Honfleur is situated at the mouth of the River Seine. The ferry port of Le Havre is a short drive (17 miles) and is the most convenient port of entry. Caen is about 50 minutes drive, Dieppe about 70 minutes and Calais about two and a half hours.

The sandy bathing beaches of Deauville and Trouville are situated along the coast and take about 20 minutes by car. Monet's Garden at Giverney, near Vernon is about 90 minutes away and Paris is about 2 hours by train (from Le Havre station).

In Honfleur itself there are many ways to relax during your holiday. There are the lovely narrow cobbled streets lined with half timbered buildings. There are 130 restaurants - not bad for a port of only 8,500 residents. Impressionist Eugene Boudin lived at Mont Joli above Honfleur and there is a museum holding the treasures of several of his contemporaries including Claude Monet. Honfleur is the cradle of the early beginnings of the Impressionist movement so you would expect a substantial museum to reflect this fact.

There are many art galleries, antique shops as well as two or three bric a brac shops and halls. On the 2nd Sunday of each month there is a collectors market just around the corner from our apartment. On Saturday mornings, there is a fresh produce traditional market in the market square outside St Catherine's church. Here you can buy fresh farm products as well as prepared, cooked foods for your lunch. Down around the old Rue de la Ville is a more modern market where you can buy clothes, shoes, kitchen and home ware and gifts to take home.

Composer, Eric Satie was a son of Honfleur and there is a museum dedicated to his unique work and nearby there is a lovely riverside walk out to the Seine estuary and the sandy coast of the English channel (not suitable for bathing).

In the municipal gardens you will find peace and tranquility amongst the flowers and the Romanesque water feature and in the Rue de la Ville, the Grenier a sel is an exhibition centre with regular features, collectors fairs, concerts, etc.

Amongst all the above - and more - delights of this jewel in Normandy's crown is the old dockside area of St Catherine's quay. Lined with good quality restaurants and art galleries (including Katia Granoff) this is just the perfect place to sit and watch the world go by...a veritable feast for the eye. Grab a baguette, open a bottle of red and sit on the quayside and spend an hour or two people watching.

There are go carts and Pedaloes as well as the municipal gardens
and various museums - Boudin and Satie as well as the local town museum and the prison.

St Catherine's wooden church with two aisles is worth a visit as well as the bell tower opposite.

The Saturday morning produce market is a must. And on the 2nd Sunday of each month there is a " flea" street market. In Rue Haute there is a second hand shop with various items of French furniture etc.

Further Afield