Le Havre

I left on the evening Megabus at 9:30 pm from London, which took the ferry from Dover to Calais before reaching Paris. I tried to sleep on the bus, but the seat didn’t recline enough to allow my neck to get comfortable. By the time we arrived, I was shattered. I found the metro station easy enough and made my way to the hostel.

When I arrived at the St. Christopher Gare de Nord hostel, it was closed. They advertised to have had 24 hour reception to store luggage, where I could then hang out in the lounge napping until check in time in the afternoon. However, it was the hostel’s grand opening and that's why they were closed.

I was the second customer to arrive that day. The owner came up to me to apologize that they couldn’t open up and let anyone in until after the inspection was done. He said by 3 pm I could check in. He offered me to go to the sister hostel near the canal where I could store my bags and have a free meal. He also paid for the taxi so I wouldn’t have to walk and go up and down the stairs on the very crowded metro. I took that offer quickly.

Once I arrived at the other hostel, the staff were extremely helpful. I stored my things, had breakfast and then napped in the lounge for a while.

Later, I booked my departure ticket with Eurolines for departing Paris the next week and walked around the canal area. Not too much to see in that area really. I missed the morning market as they were cleaning up along the canal. It was a bit messy. Wasn’t long from there before I could go back to my initial hostel and check in.

The metro was absolutely packed. I figured, if I wait for the next subway, it’ll most likely be just as full, with bodies pressed against the windows, so I had to shove my way on with my big backpack. That was awkward. I’m sure I annoyed a few people, ha ha. But, it couldn’t be helped.

I thought, wow, London has nothing on Paris for how busy the metro is. It’s not that it’s busier, just that they have shorter trains. There was only 5 coaches on the metro train… London’s are much longer so more people can fit and have more space. At least it gets you from point A to B fairly quickly.

The staff were very efficient checking people in and very friendly. Poor guys, looks like one thing after another was challenging them. The electronic keys not working, showers not working, outlets without electricity…etc. but they all took it in stride. I was impressed with how well they handled the situations and the customers. 

My dorm room I booked was supposed to be a 10 bed dorm, but because they still were establishing the hostel, they only had 6 beds. I was happy about that! There was a large storage locker under the bottom bunk where I could store all my things. And the mattress!!! Ah, nothing like a brand new mattress no one has ever slept on! It was fantastic!

I ended up roaming around the area a bit, checking out the shops and eateries. Had a very tasty chocolate croissant and then went back to the hostel. I was too tired to really get out and explore. Plus, with it being late afternoon, most tourist places would be closing.

I showered and decided to join the grand opening party in the hostel restaurant. I met up with one of the girls in my dorm room and joined her table with 2 other girls. Eventually 3 other people joined us, so we had a nice fun group. 3 Canadians (including me), 1 Brazilian, 1 French and 1 from the Netherlands. There was a  live band who played fairly good music. The singer had a nice voice. I managed to forget how tired I was and enjoyed myself. 

The next day I took the SNCF train to Le Havre to visit my old room mate from 10 years ago, Vanessa.It was no trouble spotting her and the station. She looked exactly the same back when we were 22 years of age. She had her husband, David, and 3 year old son, Raphael, with her. She even taught Raphael some English just to greet me. He was excited to welcome me and gave me a big hug. Loved it! Such a lovely family.  
We went back to her place and had a 10 year catch up on our life stories. Poor David, he speaks some English, but we were talking too fast for him to understand, so he left us girls to it until he went to work. However, he did make us a couple mojitos before he left. And they were delicious! I teased Ness that I could see why she married him. We went through photo albums once Raphael was in bed and ate dinner. We ate salad and Croque Monsieur (like a grilled cheese but with sour cream, ham and 2 kinds of cheese inside, and cheese on top to melt). It was very good.

The next morning, we had breakfast out in the backyard in the sunshine. David planned to take Raphael to his brothers so that Ness and I could have the afternoon to ourselves.

She drove us to Le Havre town centre where we went to a coastal viewpoint. Then we lied on the beach relaxing before having a nice lunch and cool beverage.

Later in the afternoon, we met up with the boys at the Normandy bridge (where I walked along a little boardwalk through a grassland while waiting) and all piled into the same car to visit Honfleur.

Honfleur was a beautiful tourist town with a marina in the centre. All the buildings around the marina were tall and very narrow. Super cool!

The ground floor along the water were filled with restaurants, ice cram shops and souvenir shops. Behind the buildings, you can enter the second floor by the slanted road into art galleries. There was some bizarre art! David really liked the colourful and peculiar. He showed me 2 of his favourite galleries.

For myself, well...of course I had to go into the chocolatier and buy a few sweets to try. Hmm, they were good. They had different flavoured caramels like blueberry, ginger, orange, strawberry, salted caramel, etc. It was really nice.

Then we had some tasty ice cream that we all shared with each other and walked along the water a bit before heading back home for dinner. It was a great day. Full of activity and great food. The sun reached 32 C. Hot day in the sun. Perfect!

Once home, we started with our mojitos and appetizers of bread with tzatziki or butter and fresh radishes from David’s garden. Then, we had chicken on the BBQ for dinner with grilled tomatoes and potatoes. French baguette, local Normandy cheeses and sea salted butter (OMG! So good!) to follow. Then we nibbled on some chocolate. Such a lovely evening.

The next day was just as warm and sunny. At 9 am, we could feel the heat of the sun. We went to the local market to look around and bought some food for lunch. They showed me the town hall where they were married and went to their favourite butcher shop to get beef kebabs and herb sausages.

We BBQ’d them up back at the house and had salad, couscous, bread and cheese with it. After Raphael’s nap, we went to Etretat. We parked at David’s aunt’s place, which was a good idea as the village was packed. I don’t think we’d find a parking place anywhere in the town. There were cars lined up outside the main road on the way into it! Busy place.

His aunt lived in a beautiful old stone decorated house up on a hill with spectacular views. We said hello, then popped down to the beach. The boys chose a spot near the shore on the pebbled beach and Ness and I hiked up the hill to see the “elephant trunk”. The limestone formation kind of did look like an elephant trunk or leg. Absolutely beautiful spot. The water looked so clear from up there and the white cliffs were stunning! They really did pick some great places to visit!

We joined the boys on the beach and I braved it enough to jump in the sea. It was 13 C, but cold! Especially after being out in the heat of the sun. Brrrr! But, it helped cool me down and I was able to have a mini nap on the beach. They spoiled me for dinner by making savoury crepes. Ham, cheese, sour cream and tomato inside. Then for desert, we had salted butter with sugar and of course the classic, dark chocolate crepe. Oh was is soooo goooood! I was in heaven. What was I going to do now that I had all this wonderful French cuisine? Backpacking meals just aren’t going to satisfy.

This morning, we had to say our goodbyes. Ness and I both had watery eyes at the station trying our best not to cry as we wished each other farewell. Hoping not to have another decade go by before our next visit. I sure will miss her and her loving family. David is a wonderful caring man and her son is adorable. He talks constantly (hmm, reminds me of someone, he he) and gives lots of smiles and kisses. And Vanessa of course is an amazing woman! That’s why I love her! They took such great care of me and I hope I can repay their kindness by hosting them one day. However, I’ll need to work on my cooking skills so I can blow them away too!

Now, I’m on the train back to Paris to meet my next host, Ronan, from the couchsurfing site.