We drove north into Normandie. Once outside of Paris, France is rural with lots of farming and lots of cows. Our first stop was Rouen to see the cathedral that Monet painted so often. The cathedral is a huge complex of gothic buildings all of which were closed and a lot of which was swaddled for renovation. Every time we are in Europe, whatever we go to see is hidden by scaffolding and drapes. Finding the center city was a snap with TomTom and getting out was also easy.
We went on to Etretat, a resort town on the Channel coast with eroded sedimentary formations of sandstone and limestone leaving arches and spires jutting out from the shore. The beach is well rounded egg-sized cobbles of the same stone. We climbed one of the head lands for the view and pix. Monet also painted these formations. Did I mention this trip is part homage to Monet to see the sites where he worked.
Parking by the way is a pain in France as well as NYC. Our last stop was Honfleur, a town at the mouth of the Seine with a fishing and sailing heritage. Our hotel was great, friendly staff, great breakfast buffet and our room was a little two story house with big bedroom, living room and kitchen. We had dinner on the quai, seafood of course, walked home and dissolved.
Rouen Cathedral, west entrance
Etretat, headland with arch
Honfleur quai
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