Honfleur, Beautiful Beuvron-En-Auge and Glitzy Deauville!!
After two days in Normandie, we changed our base to the more Eastern town, Honfleur for two nights. Honfleur is a picturesque medieval harbour town, which was popular with Impressionist painters like Monet and Boudin.
[I note that there is a lovely Eugene Boudin museum in Honfleur which has a great collection of impressionist art, and particularly of the Normandie area. It isn't too large and overwhelming and we really enjoyed it. ]
During historical times, shipowners made fortunes from sea trade from this port of Honfleur. From the wealth of trading, the families built high-rise homes, packed tightly next to each other and especially around the Vieux Bassin, the heart of the port, where a front-row home overlooking the ships was then considered a symbol of privilege. Now, instead of receiving commercial ships or fishing boats, the Vieux Bassin attracts yachts of the wealthy.
In the surrounding areas of the town, the small cobble stone lane-ways are lined with pretty boutique and tourist shops, delicatessens selling local produce and trendy French cafes & restaurants stretching their outdoor seating across the cobbles. It is really worth just walking and exploring this delightful little town.
The following morning we ate breakfast and set out to discover the area. Our first stop was the lovely little village Beuvron-En-Auge (which is very touristy)! This town has been officially awarded with the title "Plus Beaux Villages de France" meaning France's most beautiful villages. It really is very beautiful, and typically norman with colorful timber-framed houses and quaint boutique shops and cafes. Since the village is quite small, no more than an hour is needed here.
Our next stop was the famous seaside resort Deauville. This internationally renowned resort oozes wealth and glamour. It hosts prestigious horse races and in September, the annual American Film Festival. The long beach is gorgeous, wide and very clean. We spent about an hour walking along the famous boardwalk which has the famous beach cabins named after famous Hollywood stars who have visited Deauville over the decades during the American Film Festivals.
We also wandered around Deauville's trendy town center. You feel like your are walking through a museum. Everything is so immaculately clean and gorgeous! Each building is more beautiful than the next. Apparently more than 500 buildings are protected here in Deauville… and while walking around, it is obvious why! We spent about an hour walking around the town and even walked into the famous Hotel Barrière Le Normandy … so chic, so glitzy… so French!
The city center isn't large and is full of beautiful and expensive designer shops, small boutique shops, trendy cafés and restaurants which are open every day. We also stumbled across a lovely local market which is open on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday mornings. We discovered it while they were packing up so make sure you get here earlier if you love markets. From what I could see, the prices at the market were for us 'normal' people who do not shop in the expensive and glitzy designer shops.
After Deauville we drove back to Honfleur and spent the rest of our day just walking around this lovely town.
Enjoy!
For more information about Normandy, press here