Vive La France! Cherbourg Is Our New #1 City If We Ever Leave the States

Rita and I toured the center city this morning and loved it. In the afternoon, I took a 4-hour bus tour to Sainte-Mère-Église and Utah Beach.

The cruise terminal where we docked was a short walk from the heart of this small city in Normandy, northwest France. Rita had signed up for the “Cherbourg on Foot” guided tour at 9 a.m., and I had signed up for the 2 p.m. tour mentioned above. After finishing my morning work tasks (mostly email), I walked into town on my own, and just as I was heading back to the ship, I ran into Rita and her guide, Emanuella!

Can you tell it was chilly? Rita and I were each wearing the wonderful World Cruise - Viking Sky jackets that were given to each passenger in Los Angeles but which hung in our closet until we got to chilly, springtime Europe.

We walked together from there to the ship, then shared our iPhone pictures with each other.

It turned out that we had seen many of the same places. The first place — a must-see for any visitor — was the central square, which had been turned over to vendors of all kinds of items, including clothing, fruits and vegetables, breads, cheeses, smoked and other prepared foods. And it wasn’t just in the large square, but on numerous streets around the square. The best way to capture the flavor of it was with a video, starting with the carousel:

I quickly noticed something about the many food trucks and trailers. None of them were running gas generators for power. All of them were plugged into the numerous electrical outlets installed in that square and along surrounding streets! Here’s a picture on one power center that pops up from the street. Other power centers were above ground.

I stopped in at a real estate office where I met the English-speaking manager, Sylvie Gohel. Coincidentally, her daughter is a nurse in Denver, where her daughter’s husband is an architect! I checked out the listings displayed in the window and found that the rents (“loyer”) and purchase prices (“achat”) were quite reasonable compared to Denver. They also had a big screen monitor in the window scrolling different listings and information, not unlike our storefront in Golden. Here’s a flyer for a 727-sq.-ft. 6th-floor elevator apartment with a view of the port and docks (see picture) renting for 1,350 euros ($1,448) per month:

I think Rita and I could enjoy living there! One thing I found interesting was the last sentence, which says the tenant will pay a commission of 607.95 euros ($652). It’s standard here for tenant and landlord to share the real estate commission equally.

The main attraction of Centreville (center city) Cherbourg was the old buildings accessed by narrow cobblestone passageways. Here’s a video I took of one such interior complex of old buildings. (It turned out Rita had been there before me!)

And here are some of the many still photos I shot. First, a beautifully landscaped pedestrianized street, of which there were many:

And here’s a cannabis store whose translated name is “Cheap CBD - Quality at a Fair Price.” Inside I found that they sell weed for smoking and some chewables that have either CBD or THC, but not both, unlike in the States.

Here’s an employment center advertising open positions. I was struck by the fact that each listing said “H/F” for “homme/femme” which means male/female. The were no flyers for positions that were just “H” or just “F”, but presumably that’s possible. Such designations were outlawed in the United States decades ago.

I saw one EV that I recognized (a Tesla) the entire day, but during our foot tour of Cherbourg I spotted a two-position EV charging station, although the only vehicle parked there was not an EV.

The bus tour to Sainte-Mère-Église and Utah Beach was, of course, interesting and touching. American and French flags flew side-by-side in many places, but in Sainte-Mère-Église I noticed they were flying a historically appropriate 48-star American flag, which I thought was neat. Few others probably noticed it.

At Utah Beach, the American flags all had 50 stars.

Hanging from one of the spires of the Notre Dame church was a dummy suspended by his parachute, representing a paratrooper named John Steele. (See picture below.) He pretended to be dead and hung there for a while before being taken down by a German soldier who discovered he was alive. John was taken prisoner but escaped two days later. An auberge two blocks away bears his name (second picture below — sign on left of building). The citizens here seem to maintain great respect and appreciation for the sacrifices of our soldiers and the paratroopers who landed in their town. Fewer than 200 Americans died at Utah Beach, compared to over 3,000 at Omaha Beach many miles to the east. There were no cliffs at Utah Beach, just sand dunes. The bunkers with Germans were on a rise a few miles inland.

I have so many pictures I could share about this excursion, but it’s after midnight and Rita and I have a 8:15 tour excursion in Honfleur.

Bye for now.