THE FLIGHT: After 10 hours of travel, on a plane full of 80 screaming French middle school students, 3 High School Groups (all very nerdy, so my guess is they were on a Band trip), and a bunch of Frenchies (enter ALL stereotypical unpleasantries about the French here), we finally arrived at our destination --- a small French seaside town called San Nazaire. We are scheduled to live on the currently docked ship in a shipyard while the boat is still being built around us. And, boy oh boy, it is very much under construction.
THE ARRIVAL: A bus takes us from the airport into said shipyard to where our gi-normous new floating city awaits us. As we approach the ship, I am amazed. It is more than an eyeful. One would have to stand more than a block away to take it in. It is larger than most buildings I have seen. It is as wide as any decent mall, and as tall as any skyscraper. It is truly Epic. 19 stories tall, which are broken down into 6 horizontal zones, so that one can make heads or tails, or should I say forward or aft, out of this place without a map.
As soon as we arrive, we are greeted by an exhausted-looking NCL corporate who gives us the low-down. “Please use the restrooms on this bus, we don’t know when you will get a cabin this evening, and none of the public toilets are hooked up yet.” I thought this was a joke.
“Also, we have had 2 fires in the last month. One of them is suspected to be criminal arson by a laid-off worker who set a pile of mattresses on fire.” Holy crap, what have I gotten myself into?
“So if anyone is caught smoking in or near the ship, you will be instantly terminated and left in France.” I look around to see if anyone else can believe this craziness.
“Just stay out of these workers way. They are very angry that this job is ending soon and that they will all be out of work.” What happened to se la vie?
THE STATE OF THE SHIP: Its potential is magnificent, vast areas of carpeted beauty, marble columns, an $800,000 chandelier that takes your breath away – this is just the reception lobby. Once, completed, this ship will be a palace on water... but its current state is very comparable to a post-apocalyptic disaster. There are literally 20,000 French workers painting, plumbing, sawing, screwing, and connecting wires at every turn. There is endless debris in all hallways. And the stairwells are jammed up with dangerous tools and materials that one must nimbly hurdle over to get to the next floor. There is a constant hum of vacuums to keep the dust under control. Filipinos are adorned with hard-hats, breathing masks, and ear-plugs as they try to make order of the chaos. Stain, paint, and trash fumes dance through your nose all day. It is mayhem. There are very few cleared areas for deliveries, so the other day I saw a crew wheeling in a large table, followed by a guy wheeling in two dead pigs to butcher. Hmmmm... I thought bacon came from packages.
OUR CURRENT CABIN: Our cabin is not ready yet, so we are living in a passenger cabin on Deck 13. It’s quite nice, except for the inconsistencies of water temperature. There are only 2 functioning elevators on the entire ship, and since there are workers carrying giant glass doors, furniture, pipes, etc., we sort of lose out on first priority to the elevators. So, you should’ve seen us trying to get our enormous rolling luggage up 13 flights of narrow and busy stairways... not pretty.
Sleeping is a very big challenge since the ship PA system is being tested nearly 24-hours-a-day. During the nights they play Beatles music, which isn’t so bad. But from 8AM – 8PM it is a variation of a few choices: “Ur, der, trois, termine.” Or “Ah, Bey, Sey, Dey, Ey, Eff, Termine.” Or a bunch of French words that end with the usual Termine”. Needless to say, I bought earplugs and put a pillow over my head.
The good news, a few of us took a train to a city called Nantes. I’d never heard of it, but apparently it is France’s sixth largest city and it is totally charming and wonderful. The people there are lovely. There are cathedrals, palaces, museums, cafes, antiques, and fun ships everywhere.
Highlights of our Nantes Adventure: We ate at a café that brought a chalkboard to your table – this was the menu. I found a sweet little jewelry boutique and bought a kitschy red bead necklace. We also stumbled upon one of the most majestic parks I have ever encountered. I loved it. And I ate the best almond-chocolate croissant known to my mouth! If only I knew more than my 2 French words: merci and si vous plais, I think it would have made the trip that much more delightful.
We are now on our first sea-trial this evening and won’t get to land again for three more days.
A couple of things you might find interesting: It doesn't get dark in France until about 10PM. They put a sunny-side-up egg on their pizza. Their dogs are unleashed. Au revoir (okay, three French words).
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