HONFLEUR is a small fishing town, yacht harbour
and tourist centre located on the southern bank
of the Seine Estuary in the Departément of
Calvados. It is south of Le Havre and is
connected to that city by the Normandie
suspension bridge.
Honfleur was founded in the 11th century. During
the Hundred Years’ War (1337 to 1453)
Honfleur changed hands many times. The English
last occupied the port from 1418 to 1450. During
the 16th to 19th centuries the port’s
importance increased as a result of trading with
Asia and North America. In 1608, Samuel de
Champlain sailed from the port to found
Québec.
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The 17th century Vieux-Bassin is encircled by
15th and 16th century buildings, with six and
seven story houses on the western side. On the
east side is the town’s old fortified area,
l’Enclos.
The 15th century Church of Sainte-Catherine,
visible in the background, is situated to the
northwest of the Vieux-Bassin and was constructed
of timber by ship carpenters. It appears as an
upside down ship.
During the 19th century, Le Havre became much
more important than Honfleur as a seaport.
Honfleur later became a Mecca for artists and
writers: Boudin, Cézanne, Courbet,
Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley all painted there.
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The first recorded reference to DEAUVILLE dates
from 1060. At this time the village was called A
Enilla and was more of a fishing hamlet than a
village. A Enilla comes from the Germanic Auwja
Auwa meaning wet meadow.
The village was originally up on the hill and a
few houses were built next to the St Laurent
chapel. The village had a small harbour on the
river Touques of little importance. Deauville or
Dauville owes it all to the Duc de Morny. He
described the village thus: "Cité calme,
aux rue désertes, elle forme avec
Trouville, animée et bruyante, un
contraste absolu. Mais ce manque de vie n'est, en
réalité, qu'apparent, car des
magnifiques propriétés, de
même que les délicieux jardins qui
les entourent, sont entretnus avec un soin on ne
peut plus raffiné."
In 1855 land was being bought at five centimes
per square metre; in 1862 the same land was worth
one franc per square metre (a twenty times
increase). The earlier buyer indeed bought marsh
land and later sold land upon which buildings
could be constructed. It was in 1858 that Doctor
Oliffe, who owned a villa in Trouville, decided
to create a reort town on the deserted sand
dunes. In 1862 the first stone of today's
Deauville was laid. The Duc de Morny bought 240
hectares of marsh land and dunes for 800000
Francs. In the 1860s visits by Napoleon III made
the coast of Normandy adjacent to Deauville
fashionable, and soon speculators developed the
infrastructure necessary to accommodate members
of the Imperial court and the growing Parisian
bourgeoisie.
The railway arrived at Trouville-sur-Mer in 1863.
Using the station called Trouville, passengers
could now reach Deauville in six hours from
Paris. The locked harbour was cleared in
1866.
Morny, who had influence at Court, managed to
persuade the aristocracy that staying on the
coast would benefit their health. Land was bought
and large villas, sometimes even palaces, were
built.
A casino and hotels soon followed and rich
tourists came in their hundreds. The construction
of Deauville's racecourse (called Hippodrome de
la Touques) followed.
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Deauville hardly suffered during the First World
War. But in World War II, during the German
Occupation, Deauville saw most of its leisure
utilities confiscated for use by the occupying
forces.
During the 1960s, Deauville started to accept
"less fortunate visitors". But it still is a
haven for the rich and famous as well as holiday
makers.
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The Promenade des Planches is a 500 metre long
beachside board-walk lined with private bathing
huts named after the rich and famous who have
visited the town.
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The exclusive Normandy Barriere is one of
France's most expensive hotels..
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The Casino de Deauville insists on formal dress -
but a jacket and tie may be hired at
reception!
(Acknowledgement: Much of
the information on this page was obtained from
'Wikipedia' - the free internet
encyclopaedia)
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