Following Normandy’s best kept secret (Veules-Les-Roses), here’s the least best kept one; Honfleur. Honfleur is one of the prime tourist destinations in Normandy, second only to the Mont St. Michel. It’s not only popular with the foreign tourists but also with local French ones. Day trippers from Paris, even from within Normandy, will be visiting this very pretty and scenic fishing village. And even if you have never visited Honfleur, it’s likely you’ll have seen it, since many artists, past and present, have painted/drawn/captured the town.
It’s been popular from the beginning. The first mention of Honfleur was already in the year 1027, and it was the Duke of Normandy, Richard III, who mentioned it. In those times, Honfleur was an important harbour, not only for cargo but also fishing. And today, it still is a very active fishing village.
Honfleur totally survived the Second World War, with not a single bomb falling on the town (one of the few that escaped unscathed). It was liberated by the Belgians in August 1944.
The coastal fishing fleet have their own, dedicated, harbour:
But the most visible harbour, the one taking a central place in the town is the pleasure boat harbour, also known as the “vieux bassin” (the old harbour), built in 1681:
This harbour is the central place for your visit. Most of the restaurants are located alongside the quai. People meeting up with each other, usually meet up here.
This is where you’ll find the painters making painting of the harbour, strollers, hikers, and even fishers. But the main attraction for visitors is during lunch or diner:
Every house alongside both sides of the harbour is either a restaurants, an ice-cream shop or an establishment where you can get some sort of food. But the restaurants dominate this area, and at lunch/dinner time, it gets very crowded.
But this area, although very nice to look at, is very touristy. Food quality leaves a lot to desire.
Through the town you will find other restaurants which are better and not so touristy. In fact, anywhere you go there are restaurants. For a town with some 8,000 inhabitants, they have over 150 restaurants.
TIP: If you’re planning to eat in Honfleur, don’t take the first one you see at the harbour, instead wander through the town first.
At the other end of the harbour, you will find an imposing and very old building:
This was an official house of the King’s Lieutenancy, the official representative of the King. The house was part of the town’s defence and was in the 17th century surrounded by fortified walls, that have all since disappeared. If you look closely at the wall, you’ll see where the fortified walls were knocked down.
Honfleur lighthouse – Phare Jetee Est
There is an older lighthouse, but it’s more inland and decommissioned. The lighthouse “phare Jetee Est” is just on the outer limited of the harbour.
The lighthouse was built in 1843 and measures 12 meters high.
The Old Lighthouse
Towards the other side of Honfleur, towards the Buton beach, you will find an old lighthouse, dubbed the Hospital Lighthouse, or Old Honfleur Lighthouse.
The lighthouse was built in 1853 replacing a wooden lighthouse. In 1908 the lighthouse was upgraded. It is still in use.
Sainte-Catherine church
One of the main tourist sights of Honfleur is the Sainte-Catherine church.
From the photo above, it looks small, but it isn’t:
And that is because the steeple was built away from the church to protect the villagers from the lightning strikes. The initial construction of teh steeple and then the church was started in the 15h century.
It was built using local expertise, which in this case came from the fishing boat builders. Therefore the church resembles an overturned ship’s hull, a construction you can see along the coastal areas in France for either churches or market places. The Sainte-Catherine church is France’s biggest wooden church.
This is the steeple of the church, separated from the church itself. The tower had indeed been hit by lightning several times.
NOTE: For more information and photos of the Saint-Catherine church read our review, click here.
Saint-Etienne Church/Maritime Museum
On the other side of the old harbour you’ll find this museum:
The Maritime Museum is located inside the old Saint-Etienne church, built in the 14th century. After the French revolution it served as theatre, storage (especially for herring), trading floor and in 1976 it became a museum for maritime objects.
On the right, in the small alley way is the “salt alley”, accommodating storage areas for salt. There used to be three of them, built in 1670, now there are only two left. The salt was used by the fishing industry to salt the fish. Each storage could contain 10,000 tons of salt. Today the old storage buildings are used by the town for receptions, exhibitions and presentations.
The Town Centre
Walking on the narrow cobblestone streets will give you a good impression what the town looked like during the Middle Ages.
Most houses are still in their original state, and most are classified as “National Monuments” (meaning the owners can only change interior or exterior with governmental permissions).
Although most houses are now restaurants or shops, many are still used for living.
