It was 4am of day 7 when the aft starboard watch stumbled, fresh from bed, onto the bridge. After sailing most of the day the engines had been kicked into life, providing the comforting hum we had come to expect onboard.
After a couple of hours we were joined by an accomplice, a French pilot to guide us down the Seine. Although worried a little by the increasingly narrow, and seemingly shallow channel, he guided us with expertise and a heavy French accent.
5 hours down the Seine we stopped at a quaint little village along the river to pick up 12 French locals for the remaining trip to Rouen. After loading our new crew and a swap of our dashing pilot, to the disappointment of some onboard.we sat back, soaked up the sunshine and enjoyed the view of the picturesque houses along the bank.
By 3pm we had reached our destination of Rouen and there were mixed feelings of good and bad at the potential of ending our trip. From our mooring on the outskirts of town we had a good view of the cathedrals and the forthcoming walk gave us the opportunity of burning off the banquet we had received throughout the week.