We're boarded. We're in a terrific room with a "French Balcony." Never heard of such a thing. Turns out we have a sliding glass door and a bar across it to keep from falling overboard! No deck, just a door that opens and a bar to keep us in the room. Shades of Lori's bedroom before we removed the slider (with a six-foot drop and NO bar to keep her in) and replaced it with a HUGE garden window.
We embarked, had dinner with new friends and a darling waitress (Laura -- trill your R, please) from Romania. She cracked us up and got reprimanded several times from the boss for pulling her mask down. We took several pictures with her and our wine steward -- who happily filled up my wine glass whenever I wasn't looking. The sneak! I happily complied and continually drained it; he snuck up behind me and filled it up again. Love that guy!
Today dawned bright and beautiful in Les Andelys, a tiny village of 500 with two spectacular churches! The first built in the 1200's and is used mostly as a wedding venue (pictures to follow in the FB comment section). The second, they call their Notre Dame. A bit smaller than the one in Paris, but sweet nonetheless, with a magnificent Rose Window. Our group didn't get to go there but I got the inside pictures from another passenger. Our group walked from the bus stop to the ruins of Chateau Gaillard (built in the 1100's by Richard the Lionheart). The other group took the bus up and then returned to the village by bus, so they got to see the 2nd church.
We hiked in the drizzle to the ruins. There was a heard of sheep on the hillside. The Normans believe in biodiversity and clean fields (organic). They don't mow down the grasses, they bring in sheep instead. The sheep keep the fields mowed as the Normans move their fences on a daily basis. No fertilizer, no pesticides, just sheep.
The castle was built in two separate parts, divided by a dry moat. The smaller of the two was built in a circular shape with one wall as a defense. The larger of the two was built in a triangular shape with a double wall protecting the keep. I had a difficult time imagining how it was then, but our guide, Marie, was a wealth of information. Sadly, my memory is short, and the statistics she rattled off moved on before I could reduce them here. Oh well.
Marie described a typical banquet where the table was in a U shape. The king sat in the only chair at the top of the U. His guests would sit on benches beside him and down each leg, the further away from the King, the lower their status. The King and his closest guests would receive meat rich in flavor and roasted for hours. The lower guests would receive their meat heavily spiced (cooked?). Fun fact: the benches were called "ban" in French which is where the word banquet originated.
After the ruins we hiked DOWN to the village where we had 30 minutes to poke around and/or shop and return to the ship. If it's a river cruise, do we call it a boat? I'll probably use both interchangeably.
Back to the boat it's time for lunch. I rarely eat more than one meal a day. I can tell that I'm on the road to gaining 10 pounds with these three meals a day thing. Tomorrow morning may be just toast and some fruit. Already feeling bloated.
On our way to Le Havre. More tomorrow.
