JC PETREMANNJM ENAULTCLASSIC BOAT MAY 2015 61ONBOARD
COTENTIN PENINSULAa meal, the best way to approach is probably to skirt
the eastern road along the seafront where exposed
features of the ancient fort wall appear along exotic,
flower-lined walkways, a nod to the historic ships that
used to land here and planted rare foreign seeds.
Once the swing bridge is in sight your nose will tell
you you’re in the right area as the local dish of roasted
scallops or filet de porc aux pommes will waft
invitingly towards you. It is notable that Cherbourg
has gone from having no Michelin-rated restaurants 30
years ago to now having five in the town (one with a
star and the others with Bib Gourmand) and two
nearby where you can eat for as little as €15. Most
yachties tend to drift towards the tapas bar Le Yalta.
The decor is modern, food is good and plentiful, there’s
a €22 (£16) menu and they serve good wine (I
recommend the €25 chablis), and for the more
adventurous there’s either La Satrouille, where
complex flavour and delicacy is key, Café de Paris
which serves excellent seafood and L’Antidote further
into town on Rue du Blé, famed for its onglet steak
(utterly divine). Many of the restaurants proudly
proclaim their local farmed salmon to be the best in
the world due to the constant flowing tides around the
pens inside the harbour defences. Just inland you’ll find
the infamous Le Pily. We were advised that one has to
book well before you plan to leave England. AlthoughClockwise from
above: Le Mont
Saint-Michel;
Port Racine; Utah
Beach monument;
Château de
Ravalet; Saint-
Vaast-la-Hougue,
NormandyAbove: harbour
walls at
Cherbourg.
Right: the port’s
central market250 visitors. It provides safe entry at all states of
the tide and is well-located for visiting sailors
smack in the middle of Cherbourg-Octeville
town; and you need only cross the road to find
yourself among the quiet, tall café-lined streets
with their lofty shade and slowed pulse. In an
excellent drive to beautify the town even more,
if you’re registered as a National Historic Ship,
berthing fees are half-price.
The modern marina itself, rebuilt from being
bombed to rubble in the war, was finished in 1975,
given a 12-year breather and promptly dashed to bits
by the storms of 1987. As a project so large as
rebuilding such a monstrous port was an ominous
task, it was done in stages. To announce it is totally
finished is a bit like saying you’ve finished work on a
wooden boat: there’s always more. The next project is
a 400-500 berth extension on the west side of the
harbour with another wall to connect it, all planned
for 2016 and a bigger dry-dock area for smaller boats.
Another big phase is better road and cycle access. So
far the work that has been done is transformational.
The sparklingly new clubhouse next to the visiting
pontoons has huge free showers, a nursing area, tourist
information, a library with English newspapers, a place
to do your washing-up, 24-hour access, free Wi-Fi, a
telly that shows constant weather updates and the
thing that made me feel the most welcome was that in
the charging area for computers and phones, the plug
sockets were both French and English. To top it all off
there’s an excellent restaurant, L’Equipage, upstairs, so
you can walk, bedraggled and hungry from your boat,
be seated by a Maitre D’ and order the wine before
your crew have finished the tiresome job of tying up.
If, however, you feel like a leisurely stroll into town forCB323 Cherbourg.indd 61 24/03/2015 14:20