Lost in Le Havre?

Something that confuses a lot of people about cruising is destinations/ports of call. You think you’re booking a cruise to Rome and actually end up somewhere called Civitavecchia. You think you’re off to Amsterdam and end up in Ijmuiden. You think you’re going to Paris and end up in Le Havre.
So what’s going on? Are the cruise lines lying to you about your destinations?
Has the cruise had to swap destinations a the last minute?
Nope, none of the above.
 Quite simply a lot of destinations that cruisers want to see aren’t on the coast, proving quite a problem for the cruise lines to get you there. To compromise what they do is dock at the nearest available port and then take everyone via coach to the advertised city.
Now that's all well and good, but it can mean that you spend less time in your destination of choice than you'd like, (to factor in the time getting there and back), and rather cheekily some cruise lines actually charge you for these bus services, even though they advertised the destination in the first place. Short of a complete overhaul of the cruise industry though, there isn’t a lot that can be done about this unfortunately, so instead what I’m going to be doing is writing a few blogs about some of the attractions you can enjoy in the port you call in to, rather than the advertised destination. First up is Le Havre the port of choice for cruise lines taking people to Paris. (And yes I know these won't be a touch on seeing Paris, but you can fit a lot more into your day).

Museum of Modern Art André Malraux
This museum has a large collection of impressionist paintings, almost all of some interest to the local area. So a good place to visit for any art fans, and, whilst I’m not sure how accurate this is, a past passenger of mine who has just returned told me that under 26’s may enter free, obviously someones trying to incite some interest in art amongst the younger generation.

Church of St. Joseph
The church of St Joseph is a bit of an architectural icon in Le Harve and is the first building you will see when approaching from the Sea. The old church, built in a neo-gothic style, was completely destroyed in 1944. The new church that you can currently see was designed to incorporate a memorial to all the victims of World War two. Two of the three famous arches seen from the town are the Porte d'Aval, and the Porte d'Amont. The Manneporte is the third which cannot be seen from the town

The Cliffs of Etretat
For anyone who doesn’t mind a short walk out of Le Havre then you can take a walk up to the cliffs of Etretat to see the famous natural arches there. Over the years these cliffs have attracted such artists as Eugene Boudin, Gustave Courbet and Claude Monet, (hopefully those names will mean more to you than me, I only recognise the last one)., so should be a good place to head out to for any nature lovers or art lovers who'd like to see the scenes that inspired their favourite artists.

Happy Cruising