Le Havre, France/Heathrow Airport

This is our last port.  Le Havre is a major port in northern France's Normandy region, where the Seine River meets the English Channel. It's joined to the city across the estuary, Honfleur, by the Pont de Normandie cable-stayed bridge. Following WWII, Le Havre's heavily damaged city center was famously redesigned by Belgian architect Auguste Perret. Today it features many landmark examples of reinforced-concrete architecture.

In France it's STOP, in Quebec it's ARRET
The Canadians on the bus had a laugh!

We've been here before and this time we took a Princess shore excursion to the Canadian Landing Beaches.  Most cruise lines only offer the American Landing Beaches and I'm thrilled Princess is offering this excursion.  Two buses of Canadian's all took this tour.  It was very moving.  Our guide talked the entire trip.  When we reached Juno Center we watched a 12 minute video.  Both Cec and I have uncles who returned from WWII with serious PTSD.  They never got over the horrors of war.  One uncle was an alcoholic and the other took his life.  So sad.  My dad enlisted the day the war broke out in the Royal Canadian Navy.  He was 20 years old and a Vancouver Fire Fighter.  They stationed him in the naval base in Victoria to teach fire fighting to the sailors.  He was not happy, but that was the assignment he was given.  His brother went to Italy.  I've found his war records and passed them on to his children.  None of our relatives were involved in the Juno Beach invasion.

Cheryl and Dave on Juno Beach

On the way to the bunker on the right

Lexi inside the bunker

Very narrow stair case

Juno Beach Center

Canadian Cemetery

It's been a long day with a lot of content, I've copied the excursion details from Princess:

Your tour begins as you board your motor coach for a scenic, two-hour drive to Courseulles sur Mer along the coast. Upon arrival, you will visit the Canadian Juno Beach Centre and Juno Beach.

Today, the Juno Beach Centre is what the veterans wanted it to be: a place of education providing a better understanding of the contribution Canada made during the Second World War. At the same time, by showcasing today's Canada, it is a place where visitors from all around the world learn more about Canadian values and culture. In this respect, the Centre stands as both the Canadian Second World War Memorial and Education Centre in Europe and as a testament to the Veterans who helped build it. The Minister of Canadian Heritage has designated Juno Beach as a site of national historic significance to Canada.

Following a short drive, you will arrive at Arromanches Beach for lunch which is served at a local restaurant. You will dine on salad, chicken supreme a la normande, kir aperitif and wine, on the menu. After a sumptuous meal, you will have some free time to view the remnants of Mulberry Harbor, the artificial harbor where thousands of troops came ashore.

Your tour continues with a short drive to Longues sur Mer, this battery which gave the allied ships a pounding on the morning of June 6th, is the only coastal battery to have kept its guns. Built on a rather picturesque cliff, it was composed of four 150mm guns with a range of 20 km. In spite of the release by 124 RAF planes of 600tons of bombs during the night preceding 6th June, the four guns were still operational on the morning of 6th June and they began firing at 5:37 am. The Battery was only finally reduced to silence at 7pm by two direct hits. The observation post and control room were the setting of one of the most famous scenes of the film 'The Longest Day'.

Your last stop will be the Canadian Cemetery and the Canada House. On D-Day alone, Canada suffered almost a thousand casualties, of whom 340 were killed or died of wounds. The list lengthened during the following days as the Germans sought desperately to drive the invaders out. The men who fell on the beaches and in the bitter bridgehead battles are buried in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery which, despite its name, is near the village of Reviers. The cemetery contains 2,049 headstones enclosed by pines and maples. These mark the dead of the 3rd Division and the graves of 15 airmen.Your tour concludes with a relaxing drive back to the pier.

We got back to the ship at 6:45 PM.  Lunch was incredible French cuisine!  It started with a salad plate, coleslaw, shredded carrots, cucumbers finely sliced with a wonderful dressing and diced beets.  The entree was a slice of chicken breast with a delicious mushroom gravy.  There were fresh vegetables, a wonderful layered potato, lots of great bread, white, red and a berry wine.  I tried each wine, wonderful!  For dessert we had an apple pastry with caramel sauce.  I must say the French really know how to cook!

Because we were still full from lunch we went to the Horizon Buffet for a light snack.  Jean and I went to see the soprano Shelly Rivers who was excellent.  She's played in the West End and performed for Andrew Lloyd Webber.  Then a great night sleep.  We had a wonderful breakfast in the dining room and then off to the Elite lounge for our departure call.  We got right off, found our luggage and when we got outside Mark was waiting for us.  An easy drive to Heathrow and a five hour wait for our flight.  Nine hour flight and we should land shortly after 6 PM tonight.  I used my Park and Fly voucher and the parking for 17 days was $130.00 and they valet your car.  If you want to use Park and Fly anytime I'll send you the link to the voucher!

Cheryl, Dave and Lexi took the Princess excursion to Stonehenge with a Heathrow drop off.  They should arrive shortly.

Rod and Monica are coming to stay with us on Monday.  They live in Quesnel and I haven't been on Facebook enough to find out if they are effected by the wildfires!   We hear they are bad, and I pray everyone up north is okay.

Update:  I just read on Facebook Rod and Monica were on evacuation alert, but it's been lifted!