Pam during her hours of research found a restaurant that she wanted to go to when back in New Zealand. Their web site said they did not accept email reservations and you had to phone.

I tried to phone, in my pigeon French, forgot to leave my name. Then I got a lady from work who is French to contact them, but after 7 days no response to that either. So I ended up emailing them and finally our booking was confirmed.

Apon arrival in Honfleur we were quite amazed at the number of restaurants – literally 100’s of them everywhere, although most you could tell are typical tourist rubbish filled with chips on every order.

We booked in at 8pm and walked the 2 minutes to it from our room.

We said we had a reservation for "Crowe” and then he said are you “Holiday” which is my email address for holiday related stuff.

This was a nice fine dinning place, but like the rest of HonFleur  most of the restaurants have fixed menus. A lot of restaurants also have standard menu items to order, but this place did not just basically a 30 Euro (with 40 Euro Option) or a 50 Euro (with a 60 Euro Option)

I really wanted to try the Foie Gras but it was on the main 50 Euro menu and the other items I wanted were on the 30 euro menu.

So I thought I can try the Foie Gras another day.

Pam & I both ordered the duck, with different starters and different deserts.

We ordered a bottle of Pinot Gris from Alsace – 30 Euro and quite nice with a very good length.

When we got there they served a small amuse bouche (no photo) and then they served a small pre-starter of a raw beetroot wafer along with salmon filled with a green pea mousse.

Pam ordered a “Velouté de Petits Pois Printanier, with Mozzarella di Buffala grillée et chorizo.” which basically is a pea soup with grilled buffalo mozzarella cheese at the bottom along with pea fronds.

I ordered the “Mousse, Nougat, de chevrè aux Fruits secs grillés salés, along with Asperges vertes et Jambon Ibérique vinaigrette miel et jus  Betterave” and received the following dish which was Asparagus, an air dried salted ham, and silky smooth goat cheese with Pistachios and Almonds along with lovely little red droplets of Iberian honey vinaigrette and beetroot juice.

For the main we both had the dish titled “Poitrine de Canette Dorée ay sautoir, Epinard et Navet aigre doux citron Badiane, jus épicé.” which was duck with very smooth mashed potatoes, a sound disk of apple (quite thick) and a very rich jus”

For desert I ordered “Panna Cotta Passion Tartare D’annanas à l’estragon, Sorbet Litchi”

and Pam ordered “Dôme Chocolat Noisettes Caramélisées, Créme glacée noisettes torréfiées”

At the end of this we were quite full.

The then offered us a Calvados (for free) which was very nice and unexpected as we saw others did not receive this gift.

Overall a lovely night and not too expensive considering the location and class of restaurant.

• Two Meals / 3 courses – 30 Euro each
• 1 bottle of wine – 30 Euro
• 1 bottle of sparkling water – 7 Euro

so all up 97 Euro

http://www.lafleurdesel-honfleur.com/#

The day started pretty lazily and we decided to have a coffee, there is a coffee machine in our room so we had a coffee first and then ventured out to find some breakfast and another coffee about 9:30am.

We went to a bakery bought some lovely bread, an apple and a plum tart and an almond croissant (did not look like a croissant).

We could not find anywhere that sold coffee, they seem to have tea shops here not coffee so we walked back to the room.

Along the way a few shops were starting to open including another that sells cider and calvados – a local apple brandy.

We tried a few ciders, a calvados 15yr old, and a blend of them both. We bought a bottle of the blend – Coquerei – 16.50 Euro and about 17%.

We then spotted a fromagerie and bought a large camembert cheese – 4.80 Euro

Back to the room and a small feast of bread  & cheese and tarts

I tried a taste of the cider we had not opened last night and we had a rest.

We went out to visit the old wooden church which is right outside our window.

Around the other side of the church is more cider and calvados shops

We planned the afternoon which was a drive to the town of Trouville-Sur-Mer.

It was a nice looking town with some very large buildings, and a beach. We parked and found you had to pay to park everywhere. We did not have much change and scrambled together 1 euro which gave us only 30 minutes.

But we had a quick look around at the beach and wondered around a bit.

After this we decided to drive to Chateu Du Breuil – which makes Calvados

We tried a few in the tasting room, starting with the 15yr old, followed by 20yr old and finished with the 30yr old.

