half-timbered homes – Dave and Kay's Travel Adventures

Saturday, October 7th, 2023

This morning we arrived in Le Havre, France. It was a major port city in the Normandy region and it was located where the Seine River emptied into the English Channel.

Near our dock we could see the last US Army tugboat that served here from 1944-1946. The boat was now a museum ship.

We rode through the town of Le Havre on our way to Étretat. Le Havre was almost completely rebuilt after WWII. It was the first modern city and one of two post-WWII cities recognized as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Auguste Perret was the chief architect for reconstruction and used reinforced concrete.

A little over 370 acres of concrete made up the city.

This memorial was to commemorate residents of La Havre who had lost their lives in WWI, WWII, wars in Indochina (1946-1954) and Algeria (1954-1962).

The “Catène de Containers” art installation was constructed from shipping containers by Vincent Ganivet for La Havre’s 500th anniversary.

The Le Havre Cathedral was one of the few buildings that survived the bombings of WWII. The main facade was Baroque and the bell tower was from around 1520.

The Cathedral was built in the 16th-17th century and was only partially damaged during WWII.

This morning our first stop was Étretat. It was a seaside town that was known for its white cliffs which many impressionist painters had painted. The most famous was Claude Monet.

Erosion created arches and the needle-like structure. We had time to climb the east side or west side of the beach. We climbed the west side path that also lead to an 18-hole golf course. The views were beautiful from the top of trail.

Click through the slideshow to see the gorgeous cliffs, beach, and town!

The old wooden Covered Market was built in 1927 for fish stalls. Today there were shops inside.

Etretat had old medieval half-timbered homes.

Maurice Leblanc’s home was built around 1850. Maurice was a French novelist. He called the home “Clos Lupin” after his fictional character from his popular short stories that began in 1905. The home was confiscated by the Germans during its occupation of Etretat. The home eventually was purchased by his granddaughter and she turned it into a museum.

Our next stop was Honfleur, France.

Bell tower would signal when time to get back to work!

Le Vieux Bassin, the old port was a focal point of this beautiful city. It was lined with distinctive tall, narrow, timber-framed, and slate-clad townhouses built from the 16th to 18th century.

Sainte Catherine Church was the largest wooden church in France. Its bell tower was separate from the main building.

The inside of the church.

The La Lieutenance was the last bastion of medieval Honfleur.

We walked past the town hall.

We saw the Roncheville manor which once was the residence of the governors of Honfleur. We walked into the Courtyard of the Roncheville Manor.

Closeup of the entrance to the courtyard of the manor.

We walked down the Rue des Petites Boucheries. The name of this street dated to the 17th century and was named because it was lined with butchers stalls.

Near the harbour was a beautiful vintage carousel. Four of us rode it and enjoyed our ride!

After our tour of the town we had free time. We walked around the beautiful harbor and then found an outdoor patio for champagne and an afternoon snack. The owner, waitress, and a neighbor child helped us and were so kind and attentive.

It was a perfect way to end our time in Honfleur!

Friday, October 6th, 2023

The Amadeus Diamond arrived in Rouen about 8:00 AM.

Across from our riverboat was the newest area of Rouen and the tall building you see in the picture below was the Archive Tower. It was built in 1965, stands over 300 feet and had no windows.

Rouen, France was a port city along the Seine and was located about 78 miles from Paris. In 1204 the French captured the city from the Normans. Rouen prospered until the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) and it was taken by Henry V of England. St. Joan of Arc, in 1430, France’s patron saint was imprisoned in a tower in Rouen. She was burned at the stake by the English in the city, in May, 1431 for heresy.

Cross monument marked the spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.

The church above was the E’glise Jeanne d’ Arc. It was completed in 1979 and built in the center of Place du Vieux Marché (old market). The inside of the church had a beautiful wall of 13 Renaissance stained-glass windows that were from 1520-1530. They were in the Church of St. Vincent in Rouen that was heavily damaged by the Allied strikes in 1944. The windows were stored in a safe location for the rest of the war. Then the windows were used in the Joan of Arc church!

Also in the church was a memorial to Saint Joan of Arc.

Also located on the Old Market was the La Couronne restaurant. It was where Julia Child had her first French meal.

On our walk through the city we saw the Gros-Horloge or Great Clock. It houses one of the oldest clock mechanisms in Europe. It was an astronomic clock that sat on a Renaissance arch and it was flanked by a Gothic belfry from the 14th century. The belfry housed the bells that were linked to the clock’s movement. All of this was restored from 1997 to 2006.

The two faces of the clock displayed 24 rays of sun against a blue starred sky. There were moon phases on the oculus above the face of the clock. Also, a hand showing the week inside an opening at the base of the dial! Since the 1920s the clock was powered by electricity.

The arch below the clock contained bas-reliefs and the center was of Christ as the Good Shepherd.

The narrow streets of the old town were lined with half-timbered houses. Some of which date back to the middle ages. The town had about 2000 half-timbered homes which were made with timber posts. It was amazing that this many survived with all the devastation from WWII.

The Gothic style Cathedral Notre Dame de Rouen suffered damage from the Allied bombings that occurred a week before D-day. It was hit by seven bombs.

It was the highest cathedral in France after the reconstruction of its cast iron spire in 1876. The cathedral became internationally famous because of the paintings of it by Claude Monet who once lived across from the church.

The beauty of the Rouen cathedral continued inside its doors. The mostly Gothic style could be viewed. The right side of the cathedral was destroyed by the Allied bombing but the restoration was amazing!

Below were additional views of the cathedral.

We stopped in the Le Cacaotier, Hubert Masse, Artisan Chocolatier because we were told this shop had the best chocolate. We got some to take back to the riverboat. We enjoyed this delicious chocolate for the rest of our trip!

The Hilliard Area Chamber of Commerce travelers dressed as pirates to “take over the ship” and we took the second captain as hostage. The captain took many pictures and videos. He thought it was great! We had a lot of fun as the other passengers looked on with amusement!