Portsmouth - Le Havre - Honfleur 5/6th Dec 09
A weekend away was needed; not just to get a break but also to stock up on wine and fuel. So got in touch with a friend, and so we found ourselves at Portsmouth ferry terminal at 21:30hrs on the Friday awaiting the 23:00hrs ferry to Le Havre.
A very simple plan; drive from Le Havre to Honfleur, do some shopping, have some R & R and come back. And it was as easy as that, we left Le Havre on a cloudy morning, took the Caen road out of town, this time avoiding the low bridges I nearly hit last time, over the graceful arched bridges that cross the Seine, off the at the next junction after paying the 5Euro toll and into Honfleur.
I knew from experience that not a lot will be open on a Saturday afternoon, and next to nothing open on Sunday. So we pottered into Honfleur, checked into the hotel, an excellent chain called Etap, very good value and only a few minutes walk from the old port of Honfleur. I just love Honfleur, a typical small French fishing port, it's just beautiful.
So we had some coffee and croissants, got back into the Landy and stocked up with wine at Lidl's/Aldi's nearby, really cheap, but decent quality. Got some fuel at 1Euro a litre and then, back to the hotel, parked up, and hit the town. A market was on, we just wandered around Honfleur for a few hours, did some shopping, had a late lunch, got back to the hotel and had a quick nooze and then got ready for the night. Unfortuately, a wet night, but it didn't matter, had a great meal, not that cheap and the wine was expensive, but we had to have a resturant overlooking the old port. A great day!
Got up on Sunday, had a good breakfast in the hotel, and found another market, this time with local and fresh produce for sale, well done the French! Rollocks to the EU! After some time and some coffee, we headed off towards Le Havre to catch the 17:00hrs return ferry. We drove around Le Havre for a few hours, visited the old docks, now a shopping centre, had a couple of great brie and ham baguettes, washed down with soft drinks, did some more sightseeing and took our time getting to the ferry terminal.
Checked in, boarded, and had a pleasant crossing with LD Lines, arrived in Portsmouth at about 21:30hrs, and had a short drive home. What a great weekend! Will have to do that again in 2010, and from May 2010 I'm told, a very fast catamaran will run between Portsmouth - Le Havre which will do the crossing in around 3.5hrs instead of the usual 7-8hrs. Brilliant.
UPDATE 20/02/10; checked ferries for our next trip, Portsmouth-Le Havre £280 Dover-Calais £50, no contest, can't justify that difference.
A weekend away was needed; not just to get a break but also to stock up on wine and fuel. So got in touch with a friend, and so we found ourselves at Portsmouth ferry terminal at 21:30hrs on the Friday awaiting the 23:00hrs ferry to Le Havre.
A very simple plan; drive from Le Havre to Honfleur, do some shopping, have some R & R and come back. And it was as easy as that, we left Le Havre on a cloudy morning, took the Caen road out of town, this time avoiding the low bridges I nearly hit last time, over the graceful arched bridges that cross the Seine, off the at the next junction after paying the 5Euro toll and into Honfleur.
I knew from experience that not a lot will be open on a Saturday afternoon, and next to nothing open on Sunday. So we pottered into Honfleur, checked into the hotel, an excellent chain called Etap, very good value and only a few minutes walk from the old port of Honfleur. I just love Honfleur, a typical small French fishing port, it's just beautiful.
So we had some coffee and croissants, got back into the Landy and stocked up with wine at Lidl's/Aldi's nearby, really cheap, but decent quality. Got some fuel at 1Euro a litre and then, back to the hotel, parked up, and hit the town. A market was on, we just wandered around Honfleur for a few hours, did some shopping, had a late lunch, got back to the hotel and had a quick nooze and then got ready for the night. Unfortuately, a wet night, but it didn't matter, had a great meal, not that cheap and the wine was expensive, but we had to have a resturant overlooking the old port. A great day!
Got up on Sunday, had a good breakfast in the hotel, and found another market, this time with local and fresh produce for sale, well done the French! Rollocks to the EU! After some time and some coffee, we headed off towards Le Havre to catch the 17:00hrs return ferry. We drove around Le Havre for a few hours, visited the old docks, now a shopping centre, had a couple of great brie and ham baguettes, washed down with soft drinks, did some more sightseeing and took our time getting to the ferry terminal.
Checked in, boarded, and had a pleasant crossing with LD Lines, arrived in Portsmouth at about 21:30hrs, and had a short drive home. What a great weekend! Will have to do that again in 2010, and from May 2010 I'm told, a very fast catamaran will run between Portsmouth - Le Havre which will do the crossing in around 3.5hrs instead of the usual 7-8hrs. Brilliant.
UPDATE 20/02/10; checked ferries for our next trip, Portsmouth-Le Havre £280 Dover-Calais £50, no contest, can't justify that difference.