Honfleur is a gorgeous seaside town in Normandy which is about one thousand years old. Isn't that incredible?
Once a very important port, the old harbour is now mainly a tourist attraction.
The town is known for its fascinating buildings of different colours and façades, most with slate tile roofs.
Walking through the narrow streets of the old town there are plenty of pops of colour:
Whaaa?
This is St Catherine's Church - over 500 years old and made entirely of wood.
After the original stone church was destroyed in the 100 Years' War the locals wanted to rebuild it but really needed to be spending their money on town defences.
The clock tower was built separate from the church hall (in case of lightening strikes).
So they built the church from wood with plans to upgrade it one day and well, you know how it goes, they never quite got around to it.
Lucky really, because now St Catherine's is famous for being the largest wooden church in France.
We ate lunch at Le Cidrerie, a crêperie recommended in the Lonely Planet Guide. It was a cozy restaurant with friendly staff who welcomed the kids with paper and pencils - plus they served great crêpes.
Normandy is famous for its apples and they make super-scrummy apple cider which we made our business to drink whenever we could.
If you like the cider then you'll no doubt like the apple brandy (Calvados) as well. This dish came to the table with the Calvados-soaked apple in flames, which you then doused with the butter and Calvados syrup.
Oh yes, yes, yes.
After lunch we managed a bit more of a walk-around before a big storm blew in.
This was taken just before the heavens opened and we ran all the way back to the car.
Honfleur would be heaven on a sunny day, sitting by the harbour with a crisp, cool cider in hand. And no children.
Hope you're all having a great week. It's 34ºC (94ºF) here in our corner of Provence today, summer is finally here!
20 comments:
Wow how beautiful, thanks so much for sharing it with us.
Devon
Honfleur would be heaven on a rainy day.... with no children :) Beautiful pictures!
Even before you mentioned the colors, I was going to comment that I love the colors in that very first photo. And what are those Amber chairs in that last photo made of. Can you pick me up about 10 of those for around my dining room table? You have a minivan, right?
m.
p.s. Fred would die dessert!
I LOVED Honfleur so much and wish I'd taken 1000 more photos. It was completely dead in March, so accom and dinner were no problem - many buckwheat crepes, moules and ciders later. Sadly we never did get into the special chocolate shop off the church square much to daughter's dismay (oh, those confounded French with their wacky opening hours!), but loved the port to pieces. It was there that our kids slept in the funny Dora the Explorer bedroom in the attic eaves of the historic hotel across from the church!
I'm thinking the Rose-ay is going down nicely at the mo? Stay cool!
It looks like a wonderful place to visit. I love all of your pictures from Honfleur, but especially the one of the carousel...gorgeous.
What an amazing place! Very medieval looking. And 34 degrees is great Rose drinking weather.
Wow! Arent you getting a bit tired of living in Heaven? I love a fun Merry-go-round and too bad about embarrassing the kiddies! (mum-people are looking at you)
Thanks for the photos - we've spent many a happy weekend in Honfleur - they brought back great memories.
I continue to enjoy visiting places in my own country that I have not seen yet through your photos. I do miss those crepes and the real cider from the time when we vacationed in "Bretagne" as a kid.
Thank for the beautiful tour.
Annick
It wouldn't be Normandy (or Brittany for that matter) without a little rain!
I love those chairs in the last photo.
And what is the deal with that toy doll soldier thing??? Seriously. What is going on there?? x
Great pictures, so Honfleur too goes on my list.
27 euros for the toy doll? for this price I hope that the helmet comes off!
Merci for bringing us more of La Belle France. This is an area that is new to me...and I'm loving it already. I've never been a cider drinker...always seems to give me a headache, but I'd be willing to try this brew...along with the crepes! And that church is magnificent. But no chandelier??? Great pics as always Kirsty, and thanks for the tour.
27 Euros, are they serious?
Love the photos as always and those chairs in the last photo are amazing.
Love the Clock Tower, the wooden church and the cobble stone streets.
Hi sweet lady, it's good to be back on your blog again! And a post about Honfleur could not be prettier - we went there on our first holiday ever and love every single bit of it, although fairly touristy.
great captures!
xo
Maaike
Such a beautiful town! The pictures really convey the fact that it is filled with history. The houses in the city centre are so pretty and the church is really stunning. We visited the wooden church in Kiruna this week and I loved the warm atmosphere of all the wood and the smell of tar so typical for preserving and protecting wood in the North.
Wonderful photos, brought Honfleur completely to life. If you have'nt been there these are the photos for you
Beautiful as always! Thank you, Kirsty.
Beautiful as always! Thank you, Kirsty.
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