We spent a day in Honfleur, France – a port city in the heart of Normandy that admittedly we had never heard of prior to our arrival. Some people opted for an excursion that took them to Paris for the day, but given that would have been three hours by bus one way, we chose to stick around and see what the town of Honfleur had to offer.

In a word, Honfleur was cute. It is an extremely picturesque setting, with various neighborhoods situated around the Vieux Bassin, the heart of the port. There are shops and art museums situated along the streets, with restaurants offering lots of outdoor seating all along the water. It was beautifully charming.

John and I wandered around the town and then later on I went back out with Ryan to wander some more. John and I explored the neighborhoods on each side of the Vieux Bassin, which all have their own character. The neighborhood to the east was full of interesting buildings including the Church of Saint-Etienne, while to the west was the splendid wooden church of Sainte-Catherine and Honfleur’s main art museums. The neighborhood to the south of the harbor was more low-key but included some lesser-known gems such as the Church of Saint-Léonard and the restored fountains.

We were particularly enamored of one art museum we passed, as the statue outside was intriguing with the missing parts of the man. We went inside to find more statues by the same artist. We did not buy anything, as the price tags for these pieces were *way* outside our price range…

Every street we went down had pretty views, it seemed.

Given the close proximity to Paris, the town of Honfleur was preparing for spillover from the Olympics.

Before heading back to the ship, we stopped and enjoyed a galette and some beers while we played a game. It was lovely sitting outside and just enjoying the scenery and people watching.

John and I walked back to the ship and then Ryan and I headed out. We, too, walked around and enjoyed a bite to eat along the water. Afterwards, we decided to get a view from up high and ride a Ferris wheel that was situated near the water. Here’s a photo of Ryan enjoying it. I’m not as big of a fan of them, as they make me nervous… but he enjoyed it – and enjoyed giving me a hard time about being a little scared. Haha.

Overall, our time in Honfleur was very lowkey, but enjoyable nonetheless. A sleepy little town, we probably wouldn’t need to revisit but we were glad we opted to stay here for the day.