Honfleur
Old Harbour Town At The Mouth Of The Seine Whose Tall Slate Fronted Houses Around The Vieux Bassin Drew Boudin, Monet And The Impressionists · Honfleur, Normandy
Honfleur is a small port on the south bank of the Seine estuary, facing Le Havre across the water, and one of the most painted harbours in France. Its heart is the Vieux Bassin, the old dock, surrounded by tall, narrow houses clad in slate and timber, many of them now cafés and galleries, whose reflections in the still water have drawn artists for two centuries. Eugène Boudin was born here, and he brought the young Monet and other painters to the coast, a circle that fed into Impressionism; the Boudin museum shows their work. The church of Sainte-Catherine is unusual: it was built largely of wood by the town's shipwrights, with a separate wooden bell tower across the square. The composer Erik Satie was also born in Honfleur, and his house is now a quirky museum. The town is pretty and compact and very busy on weekends and in summer, when parking is hard. Seafood, cider and Calvados are the local staples, and the Pont de Normandie links it to Le Havre.
Vieux Bassin, Honfleur, Calvados, Honfleur, Normandy, France
The Vieux Bassin, the quays, the lanes of the old town and the Côte de Grâce hill above are open at all hours. The church of Sainte-Catherine is usually open every day, with visits limited during services; its separate bell tower is visited with the town museums and keeps their hours. The Eugène Boudin museum, the Maisons Satie and the town's small history and ethnography museums usually close one day a week, often Tuesday, open longer from spring to autumn, close over lunch in the low season, and shut for a period in winter, typically January or part of it; a combined ticket covers several of them, so confirm the current offer and timetable. Restaurants around the harbour serve long hours in summer and on weekends but many close one or two days a week out of season. The Saturday morning market fills the square by Sainte-Catherine. Harbour boat trips into the estuary run mainly in the warmer months and depend on tides. Parking in the car parks near the centre is paid and fills by mid-morning on sunny weekends and holidays.