Etretat, LeHavre, Honfleur

Another lovely drive through the countryside to the famous cliffs of Etretat, on the Côte d’Albaâtre or Alabaster Coast,a seaside resort. Painters like Courbet, Monet and Boudin immortalized these beautiful chalk cliffs, standing on both sides of the gray shingle beach. It is strictly forbidden to remove any of the lovely round pebbles. At one end of the cliffs, there is a natural arch, which looks like an elephant trunk, with the cliff representing the body. Maupassant lived here

Next, we drove through LeHavre, which was virtually obliterated during World War II by Allied bombing. The port is strategically positioned on the Sine estuary and was created in 1517 by François premier after the Seine silted up the nearby port of Harfleur, which is now situated several miles inland. Much of the city center was rebuilt in the 1950s to 1960s by the architect August Perret, the father of concrete architecture. Much of the post-war concrete architecture is hideous to my mind, but these buildings, all very similar, were quite appealing. His towering Eglise St. Joseph is a designated UNESCO heritage site. There is a huge industrial zone beside the enormous port. LeHavre is still a yachting center and has two very clean beaches.

After crossing the stunning Normandy bridge, a cable-stay (my favorite) which, was the longest of its kind in the world at the time it was constructed. A short drive brought us to the Calvados region and the Domaine d’Apreval, a family-owned estate surrounded by apple orchards. The owner gave us a tour of the apple presses and the distillery. They produce Normandy cider (hard cider), Pommeau, an aperitif wine, and the famous Calvados, which I love. In fact, I’ve been handy one every night after dinner. When in Normandy!! We had our aperitifs outside on the lawn and then sat down inside to a lunch of duck pâté, roast potatoes, tomato salad, cucumber salad, green salad and Normandy cheeses including my favorite, Pont L’Evêque. And, of course cider and home-made bread. Dessert was gingerbread made with honey and Calvados. I am not a love of gingerbread, but this was divine. The weather was, once again, gorgeous and we sipped our Calvados outside, watching the blond Limousin cows in the orchard. So far, it has been sunny and hot, most unusual, but we are not complaining.

On to Honfleur. What a treat! Honfleur is on the south bank of the Seine. Honfleur and Harfleur once guarded the entrance to the Seine, but now Harfleur, as I mentioned, is inland. It is a beautiful picturesque port with picturesque 17th century tall (6-7 stories) houses on the Vieux Bassin. We walked through the very old part of town called l’Enclos, which made up the fortified heart of the town in the 13th century. We stopped at one of the two remaining (out of 3) salt warehouses, a magnificent stone building with a beautiful beamed roof. If you remember your history of the French Revolution, the onerous salt tax, or la gabelle, was a major cause of anger and resentment among the peasantry. We then emerged onto the Vieux Bassin - an array of yachts, brilliantly colored umbrellas at cafes all round the basin and the amazing tall houses. They are narrow, vary in height, but all attached, mainly shades of grey. I have never seen anything quite like it. At one end of the basin, one can see parts of the old fortifications. A little climb to the street behind the tall houses brought us to the church of
Saint Catherine of Alexandria most of which dates back to the 15th century. The church is most unusual in that is made entirely of wood. The pillars of the nave are beams of wood, some with stone footings. The famous “axe masters” of the naval yards created the buildings without using any saws; this is most evident on the pillars. The design is based on a market hall, but the naval techniques used, make it look like an upside down hull. The bell tower is located across the small square so that parishioners would not be burned in case of fire since the tower drew lightning strikes.

By the 12th century, Honfleur, with its safe harbor and rich hinterland, was already a significant transit point for goods from Rouen to England. Charles V strengthened the town’s defenses during the Hundred Years’ war, but ir fell to the English in 1357 and was occupied again from 1419 to 1450. At the end of this long war(!!), Honfleur benefited from the boom in maritime trader until the end of the 18th century. Several great explorers, including Samuel de Champlain, the founder of the city of Québec, and La Salle, who opened up the Louisiana territory for Louis XIV, set sail from Honfleur Honfleur thrived on trade with Canada, the Antilles, the African coasts and the Azores. It was one of the five principal ports for the slave trade in France. During this time of expansion, the fortifications were demolished on the orders of Colbert, Louis XIV’s famous, or infamous, finance minister.

Honfleur became a center of artistic activity in the 19th century. Eugène Boudin was born here. Sisley, Courbet, Pissarro, Renoir and Cèzanne all painted here.
As we made our way back to the boat which was docked at Caudebec en Caux, we saw thatched roof houses with irises growing along the peak. Some were in bloom and it was quite a site. It is unique to the Auge region. The iris roots protect the thatch during strong winds. Of course, we saw more half-timbered houses.