France and England on $98 a Day - Honfleur

David and I have come full circle after an 800 or so mile detour.   We started following the Seine River outside of Paris in Vernon, and after touring the areas of Brittany and Normandy, we've arrived at the river's end--where the Seine meets the English Channel in the port city of Honfleur.

This town has always been important to sailors because of it's protected harbor, and it served as inspiration for artists, especially Eugene Boudin (There's a museum devoted to his work.) and Monet, but today it seems mostly to cater to tourists.  There are souvenir shops everywhere, higher prices than the rest of Normandy, and traffic snarls even in the off-season.

But everyone who told us to come here was right. It is beautiful with its slate roofed soaring houses lining the harbor (Taxes were levied based on house width, so homebuilders built up), it's one-way skinny streets, and its charming store fronts.  But photos say it best, so here they are.