It is a long week-end in Paris with Monday being a bank holiday. Adrien and Diane thought it would be an ideal day to travel out of the city and to visit Honfleur in Normandie, which is on the coast about 200 kms from Paris. Adrien and Diane have their own car, but like most residents in Paris, they have no parking at their apartment. The alternative is street parking which is difficult to find or a parking building. Adrien's car is parked in a parking building which is ten minutes walk from the apartment. It would certainly take us some getting accustomed to having our car parked that far away. While we had breakfast Adrien collected the car and we headed out of the city. It seemed that everyone else Paris had the same idea. The traffic was very heavy until we were about 80 kilometres out of the city on the A13. This highway is popular because the toll charges are less (although not free) and therefore the traffic heavier. We arrived in the coastal town of Honfleur and the crowds were amazing and we were later to find out it was a festival week-end. We would have driven up and down the narrow streets of the old town for twenty minutes before we finally found a car park. We walked through the old town with it's slate and wood houses many of them leaning in various directions. Many are brightly coloured and most of them are still private homes with some having shops on the ground floor. We are always fascinated by these beautiful old buildings. Honfleur is on the southern estuary of the Seine and there is an inner harbour where many boats were moored. All around the inner harbour there are restaurants and as it was a very warm pleasant day the outside tables of the restaurants were very popular. We were lucky eventually to get a table and enjoyed the specialties of the area - mussels in their shell for me, warmed Camembert for Peter and Adrien with another speciality of Apple Cider, steak and salad for Diane. The food was beautiful. With Peter's love for ice cream, we finished our meal with ice creams from one of the speciality ice cream parlours. While we lunched the boats in the inner harbour prepared to leave and the bridge divided and soon the harbour was all but empty. I wonder how many years that bridge has been going up and down. Walking after lunch was mandatory to walk off the calories. Besides checking out the narrow streets we made our way to the historic Saint Catherine Church. This is the oldest wooden church in France having been built in the fifteenth century. It is quite unique in that the internal roof looks like an upside down boat. It is also unique in that the bell tower is housed in a different building across the courtyard. On our way back to Paris we visited the coastal towns of Trouville and Deauville. These two towns are very popular holiday destinations in Normandie and there were many people visiting for the long week-end. It appeared to be a beautiful area but as the day was getting late we did not stop. We took the A14 back to Paris - this was a quicker trip as there were no queues of traffic as this road has tolls five times higher than the earlier A13. Monday we decided that we were happy to wander the neighbourhood on our own and give Adrien and Diane a relaxing day before they return to work tomorrow. We first revisited the local market area then walked and walked just enjoying the locality. It is so different from Australia and New Zealand. Eventually after walking for about an hour we decided to visit the Basilica of Sacrè-Couer. This church is built on the highest hill in Paris in the area Montmartre. There are very steep stairs leading up to the church but fortunately there is also a funicular carriage. Peter walked the stairs however I rode the funicular up and we both walked back down through the park. Like all tourist places in Paris, there were crowds of people both inside and outside the church. Construction of the church, which is Roman Catholic, commenced in 1875 and it was finished in 1914 however it wasn't consecrated until after World War I, in 1919. It is now open to the public and there were streams and streams of people entering. Some of these people were only tourists, and others entered to pray. Photography in the church was discouraged. Our wanderings continued checking out the local shops etc and then we took the Metro back to Villiers (the area where Adrien and Diane live). Again this is a very typical Paris scene, the children's merry go round, the patisserie and cafe with the seats all facing the street, cars parked in all directions and always lots of people. Car parking seems to necessitate bumping e car in front to push it out your way and then bumping the one in the rear to fit in! Wine and chocolate shopping completed we headed home. We had made it - out all day and we had found our way back without any help. While out we had tried unsuccessfully to use the new GPS to help us locate the Sacrè-Couer. On our return Diane tried to see if the problem was us but decided that the unit was faulty. So Peter and Adrien did a quick walk back to the shop we purchased from and although it was basically closed when they arrived, with all the computers turned off and staff off the floor, Adrien convinced the doorman to let them in and get a salesman back on the floor and process a cash refund (instead of the normal refund voucher). Without the help of a French man we would still have a faulty GPS. We really appreciate Adrien's help. Now tomorrow we need to buy another one as we collect the rental car on Tuesday.