Portsmouth

En route to Brittany by ferry, we spent half a day in Portsmouth exploring Portsmouth's Royal Dockyard, the home of the Royal Navy for centuries. Today it proudly displays three famous ships from the history of sea warfare: Henry VIII's Mary Rose, Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, and the Victorian iron clad HMS Warrior 1860.

Along with these historic artifacts, which may be toured for a stout fee, we saw several modern-day warships in dock. Sadly, we missed the International Festival of the Sea by just over a month, held no doubt in honour of Nelson's death 200 years ago. Still, Portsmouth made for an interesting stop-over on our way to France.

Date of Our Visit: August 2005