Friday-Saturday 18-19 April 2025 

LeHavre, France, and Arrival in London

I have visited the port of LeHavre several times over the past few years. It is a common port for Holland America cruise ships because it is possible to take very long shore excursions for a very short visit to Paris. I suppose it is worth the four hours round-trip travel if you have never been. LeHavre itself is, in my humble opinion, one of the ugliest cities in Europe; it was bombed to smithereens by the Germans and the Allies during WWII. Like most cities in France, however, it does offer fine food and one really great art museum. 

I was last here in May 2023. Today, I stay on board because I have a great deal of cleaning up and going through stuff I have accumulated on the 14 day cruise—and eventually squeezing it into my suitcase and backpack so I can leave the suitcase outside the door before midnight.

If you would like to see photos from 2023, you can link back at the bottom of the page. I will add these few photos from this evening’s departure:

Three Panoramas of LeHavre from My Veranda

I drag myself to the dining room for my last on-board dinner and to bid farewell to the staff who have treated me so middling well. But tomorrow begins a whole new adventure as I fall asleep to the music of the English Channel crossing.

Saturday 19 April 2025 

Dover and London

Dover is another port where I spent a day in May 2023. If you link back to that date you will find many photos of the city and surroundings, as well as descriptions of the horrible traffic caused by a backup in the Chunnel. Today I spend only a short time getting from the ship to the waiting Mercedes Benz van ready to take me and three other passengers to London.

I have an early breakfast in the Lido Marketplace where I run into my main server from evenings in the dining room, Andrea, for another short farewell. Less than a third of the Nieuw Statendam passengers are debarking in Dover. The rest will spend one more night crossing back across the English Channel to Rotterdam, where the cruise officially ends.

I am off the ship at 7:30am and find my waiting luggage in the terminal. Right outside I am greeted by my driver from the International Friends Transport Service. The other three passengers arrive quickly and we are soon off for the two-hour motorway drive to London. 

Northbound traffic on this Saturday is not bad, and we enter the metropolis through the Blackwall Tunnel on the eastern end of the city. As we drive westward we have glimpses of many of the city's famous buildings and monuments. Indeed, our driver gives us an early morning tour of the highlights of London.

I am the last to be dropped off, since my flat is situated in the southwest section of London in Chelsea, between South Kensington and Sloane Square. I will finish up this first day in London with photos of my temporary home, flat #181 in Chelsea Cloisters:

Entry Foyer (left); View into Bedroom (right)

Two Views of the Bedroom

Great Room with Kitchen

Bathroom with Very Wide Shower and Very Narrow Sink

There is a mini-grocery just down the street I go to for supplies for some breakfasts and lunches. There are also many restaurants and boutiques within a short distance. But In shall wait until tomorrow to begin my explorations.