Honfleur, Calvados in Normandy |
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Honfleur is a harbour commune in the Norman département
of Calvados, in France, located on the southern bank of the estuary
of the Seine, very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie.
It is especially known for its old, beautiful picturesque port,
characterized by its houses with slate-covered frontages, painted
many times by artists, including in particular Gustave Courbet,
Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind, forming the école de
Honfleur which contributed to the appearance of the Impressionist
movement . The Sainte-Catherine church, which has a bell-tower
separate from the principal building, is the largest church made
out of wood of France. The first written mention of Honfleur is
a reference by Richard III, duke of Normandy, in 1027. By the
middle of the 12th century, the city represented a significant
transit point for goods from Rouen to England. Honfleur is found
on the estuary of the Seine, close to the modern new bridge,
the Pont de Normandie. The port houses around Le Vieux Bassin
are the main attraction now, as they were 120 years ago, when
they inspired painters such as Monet and Courbet, and above all
Boudin. They have also inspired the variety of art galleries
that now scatter the town. The tall, slate-fronted, houses and
cobbled streets built in the 16th and 17th centuries give the
appearance of being little changed in the intervening centuries.
The town also contains several other fascinating manor houses,
but perhaps the most remarkable building is the Church of Saint
Catherine, the largest church in France to be built from wood
- apparently the cheapest material available after the Hundred
Years War. The two unidentifiable large buildings with pointed
rooves in the centre of the town are 16th century salt-storage
buildings, once used for preserving cod. Trouville and Deauville,
further west along the coast, are also worthy of a visit. You
may like them, you may not! Pretty much sacrificed to tourism,
they are interesting nonetheless, and deserve a visit and a wander
along the boarded waterfront before you pop in the casino to
try your luck. There are a good selection of seafront restaurants
in the towns, known locally as the Normandy Riviera. |
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