Steps today: 21 493
Day tripping to Honfleur today, with the same bus we took from Caen yesterday. It's an easy 30-minute ride straight between Honfleur and Le Havre, but it's still a little complicated. There are no trains to Honfleur so the bus is the best solution, but there are only 5 busses a day so you really have to time it well. Having a ticket in advance as opposed to buying it from the driver doesn't guarantee you a seat on any specific departure so you'd conclude that showing up early is key, but we noticed more than once on this trip that people don't line up respectfully. It's a scrum to get in. Sad. Thankfully we got a seat on the 9:30AM bus, had we not the next one would have been at 10:45. No standing on the coach bus.
The jewel of Honfleur is it's Old Harbour. It's gorgeous! The sky was a little overcast when we arrived, but not grey enough to be depressing so we enjoyed strolling around.
We stopped for a drink to just sit and admire for a while
Then we started exploring the city. It's a post card. I can only imagine what it's like in high tourist season.
We hiked up to the panorama point on Mont Joli, and we couldn't believe how GREEN the vegetation still was in October. Spectacular.
Nice views over the city. The Old Harbour is in there but the water is not visible. Too bad, I would have liked to have seen that! The winding path down was even nicer than the street on the way up.
The Église Sainte-Catherine is known for it's construction. Double nave, all wood, built by ship builders, they say if you flipped it over it would float.
Next on the agenda was lunch, and we were willing to pay the touristy prices to eat back in the Old Harbour. Would have been nice outside, but still a bit too chilly so we sat inside however still had a sort-of-nice view.
The bus back to Le Havre was at 3:45PM and I was stressed about catching it because the next one would only be at 6:30PM! I wanted to get to the bus station good and early. This bus would be coming from Caen so how many seats would be available by the time it got to Honfleur? We still had about 2 hours to kill, so we wandered around a bit more after lunch...
... and then stopped for a drink. It was high time I tried Calvados being here in Normandy. Glad I tried it but it's not for me. All fumes and fire!! I'll think I'll stick to my Grand Marnier.
We got back to the bus stop at 3:30PM where there was group of people already waiting at the clearly indicated stop.
The bus arrived and stopped a few yards away from the stop and the crowd turned into a scrum again and it was all pushing and shoving to get in. We got in thankfully but didn't get seats together. After a few more people got on, the driver called out to see if there were any more seats left in back, yes a few more were available so she let a few more people in. Once all the seats were claimed, that was it, she told the people outside it was full and they would have to take the next one.
2 people who were standing in the stairs refused to get off. The woman said she didn't care, she had a valid ticket and a train to catch back in La Havre so she was entitled to a ride and refused to budge. She, the driver and few other passengers had some heated exchanges over the terms and conditions of the tickets but the couple would not be swayed and they stood their ground. The driver said she would have to call the cops. The woman's companion scoffed sarcastically "OOO, the cops, what are they gonna do" and rolled his eyes. It was a standoff.
Eventually, 2 other people volunteered to get off the bus so we were finally able to get moving, I think almost 30 minutes late. Too much drama! I feel she acted like a bully.
We got back to Le Havre a little after 4:30 with no hard plans so we just wandered around
Stopped to have a drink with some 'friends'
And then around 5:30 or so started wondering what to do about supper. We were both reaching the end of our general overall ability to keep eating for the rest of the trip! We found a Bouillon and had "something small"
We were back at the hotel by about 730ish. Frank didn't quite have a cold, but lost his voice a little. He felt ok, but was this the start of something? Let's not take chances - let's get some sleep.
