If you have been reading my blog and thank you for it doing it since Nov 2010; then you know my sentimental attachment to Honfleur. I have several posts on it in my blog and they are all special to me. I had to go there again for a personal duty that I had to do, put the ashes of my father at sea as were my mother and wife, Let me tell you about the other museums of Honfleur, part II !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
However, worth to tell you this is a town towards the ocean of great sailors. In 1503, Paulmier de Gonneville ventured to Brazil. A century later, explorer Samuel Champlain left the Norman port for Canada where he founded the city of Québec. Honfleur is very international, and the second most visited site in Normandie behind just MSM !!!
The Maritime Museum or Musée de la Marine is in the former church of St. Stephen (St Etienne), on the edge of the old basin. Quai Saint Etienne. Built in the 14C, the church of Saint-Etienne is the oldest in the city. Dedicated to the cult until the French revolution, it then served as a store, theatre and trading stock before hosting the sale of the large herring from 1802 to 1809. Its steeple, ruined, was demolished in 1808. After 1809, it served as the real warehouse of customs until 1897 when it was ceded to the society of old Honfleur (Société du Vieux Honfleur) which restored it, had the bell tower re-erected, raised a grandstand, made stained glass and exhibited some of its collections from 1899. It was in 1976 that the historical and maritime collections were transferred from the ethnography manor to the Saint-Etienne church. The models, engravings and exhibits are the result of numerous donations and legacies. All testify to the activities of seafarers and Honfleur society in the 18-19C: fishing, shipbuilding, big business, popular crafts linked to the sea… The history and topography of the port are illustrated by an important collection of maps, engravings, paintings or watercolors from the 18-19C. In the heart, you can admire a very beautiful model of the “Sainte Bernadette”, witness of Honfleur fishing at the beginning of the century. In the nave, a stretcher on which was presented the blessed bread offered in this church by the cod captains on their return from Newfoundland. One museum extra to visit here,
The Honfleur tourist office on the Maritime museum:https://www.ot-honfleur.fr/visiter-decouvrez/patrimoine/le-musee-de-la-marine/
The Musée d’Ethnographie et d’Art Populaire Normand, rue de la Prison . The Museum of Ethnography and Norman Folk Art housed in the city’s former prison and in houses dating from the 16C, this museum presents reconstructions of Norman interiors: nine rooms with objects, costumes and old furniture.The rue de la Prison, the old prison was located here, not far from the vieux port of the city. The half-timbered house was built in the 16C. It became the prison of the Viscounty of Roncheville in the 17C. At the end of the 19C, the building became the city’s ethnographic museum. The Museum of Ethnography and Norman Folk Art is one of the oldest museums of French Folk Art. Nine rooms, some of which have been reconstructed in Norman interiors, offer visitors a journey through time to discover popular arts and traditions: the weaver’s room, the costume and headdress rooms, the printing room and its 18C press century, the haberdasher’s shop, the interior of a bourgeois house, the remembrance room evokes Honfleur celebrities, The Salle du Marin or Sailor’s Room , one of the twelve presented, evokes a sailor’s residence such as one could see in Honfleur at the end of the 18C or the beginning of the 19C. To the right of the fireplace, a Louis XVI oak clock is called a coffin clock, by its shape. Inside the fireplace are shovels for pancakes, a skimmer, a rotating meat grill, a terracotta apple cooker between the andirons with bowl and a pink terracotta heater from Pré d’Auge, called “dodger”. In the center of the room, on the large table, are placed a sewing box decorated with glued shells , a globe containing a basket decorated with flowers made of Brazilian bird feathers and a wooden pancake stand. To the left of the sideboard, under the window, a “poupard” sleeps in an old cradle. The windows in the room have old “bottle bottom” panes Very nice indeed. Several art galleries on this street rue de la Prison.
The Honfleur tourist office on the Ethnographie museum: https://www.ot-honfleur.fr/visiter-decouvrez/patrimoine/musee-dethnographie/
The Petit Musée d’Alphonse Allais, 10 rue des Petites Boucheries, Following the closure of the Passocéan pharmacy, that belonged to the parents of Alphonse Allais and he lived there where the museum was located, this place now houses the collection of unusual objects that belonged to the writer Alphonse Allais , and especially earthy inventions of the successful author, known for his caustic and sarcastic humor. This very small 8 m2 museum dedicated to the Honfleur writer is run by Jean-Yves Loriot, who personalizes the visits and who since 1999 has spiced up the tour with anecdotes and puns. Moreover, let us remember that in the book of records, this museum is the smallest museum in the world. This small museum was born from the passion of Jean-Yves Loriot, a pharmacy technician. .The great museums of the world are divided into rooms. The Little Alphonse Allais Museum, since the smallest, is divided into shelves: you have to know the shelf of Alphonse’s unbridled inventions, such as the black earplugs for the ears of mourners or the blue-white starch- red to stiffen the French flag on windless days…. or the shelf of remedies with curious raw materials or strange denominations, but still used at the end of the 19C. Interesting,
The City of Honfleur on the petit musée d’Alphonse Allais : https://www.ville-honfleur.com/le-petit-musee-dalphonse-allais/
There you go folks, another dandy beautiful and nostalgic spot in my belle France. Honfleur is a must to visit for any reason. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the other museums of Honfleur as I
And remember, happy travels,good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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