Normandy, France: The Fourth Day

This day was my favorite day outside of Paris. We visited Honfleur and Étretat. The first stop was Honfleur. Before traveling to France, I was looking at pictures online of the places we would visit, and when I saw Honfleur, I knew I would love it in person, and I was right. Honfleur is a charming seaport town in Northern France.

Here is the whole group along with our tour guide Julian.

Honfleur is such a picturesque town. The building are so unique, and the way they reflect off the water is lovely. We had several hours to roam and explore Honfleur.

There was an outdoor farmers market the day we were there, and so many cute little shops to browse.

 Andrea and I decided to climb the mountain (which was suggested by our tour guide) to take in the view. On the way up, we found so many quaint little homes and B&Bs. I marveled how people live here and fantasized about coming back with Nathan one day to stay at one of the B&Bs

At the top of the mountain, we found an abandoned cottage with the prettiest overgrown garden and had to take a moment to snap a picture under this stone arch.

After our hike, we were ready for lunch. We chose a little restaurant, Le Bouchon, in the center of town. I'll take this moment to say that people in France are generally attractive people, and our waiter on Honfleur did not disappoint. He was my type. He had dark hair, scruff, and honestly, he reminded me of Nathan. Nathan has French blood and after visiting I see it. Anyway, back to the waiter. He was charming. He recognized that Andrea and I were clearly having a difficult time with the menu, and came over to help us, and flirtatiously said, "I'll speak English if you speak French." It was cute. I ended up ordering mussels and fish with an apple cake dessert. Again, so good! I had never had mussels before and I'm converted. So good!

Here's a little story to show how gentlemanly and courteous our waiter was. Andrea, who is tall, bumped her head on a door frame coming out of the bathroom. She hit is so hard a bump was forming and she was getting a headache. I suggested she ice the bump, but we needed to improvise. I thought a glass of ice could sooth her sore. Because I took every opportunity I could to use my French, I said to the waiter, "Elle a un mal de tête. Avez-vous un verre de glace?" (She has a headache. Do you have a glass of ice?) Without hesitation, he jumped to it. Along with the glass of ice, he brought her Tylenol. It was so chivalrous.

After Honfleur we traveled to Étretat Beach. This beach was a sight to see. It featured chalk-white cliffs and stunning rock formations.You could walk all along the cliffs. It was quite a hike, but so worth the view. After hiking, Andrea and I wanted a little refreshment. We sat down at a little creperie. Andrea ordered a strawberry crepe and a cafe, as for me I just ordered a coke. We relaxed and soaked up a little sun. 

This day was such a good day. We were blessed with unusually beautiful weather, we ate good food, we had a cute waiter, and we saw beautiful sights. I loved it!