Honfleur to Dinan and Inbetween

Day 3

 

Waking in Honfleur, we had breakfast & went to the Farmers Market about 4 blocks from out hotel. It was a riot of colorful food, people and activity.

 

 

Yesterday remember I told you about the local church that was built by shipbuilders? Behind the market, across from the church, is the bell tower. I think they built the church first and then the bell tower was too heavy for the church, so here it sits! But it does still ring!

 

 

 

Have you ever seen so many strawberries? This was only half of them!

 

We drove along the coast to see the Bayeux Tapistry. It was an amazing piece of cloth. So much so that Mr. B and I had to go through twice. Because it is so very fragile, no photos were allowed. We bought a book and postcards so I will show it to you later.

 

It is a Unesco a world Heritage sight.

 

We had a wonderful galette lunch by the river. Tres bien!

 

Buckwheat crepe, ham, onions, cheese, tomato & an egg on top. Yum!

 

 

Across the street is the cathedral. What a beauty! There was a wedding going on with lovely music! As soon as that one was done, they began setting up for another one to start within 10 minutes!

 

Inside where relics from St. Therese de Luiseux - an earlobe and finger tip. Perfect to see right after lunch or pretty much N E V E R !

 

 

But I'll share it with you because you are so special to me!

 

Jumping in our car we debated on going to the beaches at Normandy. Mr. B. and I value the importance of this day in 1944 but also realize there are many places that deserve to be honored. So after much discussion, we decided to go to Utah beach in silence.

 

 

With several more hours to go before checking into our hotel in Dinan, we decided to get on a Toll road and go!

 

View from our room.

 

 

We had dinner just 5 doors down the street at The Canterberry where we ate 5 years ago and it was so amazing, we just had to go back.

 

Papplemouse as a starter...

 

Mussels and Fois Gras for an appetizer. Yumm-ooh

 

Monkfish and beef as an entree. Mmmmm....mmm

 

And Cheese as a course. So delicious but starting to fill up now!

 

And then comes this lucius dessert.

 

Berry Tarteen! - Simply sent me over the top!

 

Great day but I am exhausted! Time to say goodnight!

 

 

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Honfleur

Day 2

 

After the typical jet lag period, we shook out the cobwebs and explored Honfleur. It is overcast but very muggy. It's so lovely to be woken up by church bells!

 

 

We walked down to the Quai and did some window shopping but mostly looked at the amazing half-timbered houses and enjoyed watching the people go by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. B made us reservations tonight in a restaurant that was highly recommended by Karen Brown travel books and Trip Avisor. I'll let you know! But the fun part is that he is getting more comfortable using his French and it seems to be appreciated.

 

Time to visit St. Catherine's Church with its separate bell tower across the street......it dates from the second half of the 15th century and it is the largest church in France constructed entirely of wood. Inside you can see that it was built by shipbuilders as the ceiling looks like an upside down boat!

 

This is St. Therese of Lisieux. I have been reading her memoirs at home - "The Story of a Soul". She led an amazing life and died of TB at 26 years of age. She lived about 30 minutes from here.

 

Cobblestone streets are everywhere. It is amazing to watch babies in carriages go jiggle & jog through the streets and sleep right through it!

 

 

Time for a little plate of cheese & refreshments at an outdoor bistro.

 

 

 

Heading back to our hotel I noticed that some places love all white flowers like my mom & me!

 

 

As we turned into our courtyard, I noticed that our hotel has some flowers like we do at home. My mom calls them the Wild Orchids from Santa Cruz. I guess somehow they found their way to France mom!

 

 

 

Inside one of the hotel sitting rooms.

 

Time to put our feet up for awhile, then off for dinner!

 

 

 

More to come tomorrow!

 

PS - I don't mean to get personal, but just when was the last time you saw PINK toilet paper??? 1950....1960? Well here you go! Cheers!

 

 

 

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Over the Ocean

Day 1

 

We arrived in France this morning after a smooth 11 hour flight. One of the reasons I wasn't in a total "deer in the headlights" fear about flying is because we had enough miles to fly First Class.

 

 

See that little button on the far right? The one that looks like a bed? Well my seat actually slid down flat into a cozy little bed. I had my own TV with plenty of movies to keep me happy! And of course, the wine was flowing!

 

 

 

We enjoyed a 5 course dinner that started with prosciutto and melon.

 

They even served the traditional French cheese platter after dinner. Mmmmm!

 

Arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport about 11 am, left us plenty of time to to Rouen for sightseeing & lunch and then onto our home base of Honfleur.

 

Or so we thought.....

 

After 3 hours at the car rental place, standing in line, we were finally exhausted. We found our car and were on the route towards Paris but being careful to go NW before hitting Paris. Oops!

 

We had pulled over to look at our maps when some very friendly cops pulled along side of us to inquire as to what the heck we were doing. Mr. B explained in a French-English combo that we were lost. They pointed us in the right direction and were off. We chose to get on the wrong freeway once again which dumped us in Par-ee!

 

Now Mr. B can wear the T-shirt that says "I drove in Paris!"

 

We are all settled in our room at the Hotel l'Ecrin in Honfleur.

 

 

This is actually a view from our 3rd floor window. Our car is the cute little silver one......I hope we can find it tomorrow!

 

Bon Nuite!

 

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