August  1, 2026–Scandinavian Serenade, Part 1:  London, England to Honfleur, France

On Tuesday we flew into London, where we spent a couple of days sightseeing.  Then yesterday morning we were transported (I thought that sounded more elegant than bussed) to the Port of Southampton, where we boarded the Regent Seven Seas cruise called “Scandinavian Serenade.”  I know, dumb name but I think the Regent people were trying for an alliterative vibe and they missed the boat. (And I am not sure if I can stick with this idiotic title for the remainder of the cruise). Last night we crossed the English Channel and this morning when we woke up, we were at the mouth of the Seine in Honfleur, France.  

Since we had a couple of days in London before boarding the ship, I was excited to be able to see the exhibition, “Queen Elizabeth II:  Her Life in Style,” which is at Buckingham Palace this summer.  You might be thinking one of two things right now:  1.  Wow, Ann is a major nerd if she was dying to go to an exhibition of QE II’s clothing, and 2.  Did Queen Elizabeth II even have a style?  As for the first thing, I love period clothing so if that makes me a nerd, guilty as charged.  And yes, Queen Elizabeth had style.  When we think of her, it’s in her later years with the monochromatic pink coat, pink shoes, pink handbag and pink hat.  But when she was younger she was actually quite fashion forward.  And she was quite petite, by the way, not the matronly figure we now imagine. 

We also took a tour of the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace.  The Mews is the working Royal transport headquarters that houses the sovereign’s historic horse-drawn carriages, state motor cars, and carriage horses.  The gold coach pictured below is the 260 year old Gold State Coach that has been used at every coronation since that of William IV.  It weighs four tons.  By the way, the horses and horsemen are statues. 

Other pictures from London:

On our stop today in France there were several tours available, but we opted out because they all sounded exhausting.  One was called, “Paris on Your Own,” and involved getting up at the crack of dawn for a nine hour day. First a three hour bus ride to Paris where you were dropped off somewhere central (whatever that means) for three hours to explore on your own.  Then you got back on the bus for a three hour ride back to the ship.  Three hours to see Paris?  That’s insanity.  So, we stayed in Honfleur, where we spent a leisurely afternoon walking around, shopping, and stopping to eat crepes at a sidewalk cafe.  Honfleur is a historic port town in Normandy, famous for its Vieux Bassin (Old Harbour). If you think Doug’s sunglasses are weird, as I did, he informed me they are Oakleys.

It’s still too early to tell if we will meet cruise friends or cruise enemies (well, not enemies exactly, but at least cruise antagonists).  And anyway, cruise friends are like a summer romance: they bloom and fade.  I will keep you posted on that front. Tomorrow we will be in Antwerp, Belgium.