Up early for a run around the beautiful harbour of Honfleur before tucking in to the most anticipated breakfast of our five weeks in Europe. The great thing about running, besides the fitness benefit, is the places you end up in that you may not have seen because you would never have walked that far.

We came across a beautiful park early in the morning that was full of Lilly pads with just as many frogs all enjoying the wonderment of the pond. The attention to detail that the French give their gardens is something to behold and we have been fortunate to see many such examples of fine horticultural displays on our travels.

Back for breakfast, which is something to be seen to be believed. We had read about this on trip advisor before booking our accommodation and it did not fail to disappoint. Fresh produce, homemade pastries and freshly brewed coffee, we were in heaven. The hosts make everything on site, including the jams, juices and pastries, and it was a delight to taste every mouthful as we devoured the most amazing food we have had so far on this trip.

Our day was spent wandering around Honfleur, visiting St Catherine’s Cathedral, the oldest wooden structured church in France, the Boudin Museum, who was a mentor to the great Claude Monet, and shopping, where we found a groovy pair of yellow pants for Hughy to wear back in Melbourne at our next social function.

A visit to Honfleur would not be complete without eating alongside the port and partaking in a bowl of mussels, which we duly did for lunch at around 3pm having not felt hungry until then thanks to our bountiful breakfast. The port is full of every type of boat and lined with so many restaurants it is a wonder they all survive.

More walking around then back to our house for a couple of hours sitting in the garden relaxing with a book and enjoying the afternoon sun. The garden where we are staying is amazing and truly compliments the house. The hosts had a write up of their estate in the equivalent of Vogue Living magazine, unfortunately my French was not quite up to scratch to be able to decipher the article. Nonetheless, the pictures spoke a thousand words and did the house justice.

With the heat starting to reach it’s peak and the humidity steadily rising with it, we headed off to dinner, somewhere that had a breeze that allowed some respite from the humidity that was now engulfing us.

A quaint little cafe was the choice for the evening but did not offer the breeze we were looking for. Once again we managed to get charged one less drink than what we had ordered, it’s a surprise Honfleur are not in a recession.

Our stay in Honfleur had been much anticipated and it did not disappoint. For anyone travelling through the Normandy region of France this is a must stay on your visit.

Feeling truly revived we were ready to head off to Amiens for more battlefield history, but more of that for another blog.