I would like to know more about the town of Honfleur. For those of you who have driven there from Paris, how long did it take you? Was it a scenic drive?
Do you think it will be too touristy in the early part of June? And if so, are there other towns that are pretty that make a good daytrip driving?
We like the fact that Honfleur is right by the water, but won't enjoy it if it is super-crowded.
OTHER SUGGESTED TOWNS w/ NATURAL BEAUTY WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!
My sister-in-law wants to drive to Mont St. Michel, but I think that's too far -- over 4 hours each way!!
I've been to Honfleur once, but it was in November. We took the train to Deauville/Trouville and then a taxi to Honfleur. You can also get there by bus. I think it would be a bit far for a daytrip by car. It was lovely and I think worth the trip. I can't comment on what it would be like in summer. Dave (Happy In Paris) seems to like it a lot. There's a delightful museum largely devoted to the works of Boudin there.
I would like to suggest one slighly odd possibility for this trip by car, but one that we just love: Le Pont de Normandie. You can see it there on a map just north of Honfleur; it's the best way to cross the Seine in this region. And what an amazing, beautiful bridge it is. How the French make utilitarian things this beautiful keeps amazing me; I'd drive across it even if I were not going to Honfleur, a town that we visited in June and found to be delightful and not at all crowded.The Harbor is ringed with pleasant water-side places to eat. On the other hand, please go to Mont St. Michael if you can; you will never regret it.
Posts: 196 | Location: Tacoma/France | Registered: 24 February 2005
Here is a very pleasant drive, going west from Honleur and looping back around.
Leave the town on the D580, following the signs to the A13 and the Pont de Normandie. Continue past the bridge, turning left on to the D312 along the Siene estuary and through the village of Berville-sur-Mer.
Keep on the D312 and then left in Toutainville on the N175 to Pont-Audener. Then return on the N175, past Toutainville and then Beuzeville to Pont-l-Eveque.
The next destination is Lisieux, but do not take the D579. Wait and turn left onto the D48, opposite the police station. This is a pretty counry lane following the River Touque.
Head west out of Lisieux on the N13 [direction Caen]. After passing the Chateau de Crevecouer-en-Ague, keep your eyes peeled for Carrefour-St-Jean, and turn right on to the D16 and then left on the D49 to Beuvron-en-Auge. Get the camera ready, because this town is so picturesque it looks like a movie set.
Follow the D49 to the N175, turn left and then immediately right on the D400 to Dives-sur-Mer. From here it’s east on the D513 past Houlgate, Deauville and Trouville on the way back to Honfleur.
Before you reach town, there will be a sign and a right turn to the Manoir du Butin. We stopped to check it out, and enamored with the lovely dining room, we returned that evening for one of the best dinners of our trip.
Posts: 129 | Location: menlo park CA usa | Registered: 30 October 2002
We've been going to Honfleur for 18 years, and we own a home there. The drive from Paris is two to three hours, depending on your departure point in Paris, Paris traffic, and how fast you drive. We usually take the train, however, and if we want a car, rent one at the Deauville train station. You can certainly enjoy some of the Normandy countryside if you drive from Paris. However, in Honfleur, a car is all but useless, given the narrow cobbled streets laid out centuries ago. Parking in the historic district is scarce to nonexistent. Some hotels do have parking, though often at a distance from the hotel, if the lodging is in the historic district. There also is a large public parking lot near the Old Harbor, quite close to the center of the town. Honfleur is heavily visited. This does not bother me much, and there are some quiet streets in the historically protected St. Catherine's district, but if you are averse to crowds that's a red flag. However, Mont St. Michel is not going to solve your crowd problems! For me, Honfleur wins hands down. The town will be less crowded on weekdays, and even less so early in the morning and in the evening.
Dave
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There is no one "monument" in Honfleur. It's the ensemble of the architecture in the historic district that makes the town's over-the-top charm. However, the 17th-century buildings on the Old Harbor, with sailboats moored, St. Catherine's church, a huge wooden church built by shipwrights, and the Boudin museum, with its wonderful collection of paintings by artists of the Seine estuary are highlights. There also are three other museums, fine restaurants, art galleries, a profusion of flowers in season, and gift shops of every variety. And there's a lively cultural calendar. The town isn't on the coast -- rather arranged around man-made harbors, notably the Old Harbor, which is breathtaking and heavily visited. Honfleur has a beach, about 15 minutes by foot from the center of town, on the Seine estuary, nice enough, though the view from there is of industrial Le Havre's oil storage tanks. I can provide plenty of lodging and restaurant advice to anyone who is interested.
Dave
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It's hard to find online photos of Honfleur that do the town justice. These are not too bad, however, and will give you an idea. The panoramas will scroll horizontally if clicked.
Truffaut, Dennis, Ron and Dave: Thank you for weighing in on Honfleur. It definitely looks like the kind of town that would be magical if it weren't too crowded.
Still deciding whether to make that trek.
Someone else told me to check out Trouville: What is Trouville like?
I was there a few years ago in November, and it was a ghost town. I had never realized that November seems to be the month when French people who work in tourist destinations tend to take their long vacation. Many places were closed. Overall, I didn't find Trouville (or Deauville) to be terribly interesting. They both reminded me of the New Jersey shore! We did briefly go in the famous casino just to look around. I suspect it would be nicer in warm weather.
We like Trouville! Would probably not go just for that town, but it's fun. It's just across the tidal channel from Deauville, linked by a bridge and easily walkable from the train station. Trouville is the "little town that could," the more modest of the two. Many small homes and lots of businesses. It climbs the high hill from the shore to the "hauteurs" on the way to Honfleur. A nice beach and lots of restaurants. The most famous, for seafood, is Les Vapeurs, but we also like one just a few blocks off the chanel called Les Mouettes. The Art Deco post office also is not to be missed! Interestingly, Trouville used to be "the place" to go on the Normandy coast. Eugene Boudin, the best known of the Seine estuary artists, painted beach scenes there. Deauville was developed later.
Unfortunately, I was thinking more AC! As Dave points out it was once the society place on the Normandy coast, but I have the feeling that those glory days are long gone. Maybe I'm being too harsh since I've only been in the off-season.
We were in Trouville in early June and it was awfully quiet then too. Don't forget that most French kids are still in schools, thus no family holidays, until late June early July. Honfleur seemed much nicer to us , by far. The largely empty beaches in Trouville were pleasant, but the down side was that most of the small shops and restaurants were still closed. And I like people on the beaches!
Posts: 196 | Location: Tacoma/France | Registered: 24 February 2005
It's easy: Caen has the battle of Normandy museum; Bayeux has the tapestry; Mont St. Michel has the "monument;" the Cotentin Peninsula has spectacular coastline; Rouen has half-timbered houses and the occasional tall-ships visit; the invasion beaches have a big chunk of history; and all of Calvados has cute little towns, cows and cider.
What kind of drive are we talking about from Paris to the Cotentin Peninsula? 3+ hours or more? A scenic drive?
I know, I should be consulting a map, but I'm lazy and I much prefer to bother you guys...it's much more fun!
I think we'd prefer going for the nature on this segment of our trip, as opposed to museums, churches, etc. Just because we might be all museum-ed and church-ed out from Paris.
From Paris to the Nez de Jobourg, the tip of the Cotentin, is roughly 300 kilometers. But we took the train to Cherbourg and rented a car there.
Now I'll attempt to complicate your life by asking, since you're into scenery and hope to avoid crowds: Why aren't you also thinking about Brittany?
Late last year, we descended from the train at Morlaix, closing in on Brest, picked up a rental car there and drove to Carantec, on the Bay of Morlaix.
As a splurge, there's a hotel in Carantec with semi-private terraces overlooking the bay (just a sliver of land and a picturesque stone house intervening) and a Michelin two-star restaurant with seafood to die for attached to the hotel. The coastline is lovely, and development is minimal-to-none. Roscommon, nearby, is a charming coastal town. And the inland antique hunting is great!
As you may be able to tell from my posts, we prefer to dart into an area by train and then explore by car. You can count on 30 to 45 minutes of escaping Paris traffic (and dealing with it upon return). But this is a matter of style and doesn't help with your search. If you have access to the regional Michelin green guides, I think they're best-suited to your quest. They rate drives. The Normandy one gives three stars to the "lower Seine," from Rouen to Honfleur, and offers two routes, one on the north bank, a "sightseeing road" with "a variety of views" of the "meanderings of the Seine," and one on the south bank with "fewer buildings" but "several woodland areas" and "many birds-eye views of the river which are most attractive." Best of all, in my opinion, is that you end up in Honfleur!
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You are just a WEALTH of information...thanks! Yes, I considered doing the train, then renting a car. One traveller warned me of the numerous tolls and high price of gas were I to do the entire drive from Paris.
Now I have another friend chiming in that I should TGV to Avignon and drive around that region. Aaaaaaaaa! France just has too many beautiful regions...it's driving me slightly mad making any decision...
How long are you going to be in France? A trip to Avignon is a pretty big undertaking, even if you go by TGV. Normandy and the Loire Valley are already big excursions from Paris...
Just wondering how much time you have at your disposal.
We only have seven nights in Paris! We wanted to take one (long) daytrip out of Paris where we can enjoy some nature.
I know, my ideas have been all over the place! Another traveller whose posts I have been reading has suggested some closer, less-travelled towns: The ones that stood out were ETAMPES (which she found very interesting) and SENLIS (which she enjoyed but said was a bit "done up").
She also mentioned that ECOUEN was close, and very interesting for having a mature forest where she encountered green-billed woodpeckers!
So these ideas are are still swimming in my head. If you would like to shed your light on the situation, that is always appreciated.
Senlis is indeed extremely charming and nowhere near as heavily visited as Honfleur. Also much closer to Paris. You could do a loop north of Paris from west to east through Auvers-sur-Oise, where Van
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