentle” tour as we did not want to walk the 25 minutes up and down hill to visit the Chateau up close. The photos and views are fantastic enough. We are visiting one of the most beautiful spots I have seen along the Seine. The river twists and turns as it winds its way along the valley here. Beautiful white cliffs edge the river and swans glide long the water’s edge. The bus took us to the view point but actually you had great views of it from the town below. Next stop was the Collégiatle Notre-Dame Les Andelys. The final stop was the cider farm. We were met by the gracious owner of the farm. His daughter usually does these tours but today she is having a baby! I think that is a good reason not to show up for work. The guide said she would interpret but he did an excellent job in English. Some of the cider was tasty and some was not. It all depends on your taste, I am sure. With the cider we were served meats and cheeses from the area, of course with baguette to go with them. All foods were from this area and quite tasty. This was a part of the gastronomy tour we expected. The cider farm also has horses and is one of the oldest equestrian places in this area. I guess they do lessons and training of all sorts. 

10-04: Today we visit Rouen Normandy’s capital. We skipped the tour because it is a walking tour and I am not up to it. I guess the tarte tatin demonstration must have been on the tour as it was not on the ship, nor was there any announcement about it happening. During the day we cruised along some lovely areas. I was surprised that the homes are mostly all Tudor styled. It seems more like the English countryside than the French countryside. Leaving Rouen there are factories and tons of silos producing and shipping grain and other cargo such as scrap metal to other countries. Dinner was nice. There are French dishes scattered here and there on the menu, but it is not a French menu by any means. Tonight was supposed to be French musicians for the entertainment. I would not call them musicians but a great group of female singers called the Popcorn Girls. They did a lovely show singing the hits made popular around the period of time of WWII. Some were quite moving to me because my mother sang many of these songs just from memory. It made me cry I missed her so much. The singers were dressed as WACs so it was a nice performance for this point in time. Everyone seems to be turning in early tonight for their 8:15a departure tomorrow morning.