Day 4 – Dieppe and the market
Enjoying our market shopping at our stay at water mill
On the fourth day of our Normandy stay, we explored the Saturday market in Dieppe. We picked up some fresh produce to take back to our vacation rental. In our bag we had fresh onions complete with their greens, apricots, green and purple plums, fragrant Charentais melons, a giant violet artichoke, some garlic, peaches, tomatoes, a block of Normandy butter seasoned with Guérande salt, a heart-shaped Neufchâtel cheese, and a bottle of local artisanal apple juice.
We pretty much ate every day from the markets in Dieppe and around
This market is open from 8:30 in the morning until 13:00 in the afternoon around Grande Rue, Place Nationale, Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue de la Barre. If you are in the area, don’t miss it.
Almost every day in and around Dieppe you will find various small outdoor markets.
Day 5 – Luneray and the market, Fécamp
Luneray Market
The next day, Sunday, we were off to explore another outdoor market in the pretty town of Luneray.
This market, open from seven in the morning until one in the afternoon, offers a host of boulangeries, patisseries and fish shops, in addition to the usual array of produce.
Raw and cooked beets at Luneray Market
On offer were French red radishes, black turnips, heaps of strawberries, plums, peaches, melons, a wide variety of onions in many colors, ready-cooked beets, and so on. We bought a string each of hefty fresh and roasted garlic bulbs (we are still eating it), different colors and sizes of tomatoes, a 3-year aged Neufchâtel (one of the classic Normandy cheeses, whose production dates back to the 6th century), a kilo of mussels, and a delectable roasted farm chicken with baked potatoes.
We then took a seat on the lively and sunny terrace of the Café de Rouen to enjoy beer and to watch the market unfold in front of us.
Roasted garlic bulbs for 10€
In the afternoon we pointed our rental car down the coast to follow the trail of the many painters who found inspiration here, most notably Claude Monet.
You can see weather-beaten reproductions, with explanations, of many of them, posted along the boardwalks of the beaches.
Les Falaises des Petites-Dalles
This is how we discovered Monet’s “Les Falaises des Petites-Dalles,” then Eugène Boudin’s “Crinolines sur la plage” in our destination of Fécamp. We wandered up and down the beachfront here, watching the light shift as the sun went down. The sunsets on the Normandy beaches are famous and this one did not disappoint.
Day 6 – Veules-les-Roses and Varengville-sur-Mer
The nature and the water mills in the storybook village of Veules-les-Roses called us for an essential visit! Do not miss this if you are in the region. Enter the village on the footpath through the woods. You will pass ponds covered in watercress, which has been grown here since the fourteenth century.
Everything is fresh and green and full of passiflora vines (passion flowers) everywhere you look, as you wind around lanes with typical half-timbered homes topped with thatched roofs.
Watercress everywhere
From Veules-les-Roses, we returned to the car and climbed to nearby Varengeville-sur-mer and its 12th century church, the Église Saint Valery perched atop the Ailly cliffs, with a sweeping view over the Channel. Artist Georges Braque, whose stained-glass windows adorn the church, is buried in the graveyard.
It is a peaceful place but the weight of history is always present here.
Georges Braque’s stained-glass windows
In every corner of Normandy, you will see war memorials, historical markers, churches with graveyards and a lot of white crosses. Normandy suffered heavily during both World War I and World War II.
On the seafront walk in Veules-les-Roses was an outdoor exhibition featuring photos from WWII. The memory of the war stood in all its nakedness as families enjoyed the nice weather. Here, the tiny river meets the sea, there is a small children’s pool, a long generous stretch of stone beach, and even a tiny beach library to read and pick up a book and relax! Witnessing all this at the same time, I felt so heavy, a deep happiness and sorrow at the same time.
Wending our way back toward our accommodation, we pulled over at our last beach stop before heading back inland a few kilometers. Here, in the calm seaside village of Pourville-sur-Mer, we found a friendly beach shack, Les Cabines. We found famous Normandy oysters on the menu and immediately ordered up a dozen, then followed the wine pairing recommendations by the young and cheerful staff. The supplier for the oysters was quite literally a stone’s throw away. L’Huitrière Goubert.
Les Cabines
When in Varengeville-sur-Mer, satisfy a sweet tooth at the locally famous Maison Boivin, where you might be tempted by an apricot tartelette, a rhubarb tarte tatin, an éclair café, or who knows. Best for take-away.
Maison Boivin
Day 7 – Le Havre and Camembert
After spending several days in places that had inspired Impressionist paintings, we had an itch to see some of this art. We headed the next morning for Le Havre to visit MuMa, the The Museum of Modern Art André Malraux, which houses an extensive collection of Impressionist works. Le Havre is a port city that was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005 for its modern architecture, the city having been devastated in WWII, then completely reconstructed.
Leaving Le Havre, we were ready for a planned visit to a Camembert cheese farm run by five brothers. For a small fee we enjoyed an afternoon tour at Camembert Le 5 Frères, where we dived into the process of learning about the making of this delicious cheese here in the department of Seine-Maritime. Worthwhile, but this particular visit might be difficult for non-French speakers.
Camembert cheese farm
Last day in Dieppe – Lunch at Le Turbot
On our last full day in Dieppe we enjoyed a tasty meal at Le Turbot. We had a three-course meal with an aperitif and coffee. For the starter we had fish soup and oysters from Veules-les-Roses with mignonette dressing. For the main course, Marmite à la dieppoise for Nil, which included turbot, Atlantic bass, monkfish, and cod; for Philippe, Creuille du pêcheur which had all the same types of fish, plus John Dory, with a wild mushroom cream and served with yellow short-grain rice. We chose fresh, local food and it was a beautifully served, happy meal which we enjoyed with a lovely view at the edge of the quay, not three meters from the water!
Everybody was cheerful and casual and we had great service. Not a word of English spoken, but we got along, thanks to my husband, Philippe. It was a life meal, unforgettable!
Our lunch dishes at Le Turbot
Now a little heavier, we then strolled around Dieppe city center. Finally, we stopped at L’Epicier Olivier for some take-home treats. These included tergoule, a slow baked rice pudding from Lower Normandy; a heavenly mild goat cheese rolled in ash (Galet D’Albatre); and finally, two bottles of local cider – one apple, and one pear.
Normandy was on top of our list for so long. We were so glad that we had this delicious trip to Normandy. We could not finish the coast though, YET! We will definitely go back to explore the other side of the Normany coast.
