If the murky metropolis of CHERBOURG is your port of arrival, it's best to head straight out and on: despite some busy pedestrian streets and lively bars, the town itself lacks anything of substantial interest, and there are some much more appealing places within a very few kilometres to either side. Napoléon inaugurated the transformation of what had been a rather poor, but perfectly situated, natural harbour into a major transatlantic port, by means of massive artificial breakwaters. An equestrian statue commemorates his boast that in Cherbourg he would "recreate the wonders of Egypt", though there are as yet no pyramids nearer than the Louvre.