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Dieppe on the
Normandy Coast —
France’s Oldest Seaside Resort
Where the Arques
River flows into the English Channel
in northern France, it forms a natural and quite deep harbor.
In fact, the town
that surrounds the harbor is said to
get its name from the Saxon word, deop, related
to the English word, deep, a reference to the
depth of the harbor.
 Famous
in WWII
history for the Canadian invasion force which
landed on Dieppe
beach, it is equally famous among Europeans for
its more pleasant aspects. Long a tourist destination for the British,
who have only to take a ferry across the English Channel, Dieppe is
France’s oldest seaside resort and one of the principal
destinations on the Côte d’Albâtre, or Alabaster
Coast.
A man walks with
baguette in hand in the early morning
— as, it seems, do most of Dieppe’s residents. In
the afternoons, the locals gather in cafés to chat and enjoy
coffee or perhaps a glass of wine or Normandy apple cider or its
distilled relative, calvados. The Café des Tribuneaux is a
particularly popular haunt. Most of whatever you might need —
as well as souvenirs you don’t need but might want anyway
— can be found in the old town. 
A quick trip of a kilometer or so in
the
direction of the highway brings you to a large, modern supermarket.
As Dieppe was
integral to the ivory trade, back when
there was such a thing, the château
museum now houses exquisite carvings
in great quantity (in addition to a respectable collection of oil
paintings).
To rest your feet
from traipsing around churches,
the
castle and quaintly ancient residences, be sure to spend part of the
afternoon with some rich French coffee while relaxing among
Dieppe’s café society or enjoying a leisurely
lunch in one of the restaurants along the quay.
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Dieppe
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