Day 11 LE HAVRE 16.08.2022

Now for a hectic day! As I mentioned before, we wanted to go to Le Havre today by train. The idea came to us and I took care of everything on the internet. Senior tickets, when, seat reservations, timing adjustments, and of course the payment. The internet and I, wow, what a friendship! Unfortunately, I initially provided Karin's name and her internet address for the passengers, so the important confirmations ended up with her. She took screenshots of everything, but at the Rouen station, we realized that we didn't have a ticket for the outward journey?! Nothing to show, just the price we paid! All my quick attempts to rebuild everything with 'aol' failed due to the poor internet at the station, my haste, and the pressure I put on Karin, and the unsuccessful attempts to reach Karin's 'aol' through my tablet. I must have destroyed Karin's 'aol' account in the process. We have to contact them by phone. Every reader can imagine the relaxed atmosphere between us!?! We still got on the train, which was almost empty, and weren't checked once during the entire journey (about 40 minutes)! Great!?

In Le Havre, things continued to go wrong. The tourist information center was located on the beach and not near the train station! So we had to buy regular tram tickets, which are always valid for 1 hour in France and are electronically checked if you hold them correctly to the reader. My wife did it differently, so the machine beeped when I tried. Anyway, we reached the office and got the information that there wasn't much touristy stuff to see in the town!? What? We made our way to the nearby port and took a harbor tour. After all, this is supposed to be the fifth largest container port in the world. The ship sailed through the port facilities and the captain told a lot in French, but this excursion point didn't really capture our interest. In fact, the entire city, which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, didn't captivate us. This is probably due to the extensive destruction during World War II, presumably caused by the English (I still have to research this?) and the radical reconstruction. A famous architect was able to enforce right angles for the new layout of the streets and the construction of residential buildings (67,000 people had to be accommodated here), bringing a certain Eastern European flair to France, at least for us. We always thought of Warsaw instead!?

There were still many older foundations, such as the Bassin de Commerce (a rectangular lake in the middle of the city), on which one could have built. In addition, the world-famous architect Oscar Niemeyer, who also designed Brasilia in the middle of the jungle, was able to let his creativity flow here, resulting in Le Havre appearing very disharmonious to us.

So we took an earlier train back to Rouen, no one checked our train-specific ticket again, bought potatoes and curd cheese and a cold wine at the train station, and returned to the youth hostel, again traveling without a ticket. I took care of the meal preparations in the kitchen and was surprised how clean and well-maintained everything was. We enjoyed the food on one of the terraces, even though I had chosen a wine from Bergerac that was too sweet! Now I am egoistic, not a compromise rosé, but my old memories, and suddenly I have 'Not So Lucky'! Nevertheless, the day ended in a relaxed manner, fitting our travel motto!