Touring Honfleur: Visiting Normandy’s Port that Explorer
Jacques Cartier Used to Sail to Canada by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
My
husband Laurent and I set out on another rainy, damp winter day to visit the
port town of Honfleur in Normandy, France.
Honfleur
is a Norman town, which is located at the mouth of the Seine River. This prime location made it a prime
destination for marauding Vikings, who used the Seine River to go to Paris and
steal treasures from Parisians.
Rollo,
the chief of the Normans, became the Duke of Normandy in 911 after signing the
Treaty of St. Clair-sur-Epte. The legacy
of the Normans lives on in their blonde descendants.
Honfleur
was also the port where Jacques Cartier left for the New World in 1534 as an
explorer. Francis 1st (House
of Valois) was disappointed that what would become Canada held no gold,
diamonds, or spices.
It
was not until the 17th century that Samuel de Champlain founded Québec
in 1608 that Canada’s wealth became apparent.
Louis XIV knew that he could make money in the fishing industry and fur
trade for the fashion industry from his Canadian colony.
My
memories of Honfleur are of drizzling cold rain, which obscured the outlines of
the buildings. At 2 o’clock, we ate at
the Sainte-Catherine Church Restaurant, which is right in front of the church
of the same name.
Laurent
and I ordered the same delicious meal:
-
moulies marnières – mussels steamed in white wine with chopped shallots and
chopped parsley sprinkled on top just before serving
-
grilled salmon fillets with sautéed vegetables
-
a slice of camembert cheese, a regional cheese from Normandy with a creamy
center that you can spread on toasted bread
-
chocolate mousse
We
drank a Muscadet from the mouth of the Loire River on the Atlantic Ocean with
our nice meal.
The
Sainte-Catherine Church was built entirely of wood with stone foundations. It is similar to the wood stave churches of
Norway; they were part of the marauding Scandinavians, who came to France.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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