Back to France

In the morning we had a short stopover in Honfleur, in the Normandy. Honfleur is a little town located at the river mouth of the Seine and belongs to the French department of Calvados. The department got its name from the “Plateau du Calvados”, but none of us is thinking about a plateau when we hear the name Calvados. Most of us are thinking about the Calvados brandy, which is produced out of apples grown in this area and is so well known all over the world.

There are flowering more than 9 million apple trees in the Normandy in springtime and there are thousands of festivals belonging to the apples in spring and autumn. The inhabitants of the Normandy say that they are famous for their “three C”, the Calvados, the Cider (an apple wine) and of course the Camembert, this fantastic tasty and creamy cheese.

Some passengers choose an excursion to see the hinterland and the beaches of the “côte fleurie” in the Normandy. One of the great charms of this area lies in the diversity of its manors, which are generally countrified, pleasant to look at, and always perfectly adapted to the rural setting.

During a longer stop in Deauville, an important seaside resort, the passengers had the possibility for a short beach walk. 

Afterwards they took the opportunity to visit a calvados distillery where they could even test different vintage.

Honfleur itself is a picturesque fishing port characterized by its tall and narrow houses, many of them with slate-covered frontages, even a bit inclined and its narrow alleys. The little harbor is so charming that you can find many painters sitting next to the water front. They feel in the same way inspired from this silhouette like the famous painters Boudin and Monet before them. 

Visiting a «Beauty»

Today we spent the day on «Belle Île», (the Beauty Island). Belle Île belongs to a group of islands just in front of the Bretagne. As the island is so small (84sqkm) we could not expect a large pier, where FRAM could go alongside.  It was just the right time to use our PolarCircelBoats the first time. Boat by boat we reached the little harbor of Le Palais, the capital of this small island. 

There we were welcomed – as it is usual in harbors all over the world - by many gulls.

The first impression we got from Le Palais was dominated by the star shaped citadel built in the 16^th century.

Most passengers went on a panoramic excursion to learn as most as possible about the island. The coast shows a variation between steep cliffs in the southwest, the Côte Sauvage (Wild Coast), and wide and flat sandy beaches on the northeast side. The island became very popular during the 1870s and 1880s when the French Impressionist painter Claude Monet started to paint the rock formations at Belle Île. It was nice to stand in front of the rocks of “Port Coton” like Monet and enjoy the same view he had.

Sarah Bernhard t (1844-1923), at here time referred as “the most famous actress the world has ever known” lived for a long time on this beautiful Island. Here houses are still there and can be visited.

As we were here in spring everything was flowering in different colors. Now we understood the name: ”Belle Île” the “Beauty Isle”.

In the late afternoon we left the Island again, companied by many Gannets.

The day ended with a fruit- and ice carving show in the Panorama lounge.

Bilbao – A municipality of art in the heart of the Basque country

This day we spent in Bilbao, the capital of the Spanish province of Biscay and the capital of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. So we should perhaps use instead of the Spanish name Bilbao the Basque name Bilbo. But it does not matter if we say Bilbao or Bilbo, the only thing that was really important for us was the fact, that the town is amazing.

A free shuttle bus brought us from the harbor into the center of this wonderful city.

Bilbo was found in the early 14^th century by Diego Lopez V de Haro. For several hundred years it has been a smaller but quiet important harbor at the northern coast of Spain. During the industrialization throughout the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th century, Bilbo experienced a heavy industrialization. During this time Bilbo grew very fast from a small harbor to a very important industrial region and became even Spain’s the second largest industrial region.

In the 1970^th the industrial crises hit Bilbao very strong. With a very disastrously flood that over-topped the river banks and destroyed many factories it came to a spontaneous end of the industrial time in Bilbo.

To make it short. Bilbao was able to change in an unique way from a heavy industrial region to an important cultural center. The very famous Guggenheim Museum of modern arts has been only the beginning of this alteration.

 Of course many passengers went on an excursion to the well-known Guggenheim Museum. Everybody was deep impressed about the construction of the museum’s building. Inside the museum we started to ask ourselves “What is art? Where does it start and where does it end?” We made the decision that nearly everything can be art. It belongs to the view you have to the special objects.

 Back on board we had the feeling that our whole day was filled up with art - not only in the museum. There was the art of historical buildings, the art of modern designed houses and bridges, the art of music, the art to make the famous and tasty Basque ham, the presentation of fresh vegetables in the shops and not to forget the art, done by nature, in this great country.

Everybody had its own favorites and that is fine so, as long as everybody enjoyed this day in the magnificent Basque country.

The day ended with FRAM’s very famous fashion show. Has this perhaps been art too?J

A relaxed day in the Bay of Biscay

Today we had a sea day and after all the new impressions we got during the last days everybody enjoyed it,to have time to relax. The Bay of Biscay is well known for strong winds and waves, but we have been the lucky ones, the sea was calm like a lake and the sun was shining out of a clear blue sky. 

It was just the right weather to relax in a sun chair on the open decks.

But of course we could not only relax. We had the possibility to visit the bridge, where our Captain Rune Andreassen explained us the most important instruments.

Our lecture team had prepared lots of lectures with different topics for us again. So the day turned out as a mixture out of relaxing and learning.

In the evening we had an amazing sunset. It was still warm enough to stay outside, enjoy the fresh sea air and dream a bit.

On a pilgrim’s path

The early morning started a little bit misty as the water temperature was higher than the air temperature. But during the morning the sun became strong enough to heat the air and very soon the color of the sky changed from grey to a wonderful deep blue. As the weather became better and better many passengers stand with their cameras outside on the open decks. 

The first we could see from A Coruna was the “Tower of Hercules”, a lighthouse from the Roman times, recently named an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the oldest lighthouse of the world and it is still in use.

Around 10:45 the pilot boat went alongside MV FRAM and the Pilot jumped on board. So we have been ready to sail into the harbor of A Coruna, even companied by the Guardia civil.

Passengers without any booked excursion left the ship as soon as possible to learn the city of A Coruna. Some even used the sunny weather to walk to the famous “Tower of Hercules”.

Just after an early lunch the buses started with our excursions. Some passengers joined the guided bus tour to Santiago de Compostela, the place where, according to the legend, the remains of the apostle Saint James were found. 

Santiago de Compostela continues to be a magnificent place and one of the best examples of medieval town building.

The other excursion stayed just in A Coruna. With the bus and by foot the passengers explored the city, that’s also known as the “City of Glass”. Especially in the Marina Avenue you can see the magnificent glass galleries.

The glass structures from the 19^th century have been built to let as much as possible light into the houses. The excursion ended in a Tapas bar, were the guests had the possibility to test the typical local tapas, mad out of fresh seafood and ham. Of course the tapas came with the best wines in Galicia, Albarino or Ribeiro.

As MV FRAM left the harbor first just after 23:00 many passengers took the opportunity to enjoy A Coruna by “night”.