L'Aussie goes to the beach, but in Normandy. Bit different to Aussie beaches. Le Havre and Honfleur.

Le Havre boardwalk

The beach at Le Havre

The 10-kilometre bridge crossing the water to Honfleur from Le Havre

Hotel du Dauphin, our digs in Honfleur - from 17th Century. Isn't it gorgeous! Oh, those narrow, windy steps up to the third floor, no lift of course. Glad we were travelling light.  We find all our accommodation through booking.com and are rarely disappointed.

View to the square from our third story room in the above hotel. Groovy.

Part of the edifice of St Catherines, the oldest timbered church still standing in France. Correct me if I'm wrong. It's in my notes but I'm writing from memory.

The front of St Catherines, the oldest timbered church. See the shingles. Amazing.

We finally get down to Honfleur Harbour seeking food and drink. No wonder Van Gogh and Co painted here don't you think? So gorgeous.

More of gorgeous Honfleur Harbour. About to rain but it just meant we enjoyed huddling around the fire in the restaurant all the more. Cozy! Apparently it rains a lot and is very windy.

Me doing a pose at yet another old timber edifice. Here they use this as a wonderful theatre for live arts. 

This little artisan shop was so pretty had to take a snap.

Do they really name a street after my favourite French dessert? Yes, they do. Only in France..

I hope you enjoyed your little tour from Le Havre to Honfleur. Next stop Mont st Michel and the Tour de France. Day and night shots. 

• Have you been to either of these cities? 
• Did you enjoy these pics?

La Roche Guyon, Normandy, France - living in caves

I'm fascinated that people used to live in these troglodytes (caves) in medieval times. Now these caves are still under renovation and have become artisan workshops as you drive down the hill into La Roche Guyon. This was taken in the early morning mist. I'm so fascinated that I'm going to write a non-fiction article about troglodyte living and how the people used to hide from marauding bands.

A funky bistro in the main street of La Roche Guyon

A half-timbered house we discovered in our meanderings in La Roche Guyon.

I will leave La Roche Guyon now but just wanted to share these pics with you all. Enjoy.

• Have you got a favourite village in France? 

Our French visit, 2011. Normandy - Monet's Garden, La Roche Guyon.

After a wonderful 9 days in Morocco, we flew from Casablanca to Paris. There's nothing like re-visiting favourite places, so after collecting our hire car at Orly Airport, we hit the road. One hour down the motorway we arrived at one of the prettiest villages in France in our opinion, La Roche Guyon, right on the border of Isle de France and Normandy. It's only a few minutes from Monet's Garden at the tiny village of Giverny which we'd vowed to revisit in summer (previously visited in winter.) It is a delight driving around this area with its picture-perfect farmlands growing apples and other produce.

Village of La Roche Guyon, all white cliffs and troglodytes. A right royal town in the past.

The wonderful restaurant at Les Bordes de Seine, the hotel we always stay. The best meals we've ever eaten in France are served here. Always full of Parisians on a day trip. Local produce is served, so we had plenty of duck and foie gras.

Sunset as seen from our hotel window overlooking La Seine. Pretty in pink.

That would be moi in the centre on Monet's steps.

In Monet's Garden, which looks just like his impressionist paintings.

Posing on Monet's famous bridge which appears in many of his paintings.

The Hotel Baudy, one of the oldest buildings in Giverny. Used to be a meeting place for many famous artists, Monet included. Once a brothel, now a restaurant. We ate our very first meal here - salmon rillettes.

The bucolic Normandy countryside. A picture in summer. We saw this scene many days as we drove towards the Normandy coast to see the D-Day Beaches.

• What do you think of the first couple of days of our French tour? Have you visited these villages, or Normandy?
• I'll have more on Normandy later...

All photos are taken by ourselves.