Honfleur is like a jewelry box, full of feelings, emotions, smells, and sounds, as well as charming "post-and-beam" antique, proudly looking onto the Seine for almost a thousand years. Wherever you go, you will come to the old port, to the Quay of Sainte-Catherine, since not all roads lead to Rome. Honfleur is equally loved by tourists and Parisians. The first say that it somehow reminds them of Venice, the capital's residents – that it is the perfect place to rest from the hustle and bustle of the metropolis. However, there is also something inspiring in the air. How else can you explain the fact that Honfleur, the city of eight thousand inhabitants, is the birthplace of the composer Erik Satie and the artist Eugene Boudin? Besides, even friends of Eugene Boudin, like Camille Corot, Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, came to Honfleur in search of creative inspiration. So, the Quay of Sainte-Catherine can be seen in The Lieutenancy by Monet and The Lighthouse at Honfleur by Seurat.

The main decoration of the quay is narrow stone houses, painted gray, pale peach, pink, ochreish. Previously, this part of the land was within the city wall and under its protection, so the land here was expensive. That`s why all the houses were made so narrow. By the way, there is still the piece of the wall's gate left, to which the lieutenancy building is attached (lieutenant was a rank for the soldiers in charge of the port, who allowed ships to enter and leave the harbor). By the way, the duty position of lieutenant is probably preserved: someone still gives the command to raise and lower the small drawbridge every time a yacht or boat enters the old harbor. Now it is only an object of contemplation for visitors of numerous street cafes, sitting under sunshades. But in the past, it was a busy shopping center. Honfleur even vied with Le Havre for the title of the main port of the Seine. And although Le Havre won, Honfleur is now visited by up to 3.5 million tourists every year! The traditional French carousel, which can be found in almost every city, adds a special flair to the quay. It is more than a hundred years old, but its black and white horses under a red tent are still ready to race into a beautiful tomorrow.