C‘est très magnifique … are the words I‘d remember from my French classes at high school. Honfleur is a pearl of Normandy and with its special location at the Seine mouth is being impacted positively by the weather gods with beautiful skies, sunsets and cloud constructs.
No wonder that Honfleur is also Normandy‘s capital of Impressionism. Honfleurais is what the inhabitants call themselves, and Eugène Boudin has been one of them. Not only is he known for his own art: returning from realism back to Impressionism after returning home from Paris, but also for inspiring and mentoring Claude Monet.
That said, our way to Honfleur has led us from Fécamp along the cost and the port town of Le Havre towards the Sein mouth. As usual with these capes which we have to round: the wind was nothing like the forecast, increased to 20kn and gusted from the side, just as we had lowered our sails to motor into the river. A mere 20 minutes later, the wind was gone again, the sun came out and we saw the first people sun-bathing on the beaches of the river bank.
Into Honfleur we had to catch the right time: the lock opens only every hour. Luckily our XO and chief navigator (Lisa) has timed the arrival just perfectly. The lock is also known for communicating only in French. André happily took on the task, babbling his way and confirming of what he didn’t know what he was confirming. … long story short, we made it into the look but had to switch positions last minute. Another challenge was the current in the river pushing us with 3 knots upstream and requiring our captain to leverage his best maneuvering skills.
Our approach into Honfleur was nothing but lovely: houses from the Middle Ages, a beautiful city centre with a carousel from 1900 and small tall house, and the best part of it: not only was it sunny but also our pontoon was right in front of this picturesque waterfront. We had to wait for the bridge to let us into the vieux bassin which is at the same time one of the most famous sights.
In the middle of the city, with zero winds, a pole position and sun at above 20 degrees, we both directly knew: this is what we are standing up early for, making tidal calculations and conquer waves which previously would have felt nothing but threatening. We enjoyed a lovely drink in the sun and Lisa cooked a simply but lovely dinner. Then we ventured into the city by foot closing the day with a drink from the opposite promenade: watching our boat lit by the last rays of sun in the vieux bassin.
On the second day, we slept in (do you see the pattern?) and went to the organic market in the centre of town. There also stands a wooden church giving us Viking vibes which is dedicated to and built by seafarers. That’s why the church roof looks from the inside just as a boat turned upside down.
Back on the market, fhe fresh légumes et fruits were astonishing and we bought fresh sourdough bread, veggies and some other stuff of which we didn’t know that we would need it. After that we went to a Café for a quiche, croissant and cappuccino. Since rain had been forecasted, we also managed to set up our cockpit tent („Kuchenbude“) just in time and began getting ROCI back in ship-shape (i.e. cleaning and tidying up).
Our plans for the afternoon are: going for a run and visit one of the beautiful restaurants for dinner. Most likely we will stay another day waiting for a good weather window either to visit another town on the coast of Normandy or going straight to Cherbourg.
What we noticed? The Normans are a really friendly folk. With our little French, they are super helpful and have no problem with helping us out utilising a little English or even German (Wallnussbrot! Eine Tüte?). The Normans welcome us with open arms no matter if we are in a restaurant, bistro or any other place. Madame La Capitaine de Port welcomed us already in the lock, and gave us a little goodie bag with maps of the regions, only to check us in at the boat a few moments later.
Addition to Honfleur
Addition to Honfleur. We waited for a day of rain to pass and just enjoyed life there after: run, coffee on the beach, local oysters and wine, and much much more …
We leave being grateful and knowing that one day we will be back.
