Today we spent a leisurely day at Honfleur. The only thing on our itinerary was relaxation. We woke up late (9:30) and had our breakfast at the café next door to the B&B. B-fast consisted of cappuccino, orange juice, pain, crepes, and homemade apricot confit. Everything was absolutely delicious and I found myself wondering how the French can eat so many empty calories and stay so thin.

After breakfast, we went into the Eglise St. Catherine.

Then we made our way down to the harbor, stopping to peruse many of the adorable little shops along the way.

At the harbor, we decided to have boissons at a restaurant. It was about noon, and the waiter made his irritation apparent over the fact that we only wanted drinks and not lunch. When I asked for a carafe d’eau (free tap water) in addition to our apple ciders, he said only bottles (for purchase) were available. Tant pis pour nous!

After drinks, we went to check on the boat excursions recommended in the Rick Steves guide. The next one wasn’t until 2:30, so we decided to have lunch at one of the harbor-side restaurants. Everyone had salads, mine was with shrimp and avocado, and I had a side order of haricot verts. Lunch was 20 euros for two of us, with no drinks.

After lunch, we decided to go back to the B&B for naps. After naps, we went on the boat excursion, which was kinda boring… It went to the Pont Normandie and by the Honfleur Plage, and it had to go through the locks. It was a waste of 15 euros for the two of us.

Then we wandered to the Jardin Public, and after that, back to the B&B to find out where Liliane had made our dinner reservations.

Dinner was at La Grenouille, “the frog.” Along the way we stopped at a patisserie where we had seen some scrumptious looking desserts earlier. We each got something for the car trip the next day. We arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes before opening. I had the 18 euros 3 course menu, and had pate, salmon and vegetables, and chocolate mousse. The salmon was in a sauce that tasted like a balsamic vinegar reduction. It was good, but the veggies were a bit bland. Hubby had the 26 euro menu, and had saumon fume, cod in a garlic cream sauce with spinach, a trio of cheeses, and rice pudding for dessert. His fish was flaky and tender and the creamy garlic spinach was to die for. To make it a true splurge, we had a half bottle of wine with dinner. It was about 60 euros altogether and would end up being one of our best meals of the trip.

Back at the B&B, we rang for Liliane. We were hoping to have some poire cidre, but she didn’t appear. It was 9:30 by then, so we went to bed, knowing the plan was to get up early the next day for our long drive to Avranches.

Go on the next part of the journey!