Young Calvados is quite hot and bity, the 30 was smoother so we ended up buying a bottle of that – 112 Euro

After this we drive back to Honfleur for a rest before dinner.

We survived the day and started to fell pretty buggered by the time dinner time came around. We went out for a cider in a local bar/restaurant.

It was pretty small – about 250ml if that, and it was about 4.50 Euro

We decided to go back to the room and stopped off at one of the many cider shops around the town – this was only 2 doors down from our place and just  a small shop.

The lady was very helpful and spoke some English and we bought two bottles of cider, about 750ml each for 9 euro.

We bought a Rosè and a brut – very simple with the rosè being only 3% and the brut 5%, along with some cheese and we were happy.

The ciders are very different than in NZ, basically they are fresh fermented juice and then I think they carbonate them and sell them. No aging by the sounds of things.

We had decided to venture out and eat some oysters a bit later but ending up sleeping instead.

We arrived in Honfleur about 1:30pm and it looked really busy with people everywhere. We searched for a car park and ended up finding one about 1KM from the place we were staying and locked up and walked to find the lady who was waiting for us.

Honfleur is a very pretty little town with cobbled streets and lovely old buildings and of course the Vieux Bassin.

Our hotel room (little apartment) on the first floor has wonderful views over the Bassin and also the old wooden church (180 degrees behind)

La Ravenne
51210 Le Breuil

http://www.gite.com/france/la-ravenne

La Ravenne is a 19th century stone farmhouse set among the great vineyards of the Champagne region, fully renovated for comfortable modern living, while maintaining the character and ambiance of a French country residence.

The three storey house has five bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms with beds for eleven guests

We are staying for 5 nights here

http://www.hotel-arts.com/uk/index.php

HOTEL DES ARTS
10, place Marché Cochons de Lait
67000 Strasbourg

Situated in the heart of Strasbourg, the administrative centre of the Alsace region and the Bas-Rhin department, the Hotel des Arts** enjoys a privileged location at the foot of the Cathedral.

The hotel has 24 rooms, each one fully equipped and decorated in a clean and modern style. Its location near the shops and restaurants of Strasbourg’s historic pedestrian city centre, and near the Notre Dame Cathedral, gives the hotel a unique atmosphere.

La Vieille Auberge
http://www.visitdinan.co.uk/

La Vieille Auberge is believed to have been built in 1386, and is reputedly one of the oldest houses in Dinan.

The Master bedroom door has “1792” burnt into the top third. Although we cannot be sure of the significance, this was the year the Bretons joined forces with the Marsaillaise on their march to Paris. On the stone window sill in the upstairs sitting room, the name “Louis” is carved in what looks like 17th century script.

During the 1800’s to early 1900’s, the house functioned as a Cider House, and iron rings on the side wall of the Rue du Coignet were used by patrons to tie-up their horses.

La Vieille Auberge is listed as an Historic Building of the 14th Century, and escaped not only a major fire which swept through the city in the 1600’s (and explains why this house looks so much older than the other houses on the street), but also the events of WW II. Happily for Dinan, the US Army felt that the town was of enough historical importance to negotiate for its protection with the occupying German forces, thus preventing what would have been significant destruction of the town.

Dinan itself has a long and fascinating history.  First settled by monks in the 9th century, it had by the 12th century become an important centre for trade.  The river Rance was key to trading, and its elevated position, accessible only via the steep and well protected Rue du Petit Port made the town difficult to attack.

However, attacks were inevitable in the Middle Ages and Dinan was no exception.  During the siege of 1357 the brother of an important knight, Bertrand Du Guesclin, was captured by the Englishman Thomas Canterbury.  Negotiations to release his brother resulted in a man-to-man fight between Thomas and Bertrand.  Bertrand came out on top, and was thereafter fêted as the hero of the town.  His statue still stands in the town’s main square, and his heart is entombed in the church of St Sauveur.

Honfleur is a commune in the Calvados department in north-western France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. Its inhabitants are called Honfleurais.

We are going to drive From Paris to Honfleur – about 3 hours or a bit longer if we decide not to take the motorways all the way.

Chambre Houdaille
27 rue des Logettes
14600 Honfleur

This “may” be the view from out hotel/apartment room? Here's hoping.