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| Honfluer picturesque port painted by many artists such as Claude Monet, Gustave Courbet, Eugene Boudin and Johan Janakin |
We took a day trip a little north from here to check out some cute little towns. Our first stop was at Honfluer, France. This commune is located on the southern bank of the estuary (where the river meets the stream)
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| Historic building that was used to protect the harbor of Honfluer during the 1600’s |
of the Seine river across from Le Havre, France and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandy (Normandy bridge).
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| Honey & Almond and Nutella & Banana Crepes. Popular in France. Delicious too! |
The people that live in this town are called Honfleurais.
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| Restaurant named after me! |
The most popular scenery of this town is the picturesque port. It is an old beautiful row of houses with slate covered frontages, painted many times by artists such as Claude Monet, Gustave Courbet, Eugene Boudin and Johan Janakin.
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| Nice day for a carriage ride |
Honfluer is also a particularly relevant historic site, particularly for Canadians. This building has guarded the harbor entrance for several centuries, but most importantly way back in 1603 when Samuel de Champlain made his first historic voyage to Canada. In all he made 10 trips from this small boat basin, bringing French settlers who formed the foundation of Canada.
Honfleur is only 1/2 hour drive from Deauville and has so many little eateries and a great vibe. Really fun place to eat and enjoy the scenery.
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| Cute cobblestone streets are the norm |
Etretat, France is a little over an hour away from Deauville and is best know for its chalk cliffs. There are three natural arches and a pointed formation called L’Aiguille, “the needle”
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| Porte d’Amont |
which rises 230 feet above the sea. The largest of the three, Manneporte, could only be seen by hiking to its location and after beginning the hike, we turned around and decided we didn’t need any pictures of it, we could see it on Google!
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| Porte d’Aval arch and L’Aiguille, “the needle” just behind it. |
These cliffs have been captured in paintings by the same 4 painters listed above. They were also included in the novel “The Hollow Needle” by Arsene Lupin and the international horror film “Lucy” by Lucy Besson. On a sad note, the Etretat cliffs are best known for the last place a biplane named Oiseau Blanc, from 1927 was last seen. Two French World War I hero’s, Charles Nungesser and Fracois Coli
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| Porte d’Amont and the small ocean front town. |
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| Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Garde erected in 1854 Built in 1854 as a tribute to the lost sailors swept away by the vagaries of the sea, |
were attempting to make the first non-stop flight from Paris to New York City but after its departure disappeared somewhere over the Atlantic.
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| Cement structures to hide the cannons so they couldn’t be seen by the enemy. |
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| Pont de Normandy also known as the Normandy Bridge located in Honfluer over the Seine river in France |
It is considered one of the great unexplained mysteries of aviation. That’s probably correct unless we include the Malaysia Boeing 777 flight that disappeared somewhere over the Indian ocean.
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| Crossing over the Normandy bridge. It was a huge and beautiful. Very steep! |
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| Beautiful landscaped church along the drive to Etretat and Honfleur |
These two little towns/communes were a pleasant day trip. The lush green countryside was absolutely beautiful with the multitudes of cattle and sheep grazing along the hills.
We really enjoyed the trip to Honfluer and found there is a bus that will take us there in 30 minutes time so we may return for a nice evening dinner of French cuisine and a glass of wine.
Other than Paris, we will look into other areas to explore before our departure in July.
May God bless you all!
Chuck & Lea Ann
WorldTravelReynolds 