My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
Thursday, December 2024
Le Havre is the gateway to Paris. Honfleur (which recently had it’s own post and is about 45 minutes from the port) makes me feel like I’m walking around on the set of Beauty and the Beast. The YouTube video I’d been using as my guide said that Le Havre was a delightful place to walk around – but that was in October. This was winter, and it was cold.
The buildings were more modern.
I thought this building was interesting:
Le Havre looked like it would be very charming when the weather was nicer – when the cafes would spill out onto the plaza and people could sit (most likely drink some wine in my imagination) and look out at the water.
After wandering around weighing my options, I found a cafe which, oddly enough, was an Australian restaurant. On the sign outside they advertised that English was spoken and they served non-stop service. I know – I’m usually on the lookout for the most authentic, least touristy place I can find within my communication skills (and my high school French was not helping me in France or Belgium). But I was tired. I went inside, and I loved the atmosphere. To me, it felt very French.
The woman who waited on me (who I think was one of the owners) was so friendly (not very French, but I forgave her for this). There was a view of the ship and excellent WiFi. I sat and caught up on this blog for hours (I hadn’t had enough time to finish writing about my adventures on Diamond Princess, so I was trying to write those and also write about the adventures I was having in real time), sipping wine. The woman stopped and sat down to chat with some friends. Her kids came in and ran around a bit. The service was delightfully homey, and the decor was French enough for me.
I ordered a charcuterie board which came with excellent bread that lived up to its country’s standard.
I’d found my spot. Each week I’d set out to do something I hadn’t done before in Le Havre, but more often than not, I’d end up at the Architect (that’s the name of the cafe).
Walking back to the ship, I loved how – if I looked in one direction -the buildings reminded me that I was on the other side of the ocean.
Then in the same spot I would turn and see other buildings that could be in any city in the US.
And then I walked by a dumpster of shells. I was absolutely delighted by the juxtaposition of something that I associate with treasure – I don’t collect shells, but they are something people find on a beach and keep to remind them of the time that they were lucky enough to be in a special place. And here they were, gross and stinky in a rusty dumpster, completely unappreciated.
Le Havre with Chris and Matt in February 2025
One day I went in to dinner to sit with some American guests I really enjoyed, when the Restaurant Manager stopped me and said that there were two gentlemen who were looking for me. I was confused. They led me to a table where I met Matt and Chris. It was such an awkward introduction (the awkwardness was entirely my contribution). They knew me, but I had no idea who they were. They said we had a few friends in common, and asked if I would like to get together for coffee or lunch or something. Sure! I returned to my table with the North Americans and we ended up getting together for lunch on the next sea day.
It turned out that Matt and Chris had been on Preziosa a couple of times since I’d been onboard, and I hadn’t noticed them at all – possibly because they weren’t Americans. They were on the VIP list, but we probably hadn’t officially been introduced because they were VIPs from the UK and when they had been on previously, I was still trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing with the Americans. Anyway, it didn’t matter. They cruise a lot with many different cruise lines and it turned out we did know a lot of people in common. We had a great time chatting at lunch and by the end it was clear that the conversation wasn’t over.
The next morning I finished my hour sitting in my lounge (being available for the Americans) when they invited me to join them for a coffee. Sure! We were in Rotterdam and I wanted to check out a brewery I’d seen on tour but it wouldn’t open until noon. We ended up sitting in Il Cappuccino (the name of the coffee lounge) for about three hours sipping cappuccinos and having a great time. Eventually we parted ways – they had filming to do on the ship, and I set off to find my brewery (which turned out not to be open until the next day).
Eventually I lost my place at the table with the Americans (guests come and go at every port and I hop around trying to sit with as many different guests as possible) so I joined Chris and Matt at their table along with Jorgos, the resident magician.
The next morning we ended up drinking cappuccinos for hours again. I had a list of things I wanted to do in these ports but when I find good company I savor it – Belgium would be here next week but Matt and Chris wouldn’t. They didn’t usually leave the ship, but at some point it was decided that we would all leave the ship together. We would go to France and only speak French!
They told me they would only be able to go out for about an hour – they had a bunch of things to do before they left the next day. That was fine with me! I stowed my laptop in my backpack – I knew a great cafe where I could work on my blog.
