Honfleur and surrounds

This morning we went for a walk around Honfleur to learn more about the town.

In the 15 century Honfleur was a big sailing port for overseas voyages and trade. This included the voyages by Champlain who opened up a lot of Canada and established Quebec City, his voyages left from Honfleur. Much of the trade with North American Indians in furs and animal skins went through the town and they generally had good relations with the Indian tribes. A big driver was in the trade of indigo from the indigo plants to create blue dyes which were used in embroidery and clothing. Sugar was also key trade item.

All this meant Honfleur became a very wealthy town with lots of nice houses and use of expensive products like slate in their construction - some buildings are covered in slate, not just the roofs. But all this changed in the 17th century when war with Britain occurred and the wealth started to disappear. However by the 19th century the railways made Honfleur more easily accessible from Paris so it started to grow again as people wanted to holiday on the Normandy coast.

In this area of Normandy there were raids by Vikings in particular Danish Vikings, further along the coast it was Norwegian Vikings. Their impact can be seen in the large wooden church I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, the front area is very much Viking style.

The church is built from walnut wood and has a mix of styles from Viking like I mentioned to gothic touches to the fact there were a lot of boat builders in Honfleur so the church ceilings look like upturned boats. The whole thing was built with axes and no saws which is astounding. The locals were well aware of the dangers of having a wooden church which is why the bell tower was built separate to the main church, if the bell tower was hit by lightning then it may burn but the rest of the church wouldn’t.

After scoping out the town some more and having a good chocolate crepe for lunch (as you do) we then headed to a local town Pont-l'Évêque which is famous for its cheese and dairy products. The farm land is very green and lush so perfect for dairy farming.

There is a big 11th century church in the middle of town called Église Saint-Michel. This church and indeed the whole town were badly damaged in the battle for Normandy in WW2 but the church and the town have been rebuilt.

After checking out the town for a bit we headed to a local distillery that makes calvados (a type of brandy) from apples and pears. They explained the process to us and showed us around the grounds.

We then headed to the coast at Deauville which is right on the southern side of mouth of the Seine. Today was cloudy, overcast and blowing a gale but we went for a walk along the boardwalk. Unfortunately the heavens opened and it bucketed rain and even hail so we were all a bit wet by the time we made it to the bus. This is a very wealthy area with a big focus on horse racing and breeding so there are some big estates with fancy houses.

Tomorrow we move west along the Normandy coast.Baca lagi