The Painters of Honfleur
Uncover the secret of the Saint-Siméon School
📱 1 to 10 phones · 1 team per phone · Independent codes
At Mother Toutain's inn, Boudin revealed to Monet the art of painting en plein air
The Painters of Honfleur
You are Eugène Boudin, Norman master painter, summer 1862 in Honfleur's Old Harbor.
Your mission: introduce a young Parisian caricaturist named Claude Monet to plein air painting. But your colleagues' canvases are disappearing one by one from the Saint-Siméon inn. Who is sabotaging the nascent School? Climb the Côte de Grâce, examine the makeshift studios, question witnesses. Open your phone: Boudin appears on Quai Sainte-Catherine and shares his secrets of Norman light. More than an outdoor escape game: an interactive visit immersed in 160 years of pictorial history, with anecdotes revealed at each stop and hidden sites that classic guides overlook.
1860 — The Impressionist revolution is born facing the Old Harbor
« Le ciel, c'est ce qu'il y a de plus beau à peindre »— Eugène Boudin, carnet de notes, 1867
The Saint-Siméon School and the birth of Impressionism
In 1860, the Saint-Siméon inn in Honfleur becomes the secret laboratory of the Impressionist revolution. Eugène Boudin, son of a Honfleur sailor, welcomes a generation of Parisian painters attracted by the changing light of the Seine estuary. Claude Monet, then 20 years old and a simple caricaturist, discovers plein air painting under Boudin's tutelage. This revolutionary technique — painting directly facing the subject rather than in a studio — would revolutionize Western art.
The Saint-Siméon School brings together Courbet, Daubigny, Corot, Jongkind and later Renoir, Caillebotte, Sisley. They paint the Old Harbor, sailboats, moving reflections on water, Norman skies with fast-moving clouds. In 1862, Boudin paints his famous 'Trouville Beach' series which directly influences Monet's future 'Water Lilies'. This free school, without academy or regulations, invents Impressionism 12 years before the 1874 exhibition that would give it its name. Honfleur remains today the unofficial birthplace of the world's most popular artistic movement.
A game, a guided tour and a heritage guide — all in one
You're not just buying an escape game. You're carrying a living guide — historical anecdotes, forgotten legends, key monuments, hidden architecture — unfolding as you go.
At each stop, places ordinary guides miss — secret façades, sculpted crests, alleys steeped in history.
Every riddle is rooted in a real historical fact or local legend. You leave with dozens of stories to tell.
Learn to read buildings — flamboyant Gothic, Baroque, Art Deco — like a real art historian, while having fun.
Walk through the city like a novel's character — every alley becomes a stage, every square a theatre.
A voice walks with you at every step, tells the story of each place, reads clues, adds a cinematic feel.
Keep access to the guide & game for 1 year. Come back any time, share it with friends.
« You will not leave this city the way you entered it. »
How does it work?
Explore the city on foot solving puzzles based on real historical facts. No locked room — the city is your playground.
No app to download. Play directly from your browser. Guided step by step, at your own pace.
One purchase per phone is enough. Play with family, friends or as a couple — everyone participates.
Point your phone at the façade: a historical character appears and speaks to you in your language. Golden letters magically write themselves on the wall to reveal the puzzle answer.
Stuck? Progressive personalised hints. The character repeats the puzzle on demand — at your own pace.
French, English, German, Spanish, Italian + 27 other languages auto-translated by AI.
Want to go deeper?
Places tied to your adventure — optional entries, totally up to you · per person
The Route
8 stages through the city
The gameplay: AR, camera, hidden clues
At each stop, open your phone camera: an augmented reality character appears on the façade and speaks your language. Hunt the clue — it materializes as golden letters on the real wall or floats in front of you. When you find it, the phone vibrates, an AR chest opens and reveals your answer fragment. 8 stops, 8 clues to find with the camera, 1 final code.
The stops on your route are a surprise. You'll discover them one by one, guided by your phone, starting from the meeting point.
How does it work with a group?
