Grandmere,
If you can manage the time in Honfleur, I'd suggest a visit to the Maisons Erik Satie, a fascinating and unique "museum" which was established to rescue this composer/artist's birthplace. I can guarantee an experience unlike any you've had before, looking at the installations and listening to the music played throughout.
http://www.ville-honfleur.fr/Culture...sonsSatie.html

And by the way, I loved our dinner at L'Absinthe. Honfleur is charming, and I was most impressed to find art galleries that actually show art, as opposed to tourist shlock, even in the center of town.

I confess we haven't visited the Satie museum yet, though we go right by it every time we're in town. But you'll surely like it if you like his music. I believe you proceed from room to room with headphones on.

You're absolutely right about the Absinthe restaurant. It's an excellent place to dine and on our short list. So is the Ancrage, at the front of the Old Harbor, it's much more informal than the Absinthe, but has fine food, including the "Menu Marche," and the the staff there is very, very friendly. If there are scallops with beurre Nantaise on the Ancrage menu, grab them!

Such rich and wonderful information that you are all providing! Malheureusement, we will be in Honfleur on a Tuesday, and I see that Au P'tit Mayereur is closed MOn. and Tues. I hope that they are open for lunch on Wed.; I will call them when the time draws nearer. Or maybe worth a trip back from Bayeux some night? Or dinner at L'Absinthe and lunch at Au P M, and a crepe at the Ciderie before we leave town?!

Satie museum sounds like something I'd like to do. Also I appreciate the atelier recommendations. I would love to purchase a not-too-expensive piece of art to take home.

Your (collective) enthusiasm for this town is having a "synergistic" effect; I can't wait to go there! :-)

grandmere, near the Boudin museum is a small art gallery, don't remember the name. There should be a standing sculptur outside. I'm an avid fan of the late César and the couple the LesLannes. Both were represented there to my pleasant surprise and was thrilled when the lady there placed one of claude Leslannes small piece of art in my hand, a bronze waterlilly with fingers . Sounds weird but it's not.
It cost $5000.

Mimi, I'm unable to get that site, but I'll try again later. I'd like to see this piece, but it sounds a bit "cher" for what I can afford!

I stand corrected by myself. To view samples of the work of contemporary Honfleur and vicinity artists, you need to click on the artists' names in the MIDDLE of the Web site page at http://www.comhonfleur.com/ateliers_artistes.htm

I figured that out, Dave; no problem. I enjoyed looking at the site and look forward to being there in person!

This is such a great thread that I hate to start a new one but has anyone Heard of Les Maisons de Lea on Place Ste Catherine in Honfleur? It is listed in an Alastair Sawday's Special Places to Stay book. Thanks.

Well, should have googled it first:

http://www.lesmaisonsdelea.com/GB_lesmaisonsdelea.asp

It is reasonable but doesn't look like they have a triple room so we would need 2 rooms. That makes it over budget.

Ronda, I don't know if Bayeux is on your itinerary, but the Hotel d'Argouges there has a triple; the couple traveling with us got it b/c there weren't any more doubles available for our stay in May.

Thanks grandmere. I will check it out.

Les Maisons de Leah is the recently redone Hotel Le Chat. Great location! Dead center of the historic district. We have not stayed there since the redo by it looks good from a walk-by. In Le Chat, the rooms were quite small. Did they change this? Don't know. My only other reservation would concern a Friday night stay, since there is a fabulous Saturday market in Honfleur, and the trucks do roll into Place St. Catherine at 6 or 7 in the morning.

Hello Grandmere:

If you have an opportunity, check out the mussels in cream at Saint Etienne, a small restaurant on the walkway bordering the harbor.

driving to honflrur by way of etretat would make for a rather long day, especially if you want to walk out to the cliffs. we considered it in sept. but concluded that le havre was as far as we could reasonably manage on our routre from rouen to honfleur.

Driving to honfleur by way of etretat would make for rather a long day, especially if you want to walk out to the cliffs. We considered etretat in sept. but concluded that le havre was the best we could manage in order to have sufficient time in honfleur.

back to the disappearing post that magically reappears after i do another...

Grandmere, we stayed at the Hotel de la Tour and really liked it. It was modern, meaning it had an elevator (something we look for); it was right on a public parking square (parking not a problem at all); the breakfast was good (meaning I think hardboiled eggs, some protein to see you through the day). We paid 290 FF in 2001.

Here's a quote from my journal: We were delighted to discover that there was free parking across the street from Hotel de la Tour in the public parking lot. ... Honfleur is sort of a French Disneyland or Laguna Beach. Full of kitsch. Chock-a-block people and precious restaurants.

We had dinner near the hotel at the Cafe de l'Hotel de Ville, warm, informal, meals only OK, but the charlotte au chocolat was sumptuous. ... Had a great little breakfast in the hotel--finally good coffee and croissants! ... Lunched at Bisquine on the old harbor (soup and omelets). A really nice place, and Bob, the big Lab, is friendly. (We also had had tea there the day before.)

Just so you know, my priorities are practical rather than folklorique.

By the way--I loved the Satie museum! And the Boudin.

We have reservations at the Giaglis' B and B, at Dave in Paris' recommendation. Thanks for your recommendation, also, LVSue.

Yes, Underhill, I fear you are correct about driving from Les Andelys to Honfleur via Etretat. Any recommendations as to what to stop and see if we take a more direct route? I don't necessarily want to stop in Rouen, since I have been there before. I'd prefer some quaint little villages; Lyons-la-Foret is near, but it is northeast, right? Do you know if there's anywhere around there that produces typical hand painted Norman faience?

"Honfleur is sort of a French Disneyland...."

That's a good description, to a point. But there also is a difference: Honfleur is real!

Don't be alarmed, Dave. I have also seen comparisons of Venice to Disneyland!

Dave, we are only spending one night in Honfleur and arriving on a Sunday (July 24). Will Honfleur be packed with people vacationing at that time? Will it be cooler on the coast than in Paris? What will the traffic be like? Thanks.

grandmere,

we went via the route des abbayes, which proved to be a very scenic and interesting trip. i can't remember where we stopped for lunch but will look it up and post it for you.

we had a terrific lunch in beuzeville at the auberge du cochon d'or.

I think you should expect a crowd. May start to thin out a bit by Sunday evening, however. (The Old Harbor is lovely after dark.) Honfleur is very heavily visited in the summertime. But even then, for me at least, the charm comes through. Traffic driving in to Honfleur on Sunday? Not real bad. I've never seen a traffic jam. Many of the visitors come by tour boat on the Seine, rather than by car. Parking in Honfleur? Problematical. Does your hotel have parking?

Thank you, Underhill!

We dined at an over-rated fancy place but had more fun by the water with the many cafés where everyone from all over the world dined and chatted with us.

Thanks for the info Dave. Actually I checked our schedule and we are arriving on a Saturday from Giverny. Plan to stop in Rouen on the way.

Our Hotel (Les Maisons de Lea on Place St. Catherine) does not have parking and I know it may be a problem. I am studying up on parking lots and rates.

I did check into the B&B you recommended and it looked very nice but since I am going with my sisters and it is one of my sister's birthday, I got out voted. I plan to go another time.

From Honfleur we are going to Mont. St. Michel.

Another high-season strategy if you happen to be earlier risers is to skip the hotel breakfast and have it instead at one of the many restaurants with tables along the hillside quay of the Old Harbor. Early on, it's quite peaceful. You probably will find parking in the large city lot to the left of the Old Harbor, as you enter town on Ave. de la Republic to be the most convenient after you unload bags at the hotel. Wish I could remember the rate. It's not not too costly.

Sorry, the large public lot is to the RIGHT of the Old Harbor as you approach the harbor on Ave. de la Republic.

We just returned last evening from Normandy/Paris trip, and I want to add my hearty recommendation for Giaglis' B and B in Honfleur. Thank you, Dave in Paris, for suggesting it! I probably can't add anything more about it than Dave has already said in this thread, but it is a super little place; the owners are very helpful and hospitable, and it certainly is reasonable at ~71 euro, inc. breakfast! We were fortunate in finding street parking, practically in front of the B and B. Even though this is early in the season, the "Complet" sign was out, so book early if you want to stay there.

Au P'tit Mayereur (sp?) was closed on the night we were there, so Mme G. recommended Le Bouillon Normand, and we loved the homey ambiance and excellent regional food. It's a small restaurant, so once again, make reservations. We saw people being turned away,on a Tues. night.

Loved Honfleur and can understand how people keep returning; we should have allowed for more than one night. A la prochaine!

Welcome back, Glad you loved a favorite place of mine!
Hope to read more about your trip?

Thank you, Mimi! I will write more about the trip but not tonight; I am so jet-lagged that I turned oven on and didn't realize I hadn't put food in until I returned to kitchen an hour later! :-)
Two nights ago, dinner at Le Coupe-Chou in Paris (wonderful); last night, "dinner" at Le Petit Bistro (it and McDonald's were the choices, a lose-lose situation!) at PHL between flights, and back to reality and cooking tonight.

So glad you loved Honfleur and that the tips you gleaned on Fodors contributed to your trip. I've noted some of them too for my return visit one day!

Can't wait to read the full report about the whole trip!

Hi Grandmere,

So glad you enjoyed your stay in Honfleur with Liliane and Antoine Giaglis. Beware, that town is seductive! A French compositor at the International Herald Tribune in Paris suggested 19 years ago that my wife and I might want to go there -- and we've been going ever since.

Welcome back, grandmere!

I'm DYING to hear your complete travel report about Normandy and Paris!

In one week, we will be going to a few of the same places you covered. Here's our plan:

1) Arrive in Paris.

2) After a few days in Paris, driving thorugh forests and Abbey Road (off of Rouen) to ETRETAT, where we'll hike and possibly lunch at L'Huitiere on the beach; then on to HONFLEUR; after dinner at Honfleur, drive back to Paris (late).

3) A few more days of Paris (Eat...Shop...Be Happy), then second daytrip to CHENONCEAU; after Chenonceau, possibly a VOUVRAY wine cave tour (or AMBOISE, depending on the weather); dinner in BLOIS; drive back to Paris late.

We would love to hear your thoughts on driving routes in Normandy, on ETRETAT and Honfleur. Any special places?

Thanks a million,
--Betty

P.S. gradyghost: Mussels in cream...yum!

P.S.S. The weather in Normany I'm guessing is atleast 10 degrees colder than Paris, right?

Sorry, I meant "Normandy."