Le Havre

At the end of my first adventure in Normandy, I took a ferry boat from the port of Le Havre to Portsmouth in England.  I had rented a car to explore and I returned the car near the port.  I had a few hours to explore, before the boarding the boat.  I had lunch at a working class bar near the harbor, good local fish and fried potatoes.  I wandered around the neighborhood and explored the fresh fish market.  I just pulled it up on Google Earth, the market buildings are still there.  

I was early for the boat boarding (aren't I always early for such things?)  There were only about a dozen foot passengers, most of the passengers were in cars or trucks that rolled on-rolled off the boat.  The foot passengers were directed onto a shuttle bus, that drove about half way to the boat, then we climbed 2-3 flights of stairs, and boarded on a gangway.  Very strange.  As the boat was leaving the harbor another boat cut in front of us, and the boat lurched and tried to stop.  We slowed enough to avoid a collision.  The boat was late arriving in Portsmouth, not surprising.  When the ship staff was giving instructions for disembarking, they apologized for the delay, and explained that when the boat slammed into reverse to avoid a collision leaving Le Harve, they had blown one of the engines and we had crossed the channel on half power.  In Portsmouth, the shuttle bus for the foot passengers came onto the boat, and dropped us in front of immigration.  It is the only time I have crossed the Channel by boat.  I am glad I did it.  

Do you look at Google Earth to see if places you visited in the past are still the same?