An Afternoon in Honfleur, France
When I visited Étretat last month, we rented an Airbnb in Le Havre. Apparently, my landlady grew up in that town! During an afternoon apéritif with my family at their home next door, she recommended that we stop in Honfleur! She said it was a beautiful and historic french town.
It turned out to be great advice, as Honfleur is only ten minutes out of the way driving from Le Havre to Paris. We decided to spend a quick afternoon there, before heading to Paris for the weekend.
Honfleur is in the French Department of Calvados. It sits right at the estuary that connects the Seine to the English Channel, just across the Pont de Normandie from Le Havre. Honfleur was historically an important trade city, due to the convenient location. What is especially iconic of the city is the Vieux-Bassin, or Old Harbor. This port is the subject of many paintings, including some by my favorite artist – Claude Monet!
The port is truly beautiful. I can see why it was such a popular subject to paint! The houses that surround the port were all built between the 16th and 18th centuries, each skinny in true northern fashion. The first floors of these houses have mostly been converted to restaurants. After walking around a bit, we chose a nice restaurant along the harbor to eat lunch while enjoying some cidre.
Though the port is what I automatically envision when I think of Honfleur, the rest of the city is equally worth exploring! Towns like this are my favorite part of being in France – strolling enchanting cobblestone streets filled with old buildings, bakeries, and gorgeous cathedrals. Honfleur has a couple different neighborhoods with slightly different styles. It’s a great city to explore by foot. Honfleur was just as charming as my landlady said it would be! Well worth the detour. 🙂
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11 Comments
aisasami
Honfleur looks like a beautiful little town by the sea. Did they have any special food dishes?
ameliapollock147
France is a wonderful place to visit. Hope I can visit someday
catlifeandstylegmailcomCat Mariano
Haven’t explored a lot in France, only been to Paris and Marseille. But this seems like a really nice place for weekend getaway and chill. Cool post btw xx
Polly Amora
Honfleur looks chill and relaxing to explore. I wish I’ve stopped here when I went to France last May.
Devyani day
Oh my- this looks amazing ! Would love to go there someday
Luna S
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this city prior to now! It looks like it is a lovely city to visit, I love the classic look of the buildings and the bay looks nice.
Marjie Mare
I love the name Honfleur. It’s also a lovely place that I could add in my list to vist.
Joanna
What a lovely place! I need to visit it next time I am in Normandy. Thanks for sharing.
Jimmy
looks great! hope you had fun as i did reading!
Michael Satterfield
I need to get back to France, it has been far to long.