A little history of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Honfleur
And also
The tops
In 1034, duke of Normandy Robert the Magnificent, who went to England, weathered a big storm. He promised to found 3 chapels dedicated to Virgin Mary if he escaped alive.
The sun came back... and our duke was safe! So he began the construction of the chapel and soon, a pilgrimage dedicated to the Virgin took place.
An earthquake destroyed the chapel in 1538, but... miracle! The Virgin Mary's altar wasn't damage! Pilgrims came in a body in order to pray on it...
But they had to rebuild the chapel. And for that, they needed the consent of the owner of the land, a lady called Mrs. de Montpensier: of course, she accepted and gave 8 oaks in the nearest forest in order to build the framework.
In 1613, the new chapel was completed. And when the Revolution came, Honfleur inhabitants, very fond of their Our-Lady church, organized a petition to save it from the destruction.
But it was sold... the mayor decided to own it but, too late! They transformed it into... an inn! My gosh, sacrilege!