Dieppe is a tiny coastal town in Upper Normandy and I decided to go pay my Italian friend a visit during the Toussaint vacations. It rains a lot here and have an umbrella on you at all times! Dieppe is about 1 hour from Rouen and trains are frequent. I spent a lovely 5 days in the place and then started to get really bored because there really isnt too much to see. However I really loved the Dieppe Esplanade and went there for some really long walks all by myself and I found myself loving the strong sea winds and couldn' help staring for a long while at the ocean. They have pebbles instead of sand on their beach! It made me all homesick because back home I was at the beach practically everyday where it sand is so delicate, you feel you have stepped on satin! and ofcourse I could not swim in the sea at Dieppe lest I was up for a quick death. The water there was freezing! At around 5 or 6 pm almost everyday you can find plenty of kites dotting the skies and its lovely to find old couples walking hand in hand and smiles on kids faces when their kites which came in a myriad of shapes and colours would soar high above.
I couldnt do much sight seeing because I had really bad shoes on, they were from Bata's in Rouen and the saleswoman convinced me that even though it was a size smaller, the shoes would broaden out and lo and behold! THEY DID NOT! When I got back to Rouen I went and tried to exchange them but ofcourse they would not except because 'they were worn' they had the price tag and everything at the sole but they refused to accept them back because they were worn. Ofcourse I had to wear them to find out that they were'nt a good fit you idiot!! I was forced to buy another pair of shoes in a charming boutique in one of Dieppe's shopping lanes. Dieppe seems like a part of Rouen that was sliced off and sent to the coast. The shops and the prices are exactly on par with those in Rouen. Except there are much more supermarkets in Rouen than its neighbouring towns which is why I loove living here!
I hear that they have a lovely chateau-musée and I will go check it out the next time Im there. I could not go previously because I would wake up just in time as the museum closes. However I did visit the Café des Tribunaux in the heart of Dieppe.
I am a literature buff and I had to go visit the place that was frequented by Maupassant and Flaubert!
I went there twice actually and I absolutely recommend their Thé au Citron and when I was there for lunch I thoroughly enjoyed their well cooked beef steak. The only negative point about the Café is the service. The staff are curt and always in a
hurry. We had to debate for atleast 10 minutes on who would have the courage to ask the waiter to take a picture. I wonder how the service must have been when Oscar Wilde went there because apparently he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol in this café! Other famous visitors were Monet, Renoir, Pissaro and Whistler. But despite the really rude staff I think i will go here again because I checked their menu and they serve a variety of delicious things with nutella! The clientele is chic but not too fancy where you need to wear a suit to fit in.Perfect!
Besides that I made friends with assistants from England, Spain and America and together we went to many pubs and clubs around the area. This one pub called The Curling is quite a hit with the locals and the owners and bartender are really friendly. If you're in the mood for some billiards they even have a pool table and lots of space on the first floor to carry out a conversation over drinks. While in Dieppe, I was also introduced to Kebabs for which I am not thankful because