Honfleur

Today we arrived in Honfleur, which is along the coast of Normandy and dates back to the 11th century. It has always been a busy port and turned over many times until France finally took control.
Our excursion was a tour of the local town called 'Explore the Medieval Town on Honfleur'. We started out with a local guide who took us on a walking tour of the city and explained all the architectural wonders that have happened here over time. The houses were made of stone, for the rich and wood for the rest of the people. The outside of the stone buildings were decorated with carvings that indicated how the owner made his money like coffee beans, fruits, vegetables and the scales of justice for judges and lawyers.
The wooden houses were very different. They had one complete beam across the front of the house made of a single timber. The wooden beams were labeled and held together with pegs. In medieval times the land owner could just tell the 'renter' of the house they built to move. Since the beams were labeled and held together with pegs they could disassemble the house and move it to a new piece of land.
Many of the houses were covered in black slate to resist the salt and corrosion from the sea. Not just the roofs but also the facades. As with all European cities, they are narrow, winding and covered in cobblestones. One unusual thing that the house builders did was to make the house wider as they added floors since they were only taxed on the amount of land that the house touched, not the coverage of the land. So they had narrow houses with many floors.
One of the most areas that sets Honfleur apart is the rows of narrow houses lining the harbor and canals that are a mix of very different architectures over the centuries.
We visited Saint Catherine's Church, the largest wooden church in France and dates back to the 15th century. The bell tower stands apart from the main church to protect each other from fire. The church looks like the inside of a ship's hull since it was build by ship builders and that's what they knew how to build and lumber was easy to find.
We walked past an ancient light house, to the top of the hill overlooking the city to a small church with excellent views overlooking the city, bay and ocean. It was about a 45 degree walk up the road to the church and then a trail with switchbacks to get back down to the city streets. The view was as far as we could see since the weather was nice, sunny with some clouds.
We walked the many cobblestone winding streets looking in the shops. There were different districts for food and bars, art, paintings, ceramics. There was a Ferris wheel and carousel ride in the city along the ocean front.
We also learned where one of our sayings comes from. Above board and under the table. The shops had windows to the outside and a butcher would sell meats out the window. They would flip down the window board and fresh meats were 'above board' and the not so fresh, old meats were 'under the table.
It was an excellent day discovering a city we had never visited, learning as much as we could about Honfleur and having a great time all day long.
Then back to the ship for our day tomorrow in England...En savoir plus