Honestly - Honfleur is fit for a Queen

Never in a thousand years, you'd think, would a French frontline seaport in the Hundred Years War, push the boat out for the Brits, let alone their Monarch. Yet Honfleur, thriving at the time of William the Conqueror, does just that. British yachts in the Marina sport English names - Sea Rover, Merry Fisher. A silver plaque at ‘Le Vieux Honfleur' restaurant in the much-photographed port, proclaims Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 dined there on June 7, 2004.

Honfleur, on the southern bank of the Seine River estuary, is famed for its luminosity by French and English (Turner) painters. During the 19th-century, Boudin, Cezanne, Courbet, Pissaro, Sisley and Jongkind all painted there.

To reach Honfleur, I took the overnight Portsmouth-Caen Brittany Ferries ‘Normandie' (Reservations 0871 244 1400 www.brittanyferries.com) and drove east from Ouistreham port 40 miles past Cabourg, Villers-sur-Mer and Deauville, to check in at the boutique Hotel Entre Terre et Mer mid-morning.

Year of Impressionists

I walked the town, perched on two hills, from its cobblestoned streets and half-timbered houses, the 15th-cent wooden church Bell Tower, dropped down to the 17th-cent Vieux Bassin where I marvelled at quai Sainte-Catherine's narrow, colourful 7-storey houses lining the harbour, its cafes and restaurants catering for less than10,000 Honfleurais but over three million annual visitors.

Being the Normandy 2010 Year of Impressionists, a vital port of call was at the Eugene Boudin Museum, (Impressionist Exhibition: July 3 - October 4) named after Honfleur's most famous painter, the pre-cursor of the Movement.

Honfleur's artistic link to Le Havre, (Andre Malraux Museum, Impresssionist: June 12-September 19) its ferro-concrete opposite number across the Seine, is more than the sublime Pont de Normandie suspension bridge.

Change Direction

Le Havre is where in 1857 Honfleur-born artist, Boudin, inspired a 17-year-old caricaturist, Claude Monet, to change direction to outdoor ‘plein air' landscape painting. Monet felt a veil had been torn from his eyes - and never looked back.

For dinner, I was spoilt for choice. In high season there are 100 alternatives but I walked across the street from the hotel to the same-named restaurant, Entre Terre et Mer (12-14 place Hamelin info@entreterreetmer-honfleur.com). Both establishments are owned by Stephane Levesque, former Chef of Le Grand Lefour, comprising two houses linked by a pleasant, sunny terrace.

Freshly Caught

Stephane makes a point of using ingredients of only freshly caught seafood organic vegetables, and local farm produce, including Calvados, Pommeau, Pont l'Eveque and Livarot cheeses. I had scallops in a cream sauce with sweet pumpkin, followed by Sea Bream, Mustard & Pepper Sauce, washed down with a Loire white wine, ending with Apple Triamisu, with spiced herbs.

On a regal note, heading my Birthday Honours List, are George, who doubled as the Entre Terre et Mer Maitre'd and Hotel Reception Manager, and Brittany Ferries' fragrant Marie-Elise Fusil, bartender and below decks car despatcher.