Honfleur is one of the jewels in the treasure-trove of Normandy and the Cote Fleurie (or Flowery Coast, the resort coast 40 kilometers long). Although the name of the city seemingly sounds like "flower," it is related to the Old Norse words "stream," "flow," "wave."

Honfleur was founded in the 11th century at the place where the Seine flows into the English Channel. Consequently, it immediately became an important point of the trade route from Rouen to England and later of the Hundred Years' War. For the next few centuries, the city was flourishing due to the maritime trade, shipbuilding, and navigation. There was one of the largest slave markets and the starting point of expeditions to Labrador, Newfoundland, the Antilles, Brazil, and later to Canada. And although the 19th-century industrial development bypassed Honfleur, it continued to excel, becoming the cradle of impressionism. Today, Honfleur is a charming city. Both Parisians and tourists love it for walks in the medieval center, contemplation of the old port with its colorful boats, leisurely visits to museums and churches. In 1399, Charles, the King of France, published the personal decree, granting parishioners a plot of land within the fortress city of Honfleur so that they could build a temple instead of the one that was outside the fortress and was destroyed by the enemies.

Named after St. Stephen, the Church of Saint-Etienne was built in the Gothic style, typical of the 14th-15th centuries. Now the church is humbly hidden among the more elegant buildings on the embankment. A low, squat structure with walls of Caen stone is topped with a "scaly" spire. The church entrance is decorated with a chestnut porch, a very cozy one. The church was deprived of its original purpose during the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century: it was placed under the management of the Navy. Over the next century and a half, the building constantly changed the purpose. It was a warehouse, a trading exchange, a rope shop, a concert hall. The strong walls of the building got the current functionality as a naval museum only at the end of the 19th century.

The Naval Museum is included in a multi-pass ticket along with two other city museums (ethnographic and art). So it may be more profitable for you to purchase it instead of buying tickets separately. The small premises of the Naval Museum display models of sailboats, old maps, sailors' clothes, and their household items.