Honfleur, France

Honfleur is a small city near the large port city of La Havre.  We were told by several people that it's quay was very nice and we should try to see it, so we stopped on our way out of Normandy.  These pictures are of the quay called Vieux Bassin.  It is a cute little area and we enjoyed a walk around it!

Happy Birthday, Sonya!

The more interesting thing to us was this old church - Eglise Ste-Catherine.  This church is a rare one in that, except for the foundation, it is made entirely from wood!  It was built very shortly after the Hundred Year War (that would be middle 1400's) when all the masons and architects were busy with post-war reconstruction.  The Honfleur axe masters had other ideas and wanted to thank God immediately for the departure of the English so they built a church using their skills with wood!

The pews look a little newer than middle 1400's....

The main altar

The organ (18th century) and the carved panels of the gallery (16th century)

The thing that really amazed us was that a wooden building has survived this long!

Now it's time to start the drive back to Belgium - what a great time we have had in Normandy!