Honfleur - The Heart of Normandy

Honfleur, the heart of Normandy

Is it true that France also has its own Copenhagen? Seriously, that what I was thinking when I arrived in the harbour of Honfleur, it was such a perfect blend between Copenhagen and a bit of Bruges. So charming and preserved, almost picture perfect. 

Honfleur is a darling and picturesque port and old town, attracts at least 3 million visitors a year, no wonder this place is one of most popular place to visit in France. Old port in Honfleur is surrounded by colourful slate fronted houses, galleries, cafes, and those cobblestoned streets, I feel like walking back in time and in the same time wondering what Monet and Eugene Boudin were doing. 

local life

Typical shop

Soap, anyone? :-)

The old town of Honfleur is built around 17th century and the charming harbor as a character of the city, is still an active fishing port and marina unit now. Too bad we didn't have much time as I d like to visit Eugene Boudin Museum, Boudin was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors, he was born in Honfleur and befriended with young Claude Monet, Boudin persuaded him to give up his teenage caricature drawings and to become a landscape painter.

st etienne church honfleur

city hall of Honfleur 

We spent only few hours in Honfleur, walking around and picture taking, the sun was brightly shining & there was a strong wind blowing when we were there, typical weather of end of summer.  

This charming seaside town need to be put in your itinerary during your trip to France because it s only 2 hours from Paris. See, France is not only Paris !