Pays de Caux

Description:

Introduction

The Pâys de Caux covers a large part of Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy from the Etretat to the Le Havre coast to the west, to an imaginary north-south line from Dieppe-Rouen ino the east and the Seine valley to the south. It consists of a chalk plateau and is mainly dedicated to agricultural production particularly milk and sugar-beet but also flax and beef cattle.

One of the striking features of the landscape which tends to be flat and windswept, is the very distinctive farmhouses surrounded by a square of tall trees as protection against the wind. These are usually oak, beech or elm.

The main interest of tourists and visitors to the Pays de Caux is s the spectacular coast with its chalk cliffs stretching almost from le Havre to Dieppe. The coastline includes Etretat, with its dramatic cliff-top golf course and chalk needle points in the sea, and the Alabaster Coast(Cote d'Albâtre). The route from St Valéry-en-Caux to Dieppe along this coast provides some lovely views and pretty coastal villages, formerly fishing ports, and now more dedicated to tourism, boating and sailing. These include St Valéry, Veules-les-Roses, Varengeville-sur-Mer, Pourville-sur-Mer and St Marguerite-sur-Mer. All these villages and others along the coast, have attractive features and Pourville is much visited as a seaside resort.

Visitors can happily spend several days exploring the Pays de Caux and its attractions. Fécamp is a busy fishing port which celebrates a Herring Fair in November.(See Fécamp). The writer Guy de Maupassant was born and brought up at the Chateau de Miromesnil in the east near Dieppe and his books reflect 19th century peasant life in the Pays de Caux

Also worth visiting is the wildflower and herb garden at Mesnil-Durdent, the Jardin des Amouhoques. There is another well-known garden at Normanville, the Jardin d'Art et d'Essai with lovely trees , plants, flowers and birds.

To the south there are the 'Boucles de la Seine' and the Parc Régional with towns and villages such as Yvetot and Caudebec-en-Caux.

See the other Pays of Normandy