So this is where it all began. One of the greatest and most popular movements in art started here among the half-timbered houses and by the picturesque harbour of Honfleur, when a teenage Claude Monet was invited by local artist Eugene Roudin to come and paint landscapes out of the studio, 'en plein air.'

As a passionate fan of Impressionism, my visit to the Normandy coastal town was something of a pilgrimage and true enough, I could see straight away that there was enough colour and light, water and reflection, not to mention gorgeous medieval architecture, to inspire Claude and the other artists who flocked here from Paris in the mid-19th century to form an 'ecole art' from which the movement emerged.

Of course, the tiny, winding streets and alleys, and the scores of pavement cafes, not to mention the timber bell tower of the church are equally attractive to tourists in the 21st century, making Honfleur one of the most visited places in France and the streets rather crowded, at least during our visit last August.

We visited two museums in the town – one focussing on the pre-Impressionist works of Roudin (although we spotted at least one Monet as well) and the other ostensibly about the composer Erik Satie, situated in the place where he lived for decades..

We were staying some 50 miles away from Honfleur at the Notre Dame Hotel in the region's capital, Rouen, another equally important base for Monet.

He painted the front of the magnificent cathedral no fewer than 30 times, in different lights and colours, and some of the works can be seen at the city's tremendous Musee de Beaux arts.

Near the cathedral were winding streets of half-timbered buildings, some of them dating back to medieval times and others faithfully rebuilt after Allied bombarment of the town during its liberation in 1944.

Our hotel was superbly located just a two minute walk from the cathedral and historic core of the city, with the mighty River Seine just a minute's walk in the other direction, but we felt our comfortable en suite bedroom would have been even better with air conditioning to tackle the stifling heat.

While I liked Rouen, I liked even more the tranquil beauty of Bec Hellouin, some 30 miles away, which we visited before setting off back for home.

Recently voted one of France’s most beautiful villages, it is best known for its abbey, once one of Europe's great centres of learning before being destroyed during the French Revolution.

Monks only returned there after the Second World War. The village has flower-filled gardens and lawns, with some occupied by delightful cafes and restaurants.

Sidebar: Our road to Rouen had been a 220-mile journey across Belgium and France along mostly stress-free and toll-free motorways, having travelled overnight by ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge.

The crossing was a great way to start a Continental trip: just an hour's drive from York to Hull and then a leisurely cruise down the North Sea, with plenty of time to visit the perfume shop, the continental cafe and the restaurant and then a walk on deck to see the sun setting on the Humber before settling down in our cosy cabin for the night.

We arrived at Zeebrugge at breakfast time, with the whole day ahead of us to tackle the drive.
 

Factfile:

For information on Notre Dame Hotel, Rouen, go to www.hotelnotredame.com.

P & O ferries from Hull-to Zeebrugge sail nightly in each direction. For more information go to POferries.com/minicruises or call 08716 646664.