Dunkirk, France

 We picked up the pilot in a new (to us) way this morning.  He was dropped onto the ship by helicopter over 2 hours before our scheduled arrival.  It must be very challenging to get into Dunkirk.  There is a lot of marine traffic in this area of the English Channel and lots of sand bars around.  Then we had to go through a lock to get into the Dunkirk harbor which isn't the most attractive one we've seen.  Cruise ships aren't that common yet here, so there are really no amenities.  We had a tour that picked us up right at the ship, but there was also a shuttle bus to take you to the city center which is about 15 minutes or so away.

Our tour today was "Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo" which included a visit to the Dynamo Museum.  It is very well done with an easy-to-follow display about the rescue operation.  One new thing I learned was that while tens of thousands of French soldiers were evacuated along with the English troops, almost all of the French were returned to occupied France and were either put into prison or executed.  So the success of the operation really depended on your perspective.  An amazing victory for the English, not so much for the French.

We then had a short walking tour around central Dunkirk and were given free time.  We had another nice lunch, but this time our waitress made a better effort to communicate.  She still spoke no English, but at least tried with hand signals, etc.  I used Google Translate for those things on the menu we really couldn't figure out.  

Lovely 18th-century tower once used to guide ships

And an ugly more modern "imitation" just around the corner.  Much of Dunkirk was rebuilt very quickly after WWII and it was cheaper to do it in a more modern style.  Unfortunate.

 

Jean Bart, a famous privateer beloved by the people of Dunkirk because he "stole" back ships that were on their way to Dunkirk with life-saving water and supplies that the Dutch had held up.

These ladies serenaded us for a minute at the plaza.  Our guide thought they were a "hen party" (bachelorette party).  I believe there may have been some alcohol involved.

 

It's very hard to see, but this is one of 2 weddings we witnessed at City Hall.  The red decorated VW was the "getaway" car for the newlyweds

A better view of the beautiful City Hall.  It was damaged in the bombings, but most of it was saved.  And there is another wedding party there.  

We also went to Fort du Dunes which was one of three huge brick fortresses built in the late 19th century for defense.  They fell into disuse when more modern weapons made them obsolete.  The only remaining one, which we saw, was used for storage mostly.  It was then used as a base of French operations for Operation Dynamo.  And, then after the war, it was used by families who were left homeless until new homes could be built.  No photos I'm afraid.

We ran into the trivia gang at cocktails, so we all went to dinner together at Compass Rose.  Another jovial evening there before we headed in to catch the last 30 minutes of the show by the Brit Tones, a four-man harmony group that performed lots of music that our generation recognizes and was quite good.