Cruising the Seine River; Paris to Normandy; Scenery, history, food, D-Day

We recently returned from two weeks in France, including a 10 day river cruise on the Seine from Paris down the river, all the way to its mouth on the English channel at the old port city of Honfleur. The Seine, almost 600 miles in length, drains Northern France and the Paris Basin, is crossed by 37 lovely bridges just in the city of Paris and offers more than a dozen quaint historic towns on the river. Our tour today will start with key sites as river winds its way through Paris and heads west through the bucolic river valley to its end at the English Channel. We were blessed by mostly sunny days, highs in the 70s, and only two days with any amount of rain.

We and our fellow 125 passengers were offered lovely state rooms with balconies overlooking the river on our river cruise ship the Bizet, operated by Grand Circle Cruises Lines. Each day featured three gourmet meals and overnight stops at seven different ports headed down the river. We had our own personal tour guide, a delightful French native, Geraldine, who offered walking tours of the old cities each morning, helped us tour the city of Paris at the start and get to the airport on our departure.

Our river adventure started in Paris, where we cruised under most of the 37 bridges across the Seine in the City of Light (do take a nighttime river cruise past the Eiffel Tower); our first port down river was the town of Conflans–Saint-Honorine. The old city is anchored by the Church of St. Maclou, dating to the 11th century and its distinctive bell tower added a century later. The city is also noteworthy in all manner of barges tied up along the river, many of them converted to such uses as a chocolate candy factory, restaurants, a performing arts theater, and blank church, the Catholic Church, converted to feet, almost 200 parishioners in the huge barge converted to indoor services.

Our next stop was a discovery adventure to Claude Monet’s estate and Gardens in Giverny, at the confluence of the river Epte. Here the small town’s history changed when the classic impressionist painter Monet lived here from 1883 until his death in 1926. The painter expanded his modest home and added to a stunning garden surrounding the property offering inspiration for his works, many displayed inside the rambling estate. We also took an optional tour to the venerable champagne maker, Pannier Champagne; our walking tour took us deep into the mountainside, where thousands of bottles of champagne were aging in constant 55 degree temperatures; ample tastings at tour’s end refreshed our spirits!

In the afternoon, our motorcoach returned through the old city of Vernon, where Grand Circle Cruises arranges one of the more interesting stops on our tour, a home-hosted visit with a French woman Laurent, in her upscale home. Laurent treated our group of six to cider and French pastries, while sharing insights on the French economy, their current impression of American/French relations “good but challenged by war in Ukraine and Palestine” and shared France’s appreciation for the USA’s support of France in both World War I and World War II.

The lovely setting for Les Andelys is a big bend on the River where huge white cliffs burst out of the green hillsides. The scenic small town dates to the 11th century, and features, the ruins of the Chateau Gaillard, a fortress built 1196–97 by Richard I of England(Richard, the Lionheart), to protect from attack from the army of the French king. A one mile walk above town, climbing about 300 vertical feet, takes you to the ruins of the old fortress with stunning views of the Seine River Valley, looking both east and west.

Rouen is both an ancient city and a modern port, in which oceangoing ships pull in to offload their wares to flat bottomed barge is which can move freight further up the Seine. The city boosts over 800 classified historic buildings, so a walk through the city is highly rewarding. The Museum of Fine Arts offers collections of impressionist masterpieces along with works by old Masters like Rubens, Velasquez and Caravaggio. An afternoon City walk also offered an infamous side, where Joan of Arc was imprisoned, tried for heresy and burned at the stake in 1431. The 14th century abbey where she was sentenced leaves a deep impression.

Our final port, for two days and nights, where the Seine meets the English channel, was Honfleur. A morning walk took us past buildings four to seven centuries-old, including an ancient catholic church built entirely of wood, reflecting ship-building techniques, with a lofty, free-standing bell tower, built 100 feet distant to guard against fire that might consume both church and tower. The port was also the start of native son Samuel de Champlain’s discovery cruise, where he founded Port Royal in Nova Scotia and the settlement of Quebec in Canada. The old town is wrapped around an inner-harbor ship’s basin, making for remarkable photo opportunities. Plenty of restaurants and sidewalk cafes surround the inner harbor, where, typical for French restaurants, guests are welcome to enjoy the food, the view and pass an hour or two.

Our final two days were wrapped around motorcoach tours to the American Cemetery above the D-Day landing beaches, and a heart-rending visit to Caen’s Peace Memorial Museum – more on that next week.

For more info: Grand Circle Cruise Lines, gct.com; Seine River Valley, france.fr/en/normandy/article/seine-valley-normandy/amp.

Where are you traveling? Contact Tim, tviall@msn.com; enjoy your world!

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Cruising the Seine River; Paris to Normandy; Scenery, history, food