Coastal Europe on board the Ocean Adventurer

April – May 2018

On this Zegrahm Expeditions trip, the Ocean Adventurer took us to see a part of the world and history that is seldom explored this way – from the Middle Ages, through years of religious persecution, to the German occupation of France and the Channel Islands.

Our trip began with a return to Lisbon and Porto – tours of the old cities, a Fado performance, and a tasting of the region’s most famous product, Port.  We sailed on to Spain and journeyed to the culmination of the important pilgrimage destination, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. In Bordeaux and La Rochelle, we saw massive submarine pens built by the Germans in the early days of World War II.  And we enjoyed a wonderful wine tasting in Saint-Etienne. There were more D-Day related sights in Sainte-Mere-Eglise and Saint-Malo.  Mont-Saint-Michel and the Bayeux Tapestry were amazing.  

The Channel Islands, 14 miles from the French coast but part of England since taken by William the Conqueror in 1066, were occupied by Germany in June 1940.  Eleven months after D-Day, they were finally liberated May 8 and 9, 1945.  By lucky happenstance we visited Jersey, Guernsey and Sark on Liberation Day, watched the parade and other joyous celebrations!  

At the end of the trip we visited Omaha Beach, Arromanches, Mulberry Harbour, and the American Military Cemetery at Normandy.  These are sacred and moving locations that Cheryl and I had the privilege of first visiting in 1971, barely twenty-five years after D-Day.