My boyfriend Matthew and I rented a two-bedroom apartment in the town center of Honfleur. It was one of the cutest places I’ve ever been. Every house was impeccably maintained with immaculate slate roofs. We arrived at the end of October 2016. The leaves on the trees were still mostly green with a bit of yellow. The walk to the beach was only five minutes from our apartment. There are great sidewalks, and we could walk everywhere, up the mountain to the church with all its beautiful bells, on the beach to neighboring villages, and even to the bridge which from a distance seemed to be suspended from the clouds. My favorite part was the local markets.
Every Wednesday there was an organic market, and every Saturday a market for food near the apartment in the town center. Clothes and general market goods could be found everywhere else in town. The first Sunday of the month is an antique and artisan market near the town center. The shops in Honfleur are incredible! Everything one could want can be found here. There are pharmacies which make their own lotions, perfumes, and other cosmetics. A lovely woman owns a shop that sells beautiful bedding, treated hides, and Thieffry pouches. A shop that sells local goods with antique whisks hanging from the ceiling sells an amazing rose cider: the best I’ve ever tasted. They also sell local alcohol, as well as fabulous honey. There are three natural cosmetics shops with snail cream and beautiful lotions all made organically. One of them was my source for royal jelly.
Before living in France, I had extreme adult acne for four years. It was cystic and caused me many frustrations. I spent thousands on products and treatments, but nothing would fix the problem. I learned about my skin from the women in the pharmacies and the organic shops. It’s been amazing to see my skin clear for this past year. I wrote a bit about what’s worked for me. It’s a living post that I add to as I discover new products I feel keep my oily skin happy.
Honfleur has over one hundred and fifty restaurants. We didn’t explore many of them because we mostly cooked at home. The markets had so many amazing vegetable selections that we had to try. The locals were friendly and happy to engage in conversations for hours. I was walking my small schnorkie Mercy one evening along the harbor and a gentleman came and asked me to join his friends in a restaurant having a party. I joined them and everyone came up to introduce themselves to me and Mercy and offer us food. I don’t speak French so it was difficult to communicate at times, but many people spoke English.
The tourists still came on the weekends, mostly from Paris, but during the week we had the town mostly to ourselves and the locals. As an American I was keen to celebrate Thanksgiving. My English boyfriend never had pumpkin pie, so we managed to collect all that was needed to make the meal. The week before I placed an order for a turkey with one of the local vendors at the market. The only place I had trouble finding English speakers was at the market. This woman made the most amazing rice pudding I’ve ever had. She was very helpful with my inability to speak French, but she thought I said rooster instead of turkey. I went to pick up what I thought was a small turkey. When I opened the bag the whole head was on with the rooster crown. I didn’t know what to do with a rooster! So I did some research and decided to use the calvados which is an apple cognac to cook the rooster with. It was amazing; one of the best flavors I’ve enjoyed. I have the recipe under the recipe category.
As Christmas approached, the town was covered in trees and real greenery and market was opened in honor of the holiday. All the shops and houses were covered in lovely Christmas decorations. We enjoyed a few more weeks of walks and shopping around town before it was time to return to England for Christmas.
