Crème Brulee

Last Sunday we were in another French port, Cherbourg. After sanitizing our rooms and having them inspected, my shift serving food in the Windjammer followed by boat drill, I was left with only three hours to be off. Kristin, Maude, Kat, Robert, Kevin and I all got off together. We stopped for a bit in the terminal to taste the pastries and local cider that was offered. BLAH I didn’t realize European cider usually means with alcohol. But the sugar cookie was good, a sort of fudge-taste.

Stephany and Brandon were in the terminal when we got out. Because we had been in Paris while there was a holiday going on, the trains had stopped early. They had to take two taxis to get back to the port, and they made it just in time to watch us sailing off in the water. After staying the night in a hotel, and taking another taxi to meet us at the next port, their total cost was around 1,000 euros to get back to the ship. OUCH. It makes me even more cautious with public transportation now, especially here in Europe cause they like to just randomly stop working or are always running late.

Our group left them to board the ship and headed out to Cherbourg. It was a bit of a walk to get to the town, we had to maneuver through abandoned warehouses and cross a river. We passed several guests heading back to the ship and watched as a boy tragically tripped over a bump in the road, face planted, and lost his brand new soccer ball he had just bought to the depths of the river. Robert was snapping away pictures of the graffiti while Kevin (the new Schooner Bar player) and I discussed California. Turns out he grew up in Burbank, the area I was living when I was dancing in LA. We talked fondly about Porto’s the bakery that was on my street, and the Grove mall where I had worked. What a small world!

Since we didn’t have enough time to get out of the dock town, we decided to grab some lunch then head back. The information lady in the terminal said there was a free horse and carriage ride to see the town, so maybe I can do that next time. I learned Kat is allergic to horses; it’s amazing to me that after 8 months of nearly 24/ 7 contact with my cast, I still don’t know everything about them. But I suppose that’s a good thing, LOL. After walking through the deserted streets of restaurants and shops, we started to worry that nothing would be open. Finally we found a cute little place, tucked away behind a stone archway.

The inside was beautifully decorated with bright colors. Kat and I ordered a bread and cheese fondue to share. It was so delicious! We also all had small glasses of the house cider and again I tried it, but I still hated it. I finished off my French cuisine with crème brulee, which I don’t know if I have ever liked before this one. I had a more vanilla cream flavor and I think is a lot better than how they make it in the states. But… DUH. :D

A French family came to eat after what looked like a first communion. I liked the atmosphere, I wasn’t sure how French people would take to us after all the stories I had heard from my friends and even sister. I know they dislike Americans, or really anyone who doesn’t speak French, but I haven’t been mistreated so far. Maybe they just make fun of me behind my back or even in front of my face, since I wouldn’t be able to tell! Oh well!

After our lunch we had to return back through the maze. We started to run through the streets because we hadn’t given ourselves enough time for leisure walking AND to be lost. HA HA. Kristin speaks a little French from studying in college, so she was helpful in the restaurant and she was able to ask a man on the street where the dock was. He was kind enough to walk us to the right street and point us the rest of the way. We ran into one of the ship’s doctor, who was lost as well. Except he was confident that the ship was the other way, despite our argument that we had just come from there. So we left him to walk that way, not sure what time he made it back on!

We made it in plenty of time, just had to jog a bit. Kristin purchased a bottle of the cider and we got on the ship. I layed down for a bit because running right after I had just ate ALL THAT, the cheese was starting to rumble in my tummy. Good thing we didn’t have a show! I’m not sure why we dock here, if it is a popular French town or has a certain attraction. I should do some more research for the next time we cruise there.

Brandon and Stephany had their hearing with the Captain, Head of Security, Hotel Director, and other important officers the next morning. They were each given a final warning, which lasts on their records for two years. Basically, if they get into any other trouble, they are fired. But luckily, they can stay with us for the rest of our cruise. It would be so sad to lose two people with just three weeks of our contract left. We signed on together, we need to finish together!