We've returned to one of our favourite parts of France - Normandy. This time we are spending a bit of time in Rouen, about 150km NW of Paris. We've stayed in Caen and Bayeux before and absolutely loved it.
Arrived in Rouen late afternoon on the 3rd - freezing cold and raining. A good time to hole up in a warm hotel room for the rest of the day. Ventured out later that night for supper. Being the weekend, and still the new year period, lots of places are still closed. Walked up and down and round and round looking for somewhere to eat, not much luck. Finally found a steakhouse which proved to be surprisingly good.
Monday, spent the day exploring the city. Rouen is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe. Lots of narrow cobbled streets, buildings built in a higgeldy fashion (refer to photos), churches dating back to before the middle ages, and it's the place where Joan of Arc was tried and convicted and burnt at the stake (and they say Muslims are barbaric). Tried to get around to seeing a couple of museums but they were closed so we contented ourselves with wandering around and discovering things for ourselves.
Tuesday we decided to do a bit of a day trip along the Seine River to Honfleur. Passed through a number of small charming villages, as we wound along the river. Passed a couple of ferry crossing points along the way - cheaper than building a bridge? Made it to Honfleur about lunchtime. Last time we were here we had a feast of mussels. Found a small restaurant along the inner harbour (Honfleur has more restaurants per square kilometer than anywhere else), and settled in to sample them once again. We were presented with a huge bowl of mussels in a cream sauce. Took about 30 minutes to shell and eat them, washed down with a glass or two of wine - absolutely delicious.
Honfleur is one of the prettiest towns we have been to. The harbour is surrounded by dozens of restaurants and cafes. The back streets are full of local arts and crafts shops (and restaurants and bars and cafes). It's like stepping back in time. If you ever come to this p[art of the continent you must see it.
Returning to Paris on Wednesday to spend the final few days of our trip before we fly out back home. Seems like just yesterday that we were leaving home for our latest sojourn.