We walked into town enjoying looking at all the little boats (which I apparently did not take any pictures of) and, as I recall, we laughed the whole way there.
We stopped to appreciate my favorite dumpster of shells.
We watched a seagull catch a fish and then whack it on the cement until it stopped wiggling.
In town we noticed a man standing on a balcony.
As we got closer, we realized it was a mannequin!
There were mannequins on a bunch of the balconies! Some were looking a little past their prime.
We surveyed our options. We watched a pigeon walk into a shop and then disappear behind the counter like it was clocking in for its shift. Finally we found the perfect authentic cafe where we could sit outside without being smothered in cigarette smoke. The cappuccinos were fantastic. We were having such a great time. Matt tried to speak French but it came out in German.
We started walking back toward the ship when Chris got a call from Jorgos. Did we want to meet up for a cappuccino? Absolutely we did. We met up with him and went back to the same cafe for another round.
Before we knew it, it was about 2pm, we hadn’t eaten anything substantial, and I would have to get back to the ship to sit in my lounge soon. We went to my favorite cafe, the Architect, where the waitress recognized me. I got my favorite charcuterie board. Chris and Matt gambled on the Fish and Chips – as Brits they had particular standards for Fish and Chips. Luckily, the Australians were up to the task.
That night was their last night onboard. The night before they had saved a seat for me so we could watch Jorgos’ show together. The fun had continued into the early hours of the morning (which is what they had been doing on vacation, but I did not). That night, I was planning on going to bed, but they convinced me to join them for the show. I agreed but told them that I could not do another late night – I had to pace myself for all the exploring I wanted to do! The next day was Valentines Day, and the Cruise Staff had to wait until everyone finished their duties before they could decorate the ship – at 3am. Matt and Chris had offered to stay up to help. I was absolutely not going to do that. I was going to be responsible and get enough sleep.
The thing about ships, though, is that they’ve taught me to recognize and deeply appreciate magic when it appears. In real life (on land) you tend to live and work and play with people people who don’t change out that often. On ships people come and go much more frequently. I usually describe this phenomenon about working on ships in terms of months- months of overlap mostly with crew members. When I find someone I dislike, this is awesome, because one of us will inevitably leave soon. But when I rendezvous with kindred spirits, I treasure as many moments as I can get with them, because I know that once we part ways, it could be a very long time before we get to play again.
On this ship the timeframe has become a matter of days. I wasn’t hanging out with the crew very much- they worked as much as I used to, if not more. So I ended up spending more time with the guests, who usually only stayed a week. Sometimes we met right away, sometimes it took a couple of days. By the time I met Chris and Matt I was on a roll. I had been finding amazing people to connect with and as soon as they left, a couple more would show up.
But it was rare to find people I enjoyed so much that the only way we could justify going our separate ways was by making plans to meet again. I laughed when I realized that with Matt and Chris we had a pattern of setting time limits at the start of our meetups – there were other things that we needed to do. But those time limits came and went, as it became obvious that nothing else was more important (or fun) than staying here, now.
I have never regretted listening to the voice that says, “Stay.” (Though I knew full well that I would pay for it the next day).
This night (yes, I stayed out until 4am, and while we didn’t actually help the Cruise Staff decorate for Valentines Day, we did cheer them on) reminded me of another night that I stayed out too late.
During my first contract I took a Crisis Management course where we spent eight hours watching films of transportation disasters – from plane crashes to ship wrecks – to learn about how people behave in a crisis. The teacher was Safety Bill (his name was Bill, but Stef – my roommate – and I called him Safety Bill). We were loud and obnoxious (Cruise Staff) and enthusiastic students. The night before Safety Bill disembarked, Stef and I were in the Crew Bar with him until… I don’t even know how late. I know we had to work at 6am, but we knew that hanging out with Safety Bill was more important than getting enough sleep (I actually think we ended up not sleeping at all before going to work). It was a choice that I did not regret.
A couple of years later I learned that Safety Bill passed away rather suddenly from cancer.
While this fate has only happened to Safety Bill (that I know of) – I mean, not dying, but dying after drinking all night with me- I think of him whenever being with the people I’m with is more important than anything else. Especially when it involves staying up late (and usually drinking) far later than I usually do.