Vikings & Veterans: Sailing the Seine in Paris and Normandy (2024)

The River Seine conjures dreams of gilded bridges in romantic cities, and yet, it was also a major raiding and trading route for the Vikings, and, in more recent history, as a strategic location for some of World War II’s most infamous characters, and where the events that began the end of the war occurred.

It has always been an important river, yet its importance belongs not only to those of the past, but also to us, the travelers of today.

I had the fortune of being invited on a press trip with Viking River Cruises, on the line’s seven-day Paris & Normandy sailing. We sailed on the Viking Radgrid, which was built in 2020, on the second voyage of its 2024 European sailing season.

It was my first time in Europe and in France, and I learned so much.

The itinerary began with two days in Paris before heading to the region of Normandy, following the route that the original Vikings once took after they raided Paris in the early Middle Ages.

We stopped in La Roche-Guyon, Vernon, Rouen and Les Andelys, before heading back for one more day in Paris, though by this time, high water levels meant we had to port in Le Pecq, a few miles outside of Paris.

Porting in Le Pecq didn’t stop any scheduled activities, though. We also had opportunities to visit other towns, such as Auvers-Sur-Oise, where Vincent Van Gogh spent his last seventy days and where he and his brother, Theo, are buried, and the picturesque town of Honfleur.

J’Adore Paris: Days One and Two

Paris is a lovely place in the springtime. While you can expect the overcast skies and occasional inclement weather that is typical of springtime, Paris is still a lively city, full of the beauty that has given it a reputation for romance.

It’s also busy preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The world’s largest sporting event is expected to draw millions of spectators, and the city is preparing accordingly. Many of the major attractions, such as the Place de la Concorde, were surrounded by concrete barricades and made transiting by bus or car a bit more challenging. Eventually, we were told, many of the streets we drove would become pedestrian-only for attendees.

While in Paris, I enjoyed a walking tour of the area directly outside our ship, the modern Beaugrenelle area, which was about fifteen minutes away from the Eiffel Tower on foot. I also took a panoramic tour of the city—the photo opportunities were amazing—and went on a short trip to the Palace of Versailles. I may have only had two days in Paris, but it was a wonderful introduction to the city.

La Roche-Guyon & Auvers-Sur-Oise: Day Three

We left Paris by night and sailed to our second destination: the small town of La Roche-Guyon. The town is home to less than 500 inhabitants and its own château, which is its largest attraction. The château is also accompanied by a beautiful 300-year-old manicured garden, in which everything is grown to eat.

My first view of the French countryside was beautiful; everything was vibrantly green, even under overcast skies, and the white blossoms of the garden’s pear trees were in full bloom, radiant.

I’d chosen to take an optional tour while in La Roche-Guyon, visiting the château, learning about its former inhabitants (including, during France’s occupation, Erwin Rommel) and also about how people in the past ate their meals.

One thing I loved about Viking’s tours: they always offer optional experiences depending on ability level. For example, we had an option to climb the town’s 12th-century watchtower that was built to keep the region safe from English invaders. I chose to climb them, and while it was a challenge, the view at the top was worth it.

In the afternoon, after we’d returned to the ship to eat lunch, I chose to go on a different tour, one that took me inland to the small town of Auvers-Sur-Oise. There, our guide took our small group around the areas of the town where Van Gogh had lived, painted, died and was buried.

Along the way, she gave us an introduction to the people now called Normans: Vikings who found better opportunities in trade and diplomacy along the Seine than their raiding had given them in the past.

Auvers-Sur-Oise itself is charming; it offers a chocolate shop, a boulangerie, a tourist office, several parks and plenty of things to do for a Van Gogh lover. All across town, small bronze circles with the name Vincent had been pounded into the pavement. These were places where he’d once set down his easel to paint. Van Gogh lived in this town during the last seventy days of his life, and during these, he painted over seventy paintings.

By the time we came back to the ship, it had sailed to Vernon, and we spent the evening there before departing to Rouen.

Remembering Jeanne D’Arc: Day Four

We stayed in our next port, Rouen, for two days. As the capital city of Normandy, it boasts over 100,000 residents and a history dating back to ancient Rome. I spent my first day there enjoying the town’s historic center, which largely consists of old stone walls and the half-timbered buildings that are typical of Norman construction from the Middle Ages onward.

There is also a more modern side to Rouen: these parts, which are home to newer buildings that are markedly different from their half-timbered older siblings, had been bombed during World War II and rebuilt in the decades that followed.

Yet Rouen’s claim to fame goes back centuries prior to the Second World War: its gorgeous 11th-century Notre-Dame de Rouen Cathedral is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, and its historic city center is forever memorialized as the location where Joan of Arc was famously burned at the stake. There is now a church dedicated to her where she was killed.

Rouen is a great place to shop, visit historic sites, eat great food, practice your French language skills and just enjoy French living. While it’s a fairly large city, it also feels quite quaint, so it’s easy to walk around and immerse yourself in the city’s charming atmosphere.

