Our third January journey was only a day trip to the nearby town of Honfleur, located northwest of Paris on the English channel. It's a teensy little town, with a population of about 8,000. To get there, we had to take the train to nearby Le Havre and then catch a bus across the estuary. On the way, we went over the impressive Normandy Bridge.
As was now commonplace for all of our trips this month, nearly everything in the town was closed. It was a good thing that our only real goal was to have some seafood.
The old part of the village was gorgeous, with little smashed together square buildings lining a reflective inlet of water crowded with colorful boats. It reminded me a little of Sweethaven from the live action Popeye movie.
We didn't have to go far to find wonderful food. We only really looked at one menu, belonging to a little restaurant overlooking the inlet called L'ecailleur. Just reading the menu made us salivate, and the food even more so.
One of the most delicious pieces of fish I have ever had in my life!
Mi-cuit (soft cooked chocolate cake with hot molten chocolate inside. Served with crème anglais.
Literally, "Instruction Manual on How to Lead and Govern Cattle"
We took a stroll along the waterfront, following the signs toward Erik Satie's house. Since there only appeared to be a dozen people in the town that day, we were fairly certain it would be closed when we got there. Sure enough, and as had happened at many other places we visited that month, we encountered the following sign when we got there:
"Annual closure from January 1st to February 10th. Reopening: Saturday, February 11th at 11:00 a.m."
The house was surrounded by a high stone wall, but I was determined to see it anyway. I found the lowest place where I could reach the top and stretched my arm up high enough to take a picture over it.
Another interesting public restroom, complete with a giant anchor.
The big guy on the right had some sort of historical significance. The little guy on the left was for sale and I wanted it.
The name of this store could be translated literally as "From the Cock to the Ass". I found that hilarious.
We wandered slowly back to the bus station to make the journey on the bus back to Le Havre and then on the train back to Paris. Honfleur turned out to be quite the lovely little day jaunt.
As was now commonplace for all of our trips this month, nearly everything in the town was closed. It was a good thing that our only real goal was to have some seafood.
The old part of the village was gorgeous, with little smashed together square buildings lining a reflective inlet of water crowded with colorful boats. It reminded me a little of Sweethaven from the live action Popeye movie.
We didn't have to go far to find wonderful food. We only really looked at one menu, belonging to a little restaurant overlooking the inlet called L'ecailleur. Just reading the menu made us salivate, and the food even more so.
Carpaccio of scallop with passion fruit.
Local oysters with house vinaigrette.
Charlie's fave: Apple tart.
After that unbelievable lunch, we decided to explore a bit. We knew all the sites and museums would probably be closed (and they were) but we were content just to look around.
A typical street.
An impressive public restroom.
Charlie was thoroughly taken with this bookshop's window display. Lucky for our bank account, the place was closed.
We took a stroll along the waterfront, following the signs toward Erik Satie's house. Since there only appeared to be a dozen people in the town that day, we were fairly certain it would be closed when we got there. Sure enough, and as had happened at many other places we visited that month, we encountered the following sign when we got there:
The house was surrounded by a high stone wall, but I was determined to see it anyway. I found the lowest place where I could reach the top and stretched my arm up high enough to take a picture over it.
So there, I saw the damn house.
A miniature watchtower.
The (closed) maritime museum.
Charlie wanders down a cobbled alley.
We wandered slowly back to the bus station to make the journey on the bus back to Le Havre and then on the train back to Paris. Honfleur turned out to be quite the lovely little day jaunt.
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