Friday, February 23, 2018 - 14:38 by ce-press
Rouen’s season began in mid-January with a call from Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ Balmoral and will continue through to December 11 when Christmas market calls are booked.
Rouen is preparing for the 30th anniversary of its Armada, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of D-Day next year. Held every five years for 10 days, the first event was held in 1989 to celebrate 200 years since the French Revolution.
Over 50 vessels were welcomed during the last Armada and, next year, Azamara Journey, Cruise & Maritime’s Marco Polo and Phoenix Reisen’s Deutschland will be visiting during the event. Passengers from cruiseships in Honfleur and Le Havre will also be able to see the spectacle.
In January passengers from Balmoral visited the Museum of Fine Arts founded in 1801 by Napoleon, which houses the most valuable collection of impressionist art outside Paris. The Joan of Arc Museum, including the very rooms where her trial, condemnation and eventual pardon took place, combining history with the latest 3D technology to bring the period to life, was also popular as was The Panorama. This is the only one of its kind in France, consisting of minute attention to detail, viewed from ground level or from various gantries inside a 28m rotunda. Some of the passengers ventured further afield to Giverny and Paris.
