Honfleur & Le Havre .. where the Seine meets the Sea

We woke up docked in Le Havre.  After another sumptuous breakfast! we loaded ourselves onto coaches for the drive to Honfleur.  Since we were at the coast we prepared for Oregon weather.   We drove over a large beautiful bridge, designed by Michel Virlogeux, cable-stayed, spanning the Seine estuary.

45-minutes later we arrived in Honfleur, an iconic medieval town started in the 11th century.   Very picturesque and interesting.   So much so that Eugene Boudin and his protege Claude Monet painted many scenes from this harbor town.

It's a shame that we had a mostly cloudy and sometimes rainy day.   But what we did have was .. MARKET DAY.   The place was hopping.   Locals were pulling their carts and loading up on goodies.

A very medieval town, narrow streets, many sturdy wood buildings still in operation after 600 years!

It was a very important port town back in the day.   Fishermen left from here to harvest the plentiful cod fish off of Newfoundland.   Samuel Champlain set off from here to establish Quebec City.

One of the largest wooden churches in France is St. Catherine's Church, built by shipwrights in the 2nd half of the 15th century.

We headed back to the AmaLyra for lunch and to dry out a bit.   Then it was time for a tour of Le Havre, a 'newer' port, founded by King Francis I in 1517.  The trade from the West Indies expanded the port's role in the area's commerce.  World War II really devastated the city.   5,000 people were killed and 12,000 homes were destroyed.

The only things left standing in the downtown area was a WW I monument :

and a church - Cathedrale Notre Dame, built in the 16th century : (my drive-by pic)

After the war, in order to replace 12,000 homes and buildings, the architect Auguste Perret utilized reinforced concrete to quickly restore the city.   Not the prettiest but very effective in building.   St.Joseph's Church was designed by him to be a memorial and a working church :

We drove past the harbor entrance along the beach side facing the English Channel.  

On our drive back to the boat, I noticed a recent piece of art by Vincent Ganivet, "Catena Containers" :

When back on board we attended a lecture by Englishman Sean Claxton on World War II information prior to our full day tour to the Normandy beaches tomorrow.  

For the foodies - my dinner tonight included :

appetizer .. port wine jelly, beetroot puree, brioche onion chutney, micro herbs

soup .. clear onion soup, cheese crouton

main course .. mustard crusted lamb racks, rosemary sauce, garden vegetables, artichoke puree, potato gratin

dessert .. crepes, caramel orange grand marnier sauce, pistachio ice cream

main course and dessert pictures :

Tomorrow will be a full day, 8:30am - 6:00pm, to travel and tour the Normandy US  landing beaches and US cemetery & memorial.