Day Four - I Thought We Would All End-Up In Seine

The Ladies' Room

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Nobody stole the commode. This is the way public toilets are designed. I suppose it makes things easier to clean for the custodian. But it makes a lot more work for the laundry woman.

This is the Farmers' Market?

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At the top of the main street, in what is normally a big public parking lot, we found the weekly farmers' market going on. The girls had no interest in the Norman produce or meats, but when we chanced upon the clothing merchants our pace slowed to a crawl. I have to admit even I found a couple of sweet deals on warm shirts.

Maybe I Can Get a Free Sample

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While the women were looking at clothes, my nose drew me a few feet further up the road. The smell of sauerkraut ("Choucroute" in French) beckoned me to this farmer/butcher's tent. I figured that if I stood around long enough looking at his wares, he might offer me a tasting. The various white sausages, bacon, pork and prosciutto all looked appetizing. Finally he spotted me drooling and offered me a nice-sized morsel. When I saw he as giving me a big hunk of blood sausage I tried to smile and walk away. But by then the girls had caught up to me and insisted I take my reward. It wasn't easy trying to smile and say "merci, bon" while eating something that tasted like death.

Yum. Crisp Blood Sausage

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No words can describe how much I enjoyed the big hunk of blood sausage I was given to sample.

Lots of Junk for Sale

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The size of this market was pretty close to incredible considering the size of this little hamlet. It stretched beyond that parking lot up another two blocks to the train station. We had intended to stop at someplace interesting along our way to Honfleur this day, but Cany-Barville's shopping action made for one of our best memories of the entire trip. A note about the pharmacy: the brilliant Europeans use a common symbol, a green cross, on all their pharmacies. If it's lighted, it's open for business. In certain sized towns and cities, there always has to be at least one open through the night and on holidays. They alternate on who has to stay open.

The French Can Do Tacky as Well as Us

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Yechhhh!

Typical Landscape Throughout Normandy

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When we weren't in a quaint shore town or driving through a charming village of stone houses, we were undoubtedly passing through this kind of farmland. The huge open fields (perfect for tanks and half tracks) were green with growing crops wherever we drove. Often we would see a miniature lake formed by the heavy rains of the previous days, but as we made our way to Honfleur, we enjoyed a totally rain-free afternoon.

Stupid GPS Takes Us to the Newly Formed Lake Normandy

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I read somewhere that all the GPS makers use the same NAVTEQ maps. Before this trip I thought there was a flaw in my Garmin Nuvis because they often re-routed me through some of the most ridiculous side streets and out-of-the-way places, but it seems the Renault's GPS was just as faulty. We had to do a huge loop to find our way onto the proper highway taking us West.

@%^* GPS!!!

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Once we reached the main highway everyone was asleep and I was fighting to stay awake myself. You can only be entertained by wide open farmland for so long. Gail went on the car's GPS and punched the buttons indicating "points of interest" along our route to Honfleur. The nearest one was "Chateau D'Orcher". That sounded like a good photo op. This little detour took us through a sprawling suburban neighborhood every bit as cookie cutter designed as American housing developments. After passing through that we were directed to a bikepath posing as a road. We inched along it for over a mile not daring to let our wheels dangle off the gravel for fear of dropping into the rainwater filled gully on either side. Imagine our surprise and joy when we finally arrived at the Chateau only to find that it was closed. Like the chateau we drove by the previous day, this one was only open in July.

Hidden from View

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I would've leaped the fence to take pictures if not for the German Shepherd staring at me from the other side.

Tancarville Bride over the Seine River

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Getting away from the chateau wasn't easy. With nowhere to make a u-turn and deep ruts on both sides of the path I was forced to back up almost the entire mile or so back to the suburban housing area. From there it took us only a few minutes to get to this huge bridge over the Seine.

An Oldie but Goodie

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I didn't realize this fact until now: this is not a modern bridge. Even though it looks like the modern Danish bridges over their bays as well as being similar to the huge suspension bridges we crossed in Scotland and Wales the Tancarville Bridge dates from 1959 and for many years was the biggest in Europe. The steepness of the bridgedeck reminds me of one of my recurring nightmares: driving up an incline so steep that I fear the car will flip over backwards. Too many times driving on those San Francisco streets many years ago.

Taking the Place of the Ferryboats

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Before the bridge went up this part of the Seine was so wide only ferries could take carts across the river. After paying tolls every few miles on the main highway we were shocked that there was no toll on this big bridge.

And Why Is It So Big?

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Because it needs to rise high enough above the tidal river to allow big ships to pass under. Le Havre is one of the busiest ports in Europe. Significant traffic continues on up the river to Rouen and even Paris.

A Most Satisfying Lunch on the Way to Honfleur

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These cookies were supposed to be part of our Christmas picnic when we assumed that all the restaurants would be closed. Cassie and Gail couldn't wait. The chocolate ones at the bottom and the green pistachios were my favorites.

My Favorite Town of Our Trip

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One word of advice: do not listen to the morons on travel websites. I had seen pictures of Honfleur as well as travel shows where the picturesque little town harbor was featured. I put it on my European bucket list. But during my palnning for this trip I had read more than a few "experts" claiming Honfleur was "too touristy", "gauche", and "over-crowded". These are the same folks that claim Rick Steves and Rudi Maxa are idiots that know nothing about travel and have ruined travel by appealing to the unwashed masses. From the minute we got off the highway and drove onto a cobblestone street I knew I would love this place.

Maybe on a Warmer Day

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There weren't any harbor cruises operating on Christmas Eve. I was surprised the boats were still in the water at this time of the year. Perhaps the salinity of the water and the relatively mild temperatures don't necessitate Winter storage.

Old Time Town of Honfleur

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Even though it was Christmas Eve we saw our share of tourists visiting this scenic town. Stores were open and restaurants were actually serving meals. I'm sure this is another place that is unbearable in peak tourism season.

Waiting for the Girls, Again

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As soon as we got to the old harbor someone spotted an open food stand selling hot wine and hot dogs stuffed into a long baguette. The ladies decided it was time for lunch. Oddly enough, I was still full from breakfast...and the box of macaroon cookies we had popped open.

Two French Words That Grandma Phoebe Learned

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Hot wine

The Inner Harbor

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Even though I had seen Honfleur's harbor a couple of times on TV, it looked nothing like the video version in person. This was even more colorful and interesting. It's also smaller than it looks on Rick Steves' show. Down in the right corner is the big white Newfoundland-ish dog that had to sniff every single object he came across. Here he greets a wandering beagle. We saw more dogs here in Normandy than anywhere we've traveled. The French are dog people.