Honfleur


Hof
We woke up to pouring rain.  Quite the bummer since we planned on chilling at the beach.  Can't complain as our weather has been mostly sunnny since we've been in Europe.  Plans shifted to  a small road trip for lunch.

20 minutes down the road from Deauville is the  small fishing village of Honfleur.  Small homes and buildings stacked next to each other.  Rambling cobblestone streets.  Boats of all sizes docked at port. Certainly filled with tourists or local visitors but the town has kept its integrity.  The shops are not filled with tourist t-shirts.  There are clothing, kitchen, antique, art, jewelry etc that was unique and owned by individuals.  Just like the good old days.

We had lunch at L'Absinthe which was certainly fancier than we had envisioned but went with it.  Very French.  I so wanted to take a picture of the cheese cart but didn't want to draw attention.  Best and most beautiful cart of cheeses I have ever seen.

Appetiz
We each were given a small cup to start.  Creamy cauliflower mousse on the bottom and a red pepper mousse on top.  Ridiculously rich.  Even the plates that were set on the table were beautiful. 

Fishplate
Fred and I went for the class shellfish plate.  As they say, when in Rome.  Snails, different types of shrimps, large sea crabs, cockles, clams (large and small) and oysters.

Sole
Josh had the sole with a mushroom crust.  Pure butter.

Dessert
I so wanted the cheese but we really had enough.  A few desserts from the chef.  The strawberry squares were heavenly.

Carousel
We walked through the town.  Each town seems to have their own carousel.  Love a good carousel.  And the sun started to peek out.

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When we got back we hit up the beach. There are massive clay courts here for tennis.  A pony rink too.

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At the beach, which is so deep, there are cabanas with movie stars names on them.  Probably for the annual film festival they have here.

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We just walked down to the water.  The hotel, which we didn't realize, provided no umbrellas or towels so we sauntered back.  

Went back to the room for a little more r and r before dinner.

Comments (Archived):

  1. Yule Heibel

    Claude Monet used to paint in Honfleur (see Rue de la Bavolle, eg. (now in Boston’s MFA). From your post, it seems Honfleur is still as charming as it was back then, too!

    1. Gotham Gal

      Just as cute. So nice not to see a McDonalds or GAP.