Land...Finally!

Woke up this morning around 8 and looked outside for land but no luck.  It wasn’t until 10 that I could finally see land in the distance.  I have to admit, I was happy to see it.

By about noon we were entering the harbor, past Honfleur and under the bridge.  Yesterday, the captain mentioned that we couldn't enter when we would arrive due to the tides - I think it was probably because we needed the tide to be out, not in, so we could get under the bridge.  The river is also very narrow in parts.  I can’t imagine a ship any larger than this one making it through.

It is cloudy, windy and cold and raining on and off.  I’ve been running between the various sides of the ship to try to get some good photos.  Because of the weather, I don’t think they will be very good. It’s beautiful changing scenery.  There will be little farms, then we are in a deep valley then we will come up to some tiny cute towns.  There were a few industrial ports near the entrance but the majority of the river is scenic.  I think it must be a national park of some sort as it is so undeveloped.  I love the classic French homes.

A ship of this size must be rare, there are a lot of people taking pictures and waving to us.

You can see how much of the river this ship fills.

It’s taken about 5 hours to go 17 miles, and it was easy to tell when we got to Rouen.  This was my first clue from my balcony.

So we pull into the "cruise terminal", moor the ship and then the ground crew decide they better figure out how to the gangway up to the ship.  They had to hook up a crane, and you can imagine the speed they went!  And it didn't really seem to fit so the poor crew spent a while trying to make it safe (in the rain too).  It took an hour before they started letting people off.  The port isn't close to the city and they only have 2 buses!  People will only have a couple of hours and probably wait in the rain for the shuttle.   I'm staying on the ship.  Much more relaxing.