“Honfleur is a delight in its shabby but beautiful way, and L”Écrin fits in well,” says a visitor to this 18th-century manor house. It stands up a hill, in a garden dotted with statuary. Run by the “charming, urbane” Jean-Luc Blais, with a “Siamese aide with exquisite manners”, it is an “upmarket B&B” with “a slightly faded grandeur, reminiscent of a previous elegant age”. “A wonderful place,” says another correspondent. “The public rooms are crammed with good paintings, orientalia, wood carvings, ship models, etc.” Bedrooms, all different, are in five buildings. Those in the main house are opulent, with Louis XV furniture and canopied beds; simpler but pleasant rooms are in the converted stables. Reports on breakfast (served in the conservatory) vary: “fresh orange juice, nice jams, good yoghurt”. The staff are “kind to children”. “No need for a restaurant: Honfleur is full of them.”