The details of many of these houses are amazing. Glancing up to the rafters, you’ll be surprised what you see:
But not everything is old..
This is part of the tourist office of Honfleur. But the vast majority of the town are very old and delightful scenic.
There are quite a few shopping streets, but none are pedestrians only, this due to the fact that streets are narrow and there is no space for pedestrians only. Many of the shops are for art and antiques.
Houses are built in the traditional Normandy way; wood and in between “torchi” (a straw and mud mixture).
The more well-to-do houses were built out of stone, often flintstone.
The town hall is very recent and lies slightly away from the touristy areas.
The old merry-go-round that has been in Honfleur as long as I can remember(in fact, it started in 1995). During the winter, the carrousel moves to another city, but when it returns, you know the tourist season has started. This merry-go-round is allegedly from 1900, but somehow I doubt it.
The Mont-Joli Panorama
After a slight hike uphill (you can use the hike to go and visit the Notre-Dame de Grace chapel), you can have a spectacular view over Honfleur. This is the Mont-Joli panorama.
View over Honfleur at the Mont-Joli
Mont-Joli area of Honfleur
Memorial at the Mont-Joli
Closeup view over Honfleur at the Mont-JoliThe Artists
Honfleur was (and is) a very picturesque town, so it saw many artists capturing the beauty of this very scenic town. The reason it has so many tourists is obvious…. it’s very pretty. Here are some of the artists that have come to apply their art in the town (a link, symbolized by a “⇠“, to the artist’s works will appear when published. A “*” indicates that the artist did not work directly in Honfleur but instead worked outside of Honfleur in a nearby town).
- 🇺🇸 Boggs, Frank Myers ⇠
- 🇷🇺 Bogolyubov, Alexey (Alexei) ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Bonington, Richard Parkes ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Boudin, Eugene-Louis ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Braque, Georges ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Bruce, Mary Louisa, Countess of Elgin and Kincardine ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Bruelle, Gaston ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Burel, Henry E. ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Burgess Jr, John ⇠
- 🇺🇸 Butler, Theodore Earl ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Callow, William ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Cooke, Edward William ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Corot, Jean-Baptiste Camille ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Courbet, Gustave ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Cyr, Georges Albert ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Daubigny, Charles-Francois ⇠
- 🇫🇷 de Saint-Delis, Henri ⇠
- 🇫🇷 de Saint-Delis, Rene ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Dibdin, Thomas Colman ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Dubourg, Louis-Alexandre ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Dufy, Jean ⇠
- 🇮🇪 Dunlop, Ronald Ossory ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Friesz, Othon ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Garneray, Ambroise Louis ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Gernez, Paul-Elie ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Goeneutte, Norbert ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Gudin, Theodore ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Guerard, Henri ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Hervier, Louis Adolphe ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Huet, Paul ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Isabey, Eugene ⇠
- 🇳🇱 Jongkind, Johan ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Kay, James ⇠
- 🇳🇱 Kickert, Conrad Theodore ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Le Gray, Gustave ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Le Sidaner, Henri ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Lebourg, Albert ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Lee-Hankey, William ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Leprince, Auguste-Xavier ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Luce, Maximilien ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Maclet, Elisee ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Madelain, Gustave ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Manzana-Pissarro, Georges Henri ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Marquet, Albert ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Mathon, Emile Louis ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Monet, Claude ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Mozin, Charles Louis ⇠
- 🇺🇸 Norton, William Edward ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Parrott, William ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Pecrus, Charles Francois ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Petitjean, Edmond Marie ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Roullet, Gaston ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Schafer, Henry Thomas ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Seurat, Georges ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Signac, Paul ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Stanfield, Clarkson Frederick ⇠
- 🇧🇪 Stevens, Alfred ⇠
- 🇳🇱 Ten Cate, Siebe Johannes ⇠
- 🇧🇪 Timmermans, Louis-Etienne ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Truffaut, Fernand-Fortune ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Turner, William ⇠
- 🇨🇭 Vallotton, Felix ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Wadsworth, Edward ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Webb, James ⇠
Summary
Honfleur is a great place to spend the day. BUT!! No matter what time of the year, winter or summer, sun or rain, it’s always full. There’s a reason there are so many restaurants! So arm yourself with patience, particularly when looking for a place to park your car.
On a side note, Samuel de Champlain left from Honfleur and founded the city of Quebec in Canada.
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