Standing on the Cliffs of Forever: My Normandy Wake-Up Call

I'll be honest—I booked the Celebrity Beyond's 10-day Mediterranean cruise mostly because my travel agent said it was "relaxing" and my life desperately needed that adjective. I work in marketing. My idea of vacation is sleeping past 7 a.m. and not checking Slack. When I saw Normandy was a port stop, I thought, "Cool, I'll walk around some charming French village, grab a croissant, take some Instagram photos." That's what I planned. That's absolutely not what happened. The Celebrity Beyond is a stunning ship—I'll get that out of the way. The cabin was spacious with this incredible veranda that became my morning coffee spot. The dining options are genuinely excellent. I had this incredible sea urchin pasta at Luminae that I still think about. But here's the thing nobody warns you about European cruises: sometimes you dock somewhere and your entire understanding of what a "vacation" means gets completely upended. We pulled into Normandy early on a gray June morning. I remember the sky was overcast but not threatening—just this soft, silvery light that made everything look like an old photograph. Most of my cabin mates were excited about hitting the shops and the restaurants. I was i…