World War II & D-Day Memorial: Day Five

The next day was the most popular excursion of the entire cruise, and in fact, the majority of cruisers I talked to said it was the main reason why they’d chosen the itinerary.

It was Viking’s curated WWII Memorial excursion. There were two available, one for the American participation in D-Day and the other for those within Commonwealth countries, like Canada and Australia.

This year, the excursion is incredibly special, as June 6, 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

The American tour included a visit to the Caen Memorial Museum, a visit to the Normandy American Cemetery and to Omaha Beach, where one of the worst battles had been fought. The vast majority of my fellow cruisers had chosen to take one of the two offered excursions.

The day began earlier than usual with a quick breakfast, then we got into our coach bus and whizzed down scenic country highways north, towards Caen and the Atlantic coastline. It was a short road trip, about an hour or so, until we reached the Caen Memorial Museum and learned about the human toll the Second World War had on the world, and the local impact it had on the French—and Normandy, in particular.

We ate a private meal at the museum, then headed towards the Normandy American Cemetery, which is managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Readers, it’s a very special place. From the manicured gardens, one can look out to the sea. Each of the nearly 10,000 cemetery markers face west: towards home. The Walls of the Missing ring around the backside of the towering bronze “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves,” statue, an homage to those who lost their lives on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

While at the cemetery, Viking held a special memorial service for those who participated in the war, and for those who served in the military afterward. Several cruisers stood in a row as we honored their service, and the service of their parents, some of whom had served in WWII on D-Day itself.

Our last stop was Omaha Beach, where two memorial sculptures stood as a testament that many people, many between the ages of 18 and 24, had lost their lives to defend freedom worldwide.

Today, it’s a peaceful place. It becomes idyllic under a sunny sky, like a scene from an impressionist painting. Such terror had happened there, and yet, the beach had healed, becoming once more what it had always been: a place where the sea touches the land in an endless cycle of ebb and flow.

Les Andelys: Day Six

Our sixth day of the cruise brought us to Les Andelys, a small area comprising two towns that had blended together over the centuries (Le Petit-Andely and Le Grand Andely), along with the historic Château Gaillard, which was built in the last years of the twelfth century by Richard the Lionheart.

It was also Easter, and I spent the morning wandering the storybook town, enjoying the flowering trees and tulips that bloomed in every direction I looked, and the rare blue sky and sunshine beaming overhead.

While most of the stores were closed, a few were open or opened in the afternoon, and I popped into a few to find some locally made souvenirs, along with some more traditional ones (fridge magnets are always a great souvenir).

After a lunch break, I headed back into the town for a walking tour, which took us up to the Château Gaillard on a steep, paved walking path. There was an optional, unpaved shortcut that I took along with two others, and it got us to the top of the castle in less time. No matter which way you take, the view is spectacular!

Yet by the time I made it back down to the town, a thunderstorm had begun. Hail poured down for about twenty minutes. I sheltered under an eave of a building and waited it out, happy that I’d worn my waterproof boots and only had to worry about my wet clothes and hair.

Spring in France, and in Normandy in particular, is unpredictable. While none of the weather ruined my cruise, I would advise travelers visiting during the spring to pack accordingly: at least one raincoat and waterproof boots.

I then made it to the town’s boulangerie to console myself with a pain au chocolat and a chouquette, which is a small choux pastry, before heading back to the ship.

Le Pecq, and Back to Paris: Day Seven

This was the last day. In the morning, we took a short bus ride to the Château de Malmaison, the famous home of Napoleon’s first wife, Josephine. He’d lived with her there for years during their marriage, and it was there where he made the decision to sell the Louisiana Territory to America. It was a beautiful place, with a sizable garden with tulips everywhere.

In the afternoon, I took an optional excursion to the Louvre, which included a dinner at a traditional brasserie in Paris. While the Louvre was crowded (it was the day after Easter, after all), I’m happy to have visited with a guide who was well-versed in dealing with the crowds.

I loved getting to sit down and eat in Paris for the brasserie dinner portion of the tour. My dinner consisted of a tomato and mozzarella salad, a leg of lamb and a large profiterole for dessert—a delicious ending to an amazing week.

A Week of a Lifetime: à La Prochaine

While the week may have ended, I will carry the memories I made in France for a lifetime.

It was an incredibly easy journey: I didn’t have to worry about how to get to the ship from the airport, or how to transit to the places I wanted to visit, or even how best to communicate with French shopkeepers (I received a lot of great tips from our cruise director— a happy “Bonjour!” goes a long way).

Not only that, but I found myself constantly walking in step with history. I’d studied it in college, and found myself standing where Joan of Arc was killed, following the trade route of the Vikings, or stepping on the same sand where so many young men died in one of the worst conflicts in modern history—that left an impression on me.

France—and perhaps, the rest of Europe, or any so-called Old World—is a lot like that beach, I think. It walks hand in hand with history, both the good and the bad. Its many centuries of human conflict, ingenuity and all the complexities of life ebb and flow around it, centuries of births and deaths and creation and destruction, all memorialized for the traveler to discover.

“It happened here,” France beckons. “Come, and admire.”

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