Cherbourg, France

May 2, 2023

A city with a rich maritime history since early Roman times, it lies on the deep Cherbourg Harbor on the little Cotentin peninsula, in the region of France known as Normandy. Cherbourg (with neighboring city Le Havre) sits at one of the shortest points between France and England near the beginning of the English Channel, giving it essential maritime strategic importance throughout history (the Straights of Dover are narrower, but further east and their harbor is shallow). Modern Cherbourg is part Navy, part tourism and part industrial port. We sailed into the protected harbor at mid-day. With only six hours in port, you need to prioritize whether you wish to explore the city or take a tour. If we have never been to a place, we generally choose the wander on our own option. 

The two things I wanted to do was tour the Cite de la Mer (a museum of maritime history displaying a huge nuclear submarine and an aquarium) and walk to the Liais Gardens. We docked next to the La Cite de la Mer – making that stop easy. The ship provided a shuttle bus that ran to the city – but the walk was only 3/4 mile, so we saved the 8E and hoofed it. 

We don’t have roaming data on our phones (it’s extremely expensive on US cell plans), so navigation can become a challenge. We always look for a tourist office for maps and such, but one was not readily available. After a bit of wandering, we found a city map mounted in a small park with a statue, took a picture we could use as a reference, and as we turned – there was an entrance to the Liais gardens. 

The Liais Gardens are listed as a remarkable garden, and is complete with pond and a “Rapunzel” style tower. On a Tuesday afternoon, young couples sat and picnicked. It is one of those relaxing places to meander and enjoy the sunshine and variety of fauna. 

We also had a mission – I had to mail something to the states I had forgotten to mail before I left, so was in search of a post office. We saw a letter carrier on the street, who with my terrible French and her equally bad English let us know to make a turn and “keep going”. I remembered I could get stamps at the many “tabac” shops, and easily found one, was assured I had the proper stamp for an airmail letter (1.8E), but we couldn’t find any letter boxes. In a roundabout way, we found the post office – closed from noon-2PM (it was 1:30). We used this as an excuse to stop into the café across the street with a nice list of desserts. I chose the profiteroles

– they were wonderful. (While we sat, the letter carrier we had spoken to wheeled by.) We entered the post office at 2:05 and there was already a long line, but since I had the stamp, I found the box marked “tout destinations” (all destinations) and dropped it in. 

La Cite de la Mer entry fee is 19Epp, no senior discounts, and some sections would be a challenge for a handicapped person (there was a special entrance to the submarine – but once inside, someone in a wheelchair would be unable to navigate). Le Redoutable is a massive nuclear-powered submarine.

The amount of insulation and casing around the generator and pipes in themselves covered the entire rear third of the vessel.

The officer’s quarters were less than half the size of our interior stateroom on the cruise ship, and some of those rooms held 4 junior officers. It was definitely a French ship – the mess hall had an espresso machine. The second major attraction housed here was the aquarium. It was nice, but if you’ve been to the Coral Seas of Epcot, they are similar (and you could dine next to one of the giant aquariums at Epcot).

The third display was dedicated to the Titanic and the lives of those in each class of travel. In 3^rdclass (aka “steerage”) rooms were bunk style (similar to the crew of the Redoutable), with a central mess hall. 2^nd class rooms closely resembled those in a modern cruise ship, without their own private washroom, but with access to the Promenade, a grand dining room and a library with lounge. 1^st class had massive rooms with four post beds, sitting areas and private washrooms, with access to a swimming pool, gym and tennis courts (located in the lower decks). 

Now for a brief history of Cherbourg:

After the fall of Rome, the settlement located on the harbor was conquered by the Vikings in the 9^th century, by 1053 it was in the possession of William the Conqueror. Its possession went back and forth for over 400 years, often attacked and ransacked despite improved fortifications in 1300. France finally, permanently reestablished possession in 1450. The modern city we see now started to take shape in the late 17^thcentury. For the next one hundred years the Kings of France alternated between developing the harbors of La Hogue and Cherbourg as their prime military ports. Napoleon further ramped up efforts to enlarge and protect the port in plans on an invasion of England. Somehow, even an American maritime battle off the coast of Cherbourg took place as the Confederate CSS Alabama was sunk by the Union’s USS Kearsarge (immortalized by the artist Manet:  The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama). As ties between England and France improved in the later 19^th century, the port became a stopping point for vessels carrying wealthy passengers from England and the US. It was the only stop the Titanic made after setting sail from Southampton before heading out to sea. 

WWII brought a resurgence in the city’s military importance. By mid-June of 1940, the Nazis had fortified the deep port, providing them with an ideal area to attack Great Britain both by sea and air. Most Americans know the area as the “Normandy beaches” – Cherbourg was the main goal of the Normandy invasion. Taking Cherbourg would give the allies control of the English Channel. As we know from multiple accounts, the bloody, hard-fought battles along the beaches gave the allies an essential and key victory. Tours of the beaches and memorials are available. 

Someday, I hope you have a day to come visit. Few cities have had such an impact on western European history.