Our final night in London was such great fun. We met at the Chancery Court bar for cocktails before heading out to Ship’s Tavern pub for a traditional British dinner. London pubs are happening, hopping, hip places! Ship’s Tavern was buzzing with activity… but we were shown to the dining room, up a flight of stairs. How clubby!!! How pubby! Warm, dark woods, beautiful old furniture and furnishings… even our own private bar and bartender. The menu did not disappoint. Did you ask??? Of course I had fish & chips, with malt vinegar and smashed peas! The fish was haddock and it was of substantial size! Some of the group had English pies (like a pot pie) and some had the special of the evening, ribs… & oh what a plate of ribs! Once our dinner was completed, we headed off to the West End to see Jersey Boys. The West End is about a fifteen to twenty minute walk from the restaurant. Our seats were among the best in the theatre; we were up close and personal so that we could see every expression. I know that Steve and Ken thought they had their own personal stereos, as I was singing all those favorite songs! Big Girls Don’t Cry, Sherry, and of course the list goes on and on. The stage door beckoned us after the grand finale so that’s we headed so that we could meet the cast and hopefully get photos with them! & did we… Yes, we did. Joe Pesci, sneaked away from us though… trying to hide behind a box that he was carrying. He didn’t know what he missed! On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in at Shakespeare’s Head to hobnob with the locals.
After a good night’s sleep we were up early to grab breakfast and meet our transport to the pier in Southampton. All I can say is the traffic around London is absolutely unbelievable! As I learned, the M25, is the largest parking lot in the world! Once we finally reached the Mayflower Cruise terminal in Southampton, embarkation was a breeze. We were onboard and in our room in Riviera Deck shortly. Hunger set in, so off the Horizon Court for grub. It was a late lunch and then we had to unpack our bags so we opted for a late dinner at the lobster buffet. Yes, on the first night of the cruise, Princess generally has a seafood buffet that includes lobster (all you can eat).
The Captain informed us that the seas would likely be quite rough for the crossing of the English Channel so we took our bonine before going to bed. Our wake-up call was 6:15 am and following breakfast, we caught our tour for Honfleur. We have been to the Normandy Beaches and Paris is something that deserves much more than a partial day! So our choice was the quaint and beautiful fishing village of Honfleuer. Honfleur has been the subject of many painters, including Claude Monet. I snapped a few photographs that I hope will do it justice. Among other things, I learned that cows of Normandy wear sunglasses – they are white & brown/black with dark rings around their eyes. Of course, the Normandy region of France is well known for its soft cheeses (camembert for one) and apple brandy! Apple orchards abound here so there is lots of cider and brandy… most with some sort of alcoholic content. On our last trip to this region, I had purchased some Calvados, Normandy’s apple brandy, but it’s long gone now; so that was on my shopping list. Voila! I found it so will be inspired to make a French dish with calvados upon our return home!
Well, as I am blogging, guess what Ken is doing? If you know him, you may suggest that he is doing laundry! How did you know? He’s in the 14th deck laundry room at this very moment, reading the London Times and watching over our laundry. I’m so lucky that he likes to do laundry!