One phone = one team. Pick the number at checkout (1 to 10).
Solo, or a group sharing the screen. One team, one code.
Family, couple, or 2-3 teams competing. Each phone has its own code and its own score.
Friends, bachelor/bachelorette, small office outing — each their own code, each plays at their own pace. Tiered pricing then €6 flat per phone from the 6th.
- ✓All codes are independent — play at the same time OR separately, each team advances at its own pace.
- ✓Leaderboard between your teams + global game leaderboard — each score appears in the public ranking.
- ✓More than 10 phones or need a personalized quest? Discover custom tours.
Ready to live this adventure?
Get my code · 12€No calendar booking. Code sent immediately by email.
🔒 Secure payment · Code in 5 min · Free cancellation
Practical info
Why this route?
Artistic augmented reality
Boudin, Monet and Courbet appear with their easels in the authentic places they painted
Historic Old Harbor
Route around France's most painted port, with its half-timbered houses and sailboats
Missing paintings revealed
Discover the hidden works of the Saint-Siméon School through an immersive investigation
Paint what you see, where you see it
Eugène Boudin's revolutionary credo that changed Western art
9 features nobody else has
OddballTrip combines gamified play, augmented reality and AI. All our competitors deliver 1 or 2 of these angles. We deliver all 5.
AR treasure chest
A golden chest floats in front of the monument. Tap → opening animation → reveals a secret message.
AR narrator character
Point your phone at the façade: a knight, witch, monk, sailor, detective or ghost appears full-screen and speaks to you in your language with their dedicated ElevenLabs voice (each character has their own unique voice) — your living guide.
Magic golden letters
At the puzzle climax, golden letters magically write themselves on the real wall — that's the puzzle answer. An unforgettable visual effect.
Written + audio narration
Every puzzle available as text AND voice-over: read at your own pace or listen eyes-free while walking. Great in groups and for accessibility.
360° radar + vibration
A mini-radar shows the target even behind you, and the phone vibrates when you aim in the right direction.
Heritage storytelling
Every puzzle weaves in real historical facts (architecture, era, anecdotes). You learn by playing — like a gamified audioguide.
Progressive AI hints
3 levels of AI-generated help: vibe → where to look → answer format. You're never stuck.
AR selfie memento
At the end of the game, capture a selfie with OddballTrip banner + mascot, shareable on Instagram, TikTok.
Zero app to install
PWA technology: open the link, it plays in your browser. Same quality as an app, no App Store hassle.
Frequently asked questions
Q01Do I need to download an app?
No, never. You get a link, you click, it plays in your browser. That's the point of a PWA: same as an app, without the hassle.
Q02Does it work offline?
GPS yes (handled by your phone). Maps yes (tiles cached). AI and hints need an intermittent 4G connection.
Q03How long does a game take?
1 h 30 to 2 h 30 depending on your pace. The timer runs but only for the leaderboard — you play at your own tempo.
Q04What happens if I'm stuck?
You get 3 levels of hints per puzzle (increasing penalty). If truly stuck, you can skip the step (45-min penalty but you keep going).
Q05What's the age range?
From 12 without an adult, from 6 with an adult reading puzzles. Works for families, couples, friend groups, companies.
Q06What if my city isn't in the catalogue?
Pre-register or contact us — we'll email you as soon as your city is live.
Q07What is augmented reality exactly?
Point your phone at the façade: a historical character appears full-screen and speaks to you in your language. At the puzzle climax, golden letters magically write themselves on the real wall — that's your answer. After each puzzle solved, a treasure chest floats in front of you. Seeing is believing.
Avis des aventuriers
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Your turn to play
Go back in time to summer 1862. Follow in the footsteps of Boudin and Monet in authentic Honfleur, away from the classic tourist circuits. Discover how a Norman inn revolutionized world painting.
1 purchase = 1 phone. Play several on the same device.
No calendar booking. Code sent immediately by email.
🔒Secure payment · Code in 5 min · Free cancellation
🪙+24 TripCoins granted with your booking
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