# Day 11 and 12, Mirror, mirror on the wall...

There are two things we want to see in this area (actually more, but we are limiting ourselves!):

1. The artists' town of Honfleur on the banks of the Seine
2. The glamorous Deauville, a resort with traditions

We have now left the Opal Coast and driven along the Alabaster Coast and are now south of the Seine on the Cote Fleurie. But there is a lot of knowledge here that I can certainly use in a quiz show.

Thursday, 27.04.:

The charming Honfleur is only 4 km away and can be easily reached by bike. For this, we are looking for a route away from the main road and are rewarded with a wonderful viewpoint at Mont-Joli.

Actually just a gap in the narrow buildings near the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Grace, but with a great view of Honfleur and an even better view of the Pont de Normandie.

Behind the church, the road leads straight down to Honfleur, and it's really steep, so that the brakes on the bike do their job.

Honfleur has emerged virtually unscathed from the war, so the buildings and roads are still intact. You are better off exploring the narrow streets on foot or by bike. Driving is reserved for the locals.

There are also some slopes and hillside locations where the best houses with a view of the river are located. You can look enviously and then throw yourself into the hustle and bustle of the old town.

The first impression:

Honfleur consists only of restaurants and tourists. And China can't be far away either - see tourists.

So we start exploring the town street by street. Thank goodness it's still off-season and the tourist crowds are limited. But it's already an attraction because the mention of the town in travel guides around the world and on the internet attracts visitors.

The second impression:

The shops consist almost exclusively of delicatessens (Produits de Normandie), confectioneries, and art galleries. You won't find a supermarket or kiosk here.

The streets and alleys are beautiful and invite you to take a leisurely stroll, and you can take in the shop windows and displays to your heart's content.

After the first two rounds, we have saved our favorites and are now looking for a restaurant for a snack. This is necessary because it starts raining on time. We move indoors.

You can easily spend 2 hours with a pizza calzone and grilled sardines with a bottle of Muscadet. But the rain just doesn't let up, and at some point we are the last guests.

Then we go outside and start the next city tour. Now would be the right moment to learn about the different qualities of Calvados and to taste them as well.

But we are not doing the little shopping round alone. All tourists have the same idea and besiege the delicatessen shops we had chosen to taste the Calvados and other Norman delicacies. But we don't feel like standing in line, so we stroll further.

But then it actually works. In a shop that we hadn't noticed before, we talk to the owner and confess that we have never drunk Calvados before.

The bottles are opened, and we can taste them. And in the end, a bottle with a 12-year-old VSOP ends up in our backpack.

It's still raining outside, even though the weather online announced a break at 5:00 pm. It's 5:00 pm now.

So we saddle up our bikes and start the way back. It's only 4 km away ... but that's enough to arrive at the campsite completely soaked. Frustrated, we get rid of our wet clothes and won't leave the motorhome today. If the weather doesn't improve tomorrow morning, we'll leave and give up the

Sightseeing No. 2 - the glamorous resort of Deauville.

Friday, 28.04.:

After raining all night, the sky calms down in the morning. Even the sun shines through the clouds and tempts us to stay.

Ok, weather online promises that it won't rain today, so we cycle in the other direction to the Cote Fleurie.

Deauville - one of the most elegant Norman seaside resorts, a meeting place for elegance, stars, and celebrities, a large marina, a famous racecourse, and a luxurious casino.

Will they even let us in there?

With the bike on the hilly coastal road, the 15 km is quickly done. The city is actually made up of two towns, separated by a river (the Touques). We reach Trouville-sur-mer first as we enter the town. The main street runs along the river down to the beach. There is also a huge casino with a hotel here. The vibrant street houses some bars and cafes where there is also a lively atmosphere around lunchtime.

There is already a lot of activity on the beach in the current sunshine. It all seems very normal and appropriate for the seaside location.

But we haven't even arrived in Deauville yet!

So we drive to the other side of the river and end up in a different world. There is still no activity in the marina, which is surrounded by high apartment buildings. But there is also no sign of life here. Everything is calm and quiet.

We continue riding and reach the beach promenade - Les Planches

The seemingly endless beach promenade "Les Planches", the colorful umbrellas, the beach villas and luxurious hotels, and the pretty casino are legendary.

Actually, this is already an impressively long promenade in front of a deep, white sandy beach. Along the promenade, there is a row of buildings spanning the entire length, interrupted by a few passages and gastronomy establishments.

Because the sun is shining so nicely, you could sit down and have a drink - but first let's look at the menu:

Cappuccino - 6.90 €,

Beer 0.5 l - 12 €,

Glass of wine 15 cl - 10 €.

Now I'm getting angry. I know that France is expensive. But here they are completely out of control. They're crazy...

Nevertheless, some people sit in the restaurants and enjoy the delicacies of the sea. I no longer notice the prices.

I brought 2 cans of beer, there is an observation tower for the life guards on the beach (but I can't see anyone from the Baywatch family...)

So we settle down and consume a beer for less than 1 €, but the sun is shining here too, and the sand is warm.

When we then ride into the city, we experience the next shock. While the streets and alleys on the other side in Trouville-sur-mer were already narrow and dirty, here we feel like we are in an artificial Disneyland landscape.

The houses are all lined up meticulously clean and well-groomed, the green areas are meticulously trimmed, only shops of luxury brands, and in the restaurants, white jackets are served.

Great importance is attached to appearance and etiquette here.

We feel completely out of place and change sides of the river again. We need to digest this - a real culture shock.

I would like to show you photos of it, but unfortunately, the internet is still so bad that I can't upload any more photos. I will do that later when the data quality is better.

And the conclusion:

and the winner is: HONFLEUR

Nothing more to add.