Trip Report, Normandy: Day Four
Oct 6th, 2004, 01:56 PM
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Trip Report, Normandy: Day Four
NORMANDY: Day Four
We left Rouen Sud fairly early and headed directly to Honfleur, where we dropped our luggage off at the Hôtel L'Ecrin. We had expected the hotel to be on the outskirts of the town, but it turned out to be just a few blocks above the port: very convenient. Then we drove on to Le Havre by way of the spectacular Pont de Normandie, a tall, graceful suspension bridge that offered a fine view.
Once in Le Havre we found a parking place near the Musée des Beaux-Arts André-Malraux, located by the control tower for the busy port. We spent a few minutes admiring the large ships docked nearby, but the chill wind quickly drove us inside the museum. After a quick lunch at the café and a stop in the gift shop, we walked through the various galleries, disappointed to see that only about nine of the museum's collection of 77 Dufy paintings were on exhibit. But that was significantly better than the zero at Paris's Museum of Modern Art the last time we were there.
Back we went to Honfleur for a pleasant few hours of sightseeing. We visited the Musée d'Ethnographie et d'Art populaire, which houses ten Normandy interiors from earlier days and both a weaver's and a printer's workshop. After a walk around the Vieux Bassin--the quaysides of the old dock--we climbed up a hill to see the Church of Ste-Catherine, which is constructed entirely of wood except for its foundations and features not one but two naves, separated by wooden pillars. It was stunning.
After seeing the church we spent a short time at the Musée Eugène-Boudin, which has a very large collection of that artist's work--including many, many paintings of happy Normandy cows. There were a few Dufys to counter the bovine effect, however; so we were nearly as contented as the cows.
Then we checked into our hotel and were pleased with our charming rooms. We unpacked and then went back to the harbor for dinner at La Chaloupe, which we had chosen after considerable menu-reading during the afternoon. We chose large bowls of moules marinière, served with great frites and particularly good bread. Crème brulée for dessert was the perfect ending.
Back to the hotel; and so to bed.
We left Rouen Sud fairly early and headed directly to Honfleur, where we dropped our luggage off at the Hôtel L'Ecrin. We had expected the hotel to be on the outskirts of the town, but it turned out to be just a few blocks above the port: very convenient. Then we drove on to Le Havre by way of the spectacular Pont de Normandie, a tall, graceful suspension bridge that offered a fine view.
Once in Le Havre we found a parking place near the Musée des Beaux-Arts André-Malraux, located by the control tower for the busy port. We spent a few minutes admiring the large ships docked nearby, but the chill wind quickly drove us inside the museum. After a quick lunch at the café and a stop in the gift shop, we walked through the various galleries, disappointed to see that only about nine of the museum's collection of 77 Dufy paintings were on exhibit. But that was significantly better than the zero at Paris's Museum of Modern Art the last time we were there.
Back we went to Honfleur for a pleasant few hours of sightseeing. We visited the Musée d'Ethnographie et d'Art populaire, which houses ten Normandy interiors from earlier days and both a weaver's and a printer's workshop. After a walk around the Vieux Bassin--the quaysides of the old dock--we climbed up a hill to see the Church of Ste-Catherine, which is constructed entirely of wood except for its foundations and features not one but two naves, separated by wooden pillars. It was stunning.
After seeing the church we spent a short time at the Musée Eugène-Boudin, which has a very large collection of that artist's work--including many, many paintings of happy Normandy cows. There were a few Dufys to counter the bovine effect, however; so we were nearly as contented as the cows.
Then we checked into our hotel and were pleased with our charming rooms. We unpacked and then went back to the harbor for dinner at La Chaloupe, which we had chosen after considerable menu-reading during the afternoon. We chose large bowls of moules marinière, served with great frites and particularly good bread. Crème brulée for dessert was the perfect ending.
Back to the hotel; and so to bed.
Oct 6th, 2004, 02:40 PM
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Hi Underhill!
Seeing this as Day 4, I went back and read 1,2 and 3 and then this one
I really enjoyed your report~
You did and saw so much, it must have been exhausting but also so fulfilling.
Thanks for taking the time to write all this down
Seeing this as Day 4, I went back and read 1,2 and 3 and then this one
I really enjoyed your report~
You did and saw so much, it must have been exhausting but also so fulfilling.
Thanks for taking the time to write all this down
Oct 7th, 2004, 01:32 PM
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FYI: all of the Normandy trip reports are available at www.bonjourparis.com forums, under Trip Reports.
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