Dear Diary,
Here I am in Honfleur posing with some new friends.... This is a wonderful town, very old, very vibrant. We are in Normandy in a 'flower town'. They make a really big deal out of being part of the flower coast and there are flower beds everywhere. It's quite beautiful and full of holidaying people, bustling all up and down the streets.We got the car stuck trying to go around a corner of a T intersection when we got to town. Some moron in a plumbing truck parked smack on the corner and even a car as tiny as ours wouldn't go. All the neighbors were hanging out on the balcony watching to see the drama unfold. S. was in a panic and ready to cry or scream when a young Frenchman came up and offered to get the car around the corner. Bing bang boom, three back ups and go forwards and there we were. We had to park about three miles away from the hotel--literally. Finding the b & b was horrible. We couldn't find the street and the helper from the gallery/bed and breakfast couldn't come to show us the way. Rocket finally got out and went hunting for the street. It was right there in front of us all the time, it just changed names after a block.
Everyone was ready to scream and we all required a bath and a glass of wine. I just decided to go hang out the window.
It is right on the water so there is a sort of square boat port for lack of a better word that is right smack in the middle of town. You can walk all the way around it and look at the elegant sailing boats tied up there. One side is a drawbridge, a very small drawbridge, that goes up to let the boats out. There is a charming church that is quite old. The steeple has flying buttresses--of wood. The whole town looks like it fell intact out of an Elizabethan novel. Half timbered houses leaning over the narrow twisty cobblestoned streets. Flowers in pots and windowboxes everywhere. Shops on the first floor of the buildings in the center of town and homes up above. This wine shop is just down the street from our bed and breakfast, we bought the most amazing tire bouchon (tiray booshawn), aka wine bottle opener. When we asked the proprietress if she had one for sale she hauled out this thing made of cast iron that looks like a medieval implement of torture. For five euros we'll take it home and torture American wine bottles with it. I'm sitting in a basket full of cidre (cider) the local brew and boy is it serious cider. It's the stuff with the wired down corks, it's somewhat explosive and great to drink.
This is the street in front of our b & b, it is just down the road on the left, the building with the blue looking roof. We are staying on the fourth floor and at night it is magical because all the tourists go home and the shops close and then you really can believe it is about 500 years ago. This is a candle store and those odd yellow things are candles on sticks. Go figure. Very nice stores here. Rocket bought a handmade leather purse from a tiny store around the corner. The owner popped up out of a trap door in the floor to greet us, she was holding a lavender dyed piece cowhide to make a custom purse in her hand. An entire workshop was down a tiny staircase under the ancient floor. I love the purse because it has a special Barbie pocket in the side, no more being squashed by the camera for me.
Here I am waiting for dinner in Honfleur. There is a table full of obnoxious Americans behind us. Thereis a blonde girl about 25 years old, loud and somewhat drunk. We all wish she would go away and take her friends with her.We spent time reading and studying before we came here. Our goal was to fit in and not look like Americans for the most part. If you dress French, speak French, have French manners and eat like a French person, you will see a lot more of the country than the usual American tourist ever will. I can't exactly hide my nationality though, that green apron gives me away every time--and my tattoo. We haven't seen any tattoos here and it would seem they are not as socially acceptable here.
We had a fantastic pizza here with fresh tomatoes, capers and anchovies. And of course, a salad with vinagrette dressing--there is only type of dressing here. It varies a little but not much, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and a tiny bit of dry mustard. We love it. We were surprised how nice the anchovies on the pizza tasted. Yummy. This was a tiny little hole in the wall in Honfleur, painted bright colors and full of delicious smells. We had a window table and that place across the street has a sign in it welcoming American visitiors coming back to visit Normandy and the beaches.
posted by Rocket Davis @ 5:10 PM
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