Caen, Deauville and Honfleur

[Shoesy]

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

After a delightful breakfast at our charming Hotel Churchill, we set out in our rental and headed for Caen, where we would visit the famous Caen Memorial (Peace Museum), with exhibits displaying events leading up to WWII , the Normandy Invasion, the Cold War, as well as the fight for peace. There is a lot to see in this museum, and that’s the only reason we went to Caen because as a city, it is not particularly attractive IMO. The museum, on the other hand, is very impressive and edifying, but after having spent approximately 2 hours looking at models, photos and videos, I felt more than ready to devote the rest of the day to outdoor activities.

Our next stop was Deauville, which is a lovely beach resort. There we had ice-cream and lunch, which consisted of delicious galettes, and all in all, it was a relaxing few hours.

From there we drove to Honfleur, a lovely picturesque harbor town, and there we walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere until it was time to have dinner. We more or less did “eeny meeny miny mo” ;D in order to decide where to sit, and my meal was a yummy goat cheese salad, while Shlomo, who had been craving pizza, had just that. He also ordered a glass of Calvados, but he wasn't particularly crazy about it.

It was a splendid day from start to finish. The weather was perfect.....lots of sunshine.


Here are a few photos from each city/town :


CAEN

The crack in the building symbolizes how war disturbed peace and harmony.



The Nazi uprising



The plan of invasion



Dug-in sheltered cannon position (Shlomo helped me with this caption. ;D)



After exiting the museum, I'm ready for some outdoor fun.





DEAUVILLE

Note the casino, which we did not visit.



Shlomo admired these creatures.



This in no way tasted like Berthillon.



Look what they're playing ! ;D



Can there be anything more serene than a beach ?



I wouldn't mind owning one of these houses.





HONFLEUR

What a lovely harbor!



And the addition of Shlomo can make any scene more delightful!



Cafes and restaurants



Shopping for souvenirs

[Jody]

I'm happy to see the Deauville pictures. We went there but there was a fierce sand storm blowing and we couldn't get out of the car!

I swear I have the same picture of the Honfleur harbor that you took!

[Shoesy]

Jody - Was Shlomo in your picture too? ;D

As for the weather, we were very fortunate that it was such a lovely day.

[Jody]

NO! Not that one, this one

[mossie]

Congratulations, that is a lovely and very historic area.

[PariS]

Shoesy, what a fun day and lovely report! Thanks for sharing

[holger]

Thanks Shoesy,

We are still thinking of using Honfleur as our base for Normandy but I will contact the Churchill Hotel to see if they have rooms with two beds or a real king and a walk in shower. I simply can no longer get in and out of the high sided French tubs any more. Did you and Shlomo pick up your rental car at the airport and return it there before going into Paris?

Really like your pictures.

See you in NYC, I hope.

[Shoesy]

Holger - Yes, we picked up our rental car at CDG, but we returned it at Gare du Nord.
If the Churchill can't give you the kind of accomodations you're looking for, you might also want to contact the Lion D'Or to see what kind of rooms they have. That's the hotel where we ate our fancy meal. It looked nice, and a friend of mine told me that he had enjoyed staying there.

Annette - Regarding trip reports, you're a tough act to follow.

[holger]

Thanks Shoesy,

I have just e-mailed the Churchill and will wait to hear from them. Then will see if I need to contact Lion D'Or. Had really wanted to stay in Honfleur but am beginning to learn from your postings that the D Day tour might be easier from Bayeux. We don't want to just drive and visit on our own.

Will drive to Caen and if we don't stay in Honfleur will drive there too.

[Jody]

I noticed in Shoesy's report , she did not mention Arromanches. Try to fit that in because in addition to an excellent museum, they have a 360 degree cinema with films from the invasion. Really worth time to see it. And it is right in the middle of the beaches

[mossie]

I would second Arromanches. There are still the remains of the prefabricated concrete harbour which was towed across the channel and anchored to ships specially sunk to form breakwaters. Millions of troops and vehicles and stores were unloaded here. There was a similar one for the US but the storm destroyed it.
This was a product of Churchills think tank, which also produced other "Funnies" as they were christened which were intended to overcome beach obstacles etc.

[denise]

:)I'm really excited to read this report and see the pictures as Michael is planning a trip to Deauville for us, he is in charge of the itinerary. ( and it's killing me! ) He was interested to see you pictures.

Denise
love from England. xx

[PariS]

Jun 29, 2009 12:57:05 GMT -5 Shoesy said:

Annette - Regarding trip reports, you're a tough act to follow.

Nonsense! I love your reports, Shoesy--light and breezy with just the right balance of photos to words. I get much too long-winded (but I kill 2 birds with one stone--reports for the forum, and the text for my PhotoPublisher album for us!).

Denise--I knew Deauville sounded familiar! You were talking about it awhile back...

[jazzcat]

Shoesy,

Loved your report. We were in Honfleur in May 2008 just for a day. The weather was glorious and I'll share one of my favorite pictures from our whole trip. Also we ate at Au Bouillon Normand which is about a block from the harbor. My husband thought this was the best dinner of our entire trip (including Paris).
www.comhonfleur.com/aubouillonnormand/index.htm
<a href="http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac360/higginsjazz/?action=view¤t=Paris2gb614.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac360/higginsjazz/Paris2gb614.jpg" border="0" alt="Honfleur"></a>
Hopefully this picture copied. This is my first try

[jazzcat]

I think I got it

[Shoesy]

Jazzcat - Good for you! Now all you have to do is resize the photo so that it's bigger.

[jazzcat]

Is this better?

[Shoesy]

It's perfect, Jazzcat. ;D

[cigalechanta]

I loved Honfleur and Deauville and nearby Trouville where at Les Vapeurs we would stop for their wonderful moules in a creme sauce. That whole coast was a favorite trip.
Thank you for the photos, a trip down memory lane for me.

[Katharine]

Shoesy,

We spent a lovely day driving up the coast from Caen to Cabourg, Deauville and Honfleur. Stopped at an overlook near Honfleur to see the Seine estuary and view the areas where the women used to gather the moules by hand - a very dangerous profession. Did you see the statue in their honor in Honfluer?

I recall easting some fabulous moules avec creme fraiche. Yummy!!

I concur wholeheartedly with the idea of visiting Arromanche. the museum and cinema are well worth it, and the views of the Mulberry harbors are quite a sight. Hard to believe they had the foresight and ingenuity to put all that together.

A drive up Juno, Sword and Gold beaches is very nice and the memorial at Pegasus Bridge is worth a stop. We missed the museum there (too late) but it is probably worth a stop, too.

<sigh> I want to go back.

KH