Paris1972-Versailles2003

There is an ongoing saga of my family coming to this wonderful city of Honfleur. It was love at first sight way back in 1992 and has been like that ever since. Many trips and seeing it all, participated in its festivals, and my dear mom Gladys and wife Martine, and Dad Elio laid at sea there. Enough said. You cannot come to Honfleur without seeing it visited it and enjoyed it all by hill of Grace. Glorious basking in Honfleur, the city of seamen.    I am updating this older post on an emblematic building of the nearby city of Equemauville, this is the Côte de Grâce and its Chapelle Notre Dame de Grâce, part II !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

Actually , as said, it is in the town of Equemauville high on the hill. Or the Hill or Plateau of Grace up the road from the vieux bassin or old basin of Honfleur. It is a special place for us and have been coming here since 1992.  The plateau is magical with what you have here as well as the wonderful views over the valley and statuaire of the Seine river. The Notre Dame Chapel, the Cross, the pavillion , and the views are superb! Of course, I have written plenty on them but never enough for this magical place.

Equemauville was born in 1023 when the Viking Scamel hided the booty. It baptized the plateau above the beach Scamelvilla. This plateau was a Gallic camp, and a Roman camp as well. They even found carved stones dating from the Paleolithic era ! The plateau of Grace offers a complete panorama on the Normandy coast. Here is what the magical and secret Côte de Grâce offers you!  Relaxing walk and rewarding discovery for visitors who will visit an ancient Sanctuary of the region: the Chapelle Notre Dame de Grâce or Chapel of Our Lady of Grace. It was founded by Richard II, Duke of Normandy in 1023 to fulfill a vow made during a storm in which he had almost perish. The current Chapel was built between 1600 and 1615 by the bourgeois and sailors of Honfleur. The Chapel is a place of recollection for many pilgrims and also and above all a space of hope according to the legend and worship of Notre Dame. Many faithful come to deposit for centuries offerings such as statuettes, plaques and model boats in gratitude to God. Their numbers today is impressive. The place coveted and visited by famous personnages such as Pierre Berthelot, king Louis XIII Napoléon Bonaparte, and Thérèse of Lisieux. The Chapelle Notre Dame de Grâce is today for the plenitude that reigns there. On the outside you can see the bells of pilgrimages.

Right in front of the Notre Dame De Grâce Chapel you have a Fisherman prayer chapel where a priest makes Mass on special ocassions such as when the Festival of Marines or Fête des Marins which we have attended in previous years. There is, also, an impressive Christ Cross overlooking the city of Honfleur below and the bay across is Le Havre.  From the hill, a nice little road goes down to Honfleur and you can thus return to the city on foot via a pleasant walk. Or as with Dad we go up by car and walk on top!  It is a pieceful place with great views nice walks if you dare on hilly terrain, but nice. The place was great for our dog Rex as well! Hope you enjoy this special part of Equemauville (as in Honfleur ).

Formerly the pilgrims went up to Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Chapel by a path which winds on the eastern slope of the hill and from where one discovers the whole city, the port, the hills of the left bank and the entrance of the river. in the bay. The new path, shorter, easier and from which one dominates a more beautiful and more extensive perspective, has made people abandon the old one. But the winding path of Mont-Joli (see post) will always remain dear to pilgrims who explore the Côte de Grâce to seek out and revive the memory of their pious predecessors. There is still, a small chapel, located on the Côte de Grâce, under the invocation of the Most Blessed Virgin, who is in great veneration throughout the region, and work is going on to preserve it,

During the French revolution, the inhabitants of Honfleur supported the request and addressed their petition to the National Assembly, but it had the fate of many others. Two months later, all ecclesiastics were required to take the political oath. The Capuchins refused it, and when the constitutional bishop of Calvados, came to make his first visit to Honfleur, in May 1791, they refused to receive him. This was the signal for their dispersal. They were then eight in number: Father Firmin, caretaker, Fathers Hémery, Hugues, Gélas, Henry and Norbert, vicars, Gerbold and Martin, lay brothers. All withdrew to the convent of their order which then existed in Lisieux, and which was not long in being suppressed as well, Their house in Honfleur was occupied by the gendarmerie, then later sold to people who demolished it. At the time of the concordat, (peace of revolutionaries and royalists) the chapel was finally returned to worship. Apart from a single altar, forgotten in a dark corner, nothing remained in its soiled enclosure. It was reconciled, little by little furnished with indispensable objects, and a few priests came there from time to time to celebrate the holy mysteries. It has survive despite all manking efforts to destroy it a testament to beliefs,

The Honfleur tourist office on the hill of Grace: https://www.ot-honfleur.fr/visiter-decouvrez/patrimoine/la-cote-de-grace/

The city of Equemauville on the hill of Grace: https://www.mairie-equemauville.com/a-voir-et-a-faire

There you go another wonderful spot in Equemauville next to Honfleur and surrounding hills. A wonderful family trip, very educational on the history of the region, Again,hope you enjoy the post on the Chapelle Notre Dame de Grâce of Honfleur, part II !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!