Europe 1 06:54, August 04, 2022

As in The weekend walks, Vanessa Zha begins her columns by taking us on a journey and giving good plans for the summer.

Marion Sauveur focuses on a product every day.

We take the direction of Cherbourg, one of the destinations to discover this year, the city is celebrating a triple anniversary.

The 20th anniversary of the city of the sea. City very active around events, exhibitions, meetings to allow everyone to access knowledge of the ocean and above all to understand its importance for the future of people and the planet. 

Another celebration: the 110th anniversary of the disappearance of the Titanic, which had made a stopover in Cherbourg. 

And then the 55th anniversary of the launch of the first French nuclear submarine, the Redoutable. 

Where is the Redoubtable today?

Within the City of the Sea. It is imposing and weighs 9000 tons.

You can get on board: it is the only submarine in the world that is treated in an immersive version that allows the public to visit it for an hour.

What's fantastic is that you dive into the secrets of the lives of submariners.

Bernard Cauvin, the founding father of the Cité de la mer, reveals a little more about their daily life.

What are golden ears?

These are the submariners who were trained for almost five years at the sound interpretation center in Toulon.

And they listen to the tone of the boats, their nationality, their activity and their dangerousness.

More than perfect ears they are analysts.

They have a special status, their position is central, they report directly to the commander.

The ears of the Submarine, essential since he is blind.

This visit is very strong.

We live the confinement on board, we do not come out unscathed.

It's very well done, we enter the submarine, which the crew could have left 30 minutes earlier.

There are no benchmarks for 70 days.

We understand how much of a human adventure this is.

An address to put your suitcases on the surface this time?

A hotel with a view of the port: La Régence, with a Bristol atmosphere.

The Hôtel le Cercle, a charming 3-star hotel on the Place de la Mairie.

And if not on the bed and breakfast side: the manor of La Fieffe.

A beautiful 16th century residence on the heights of Cherbourg.

They also have a gite, the Gite des Fougères, very elegant in an old stone bakery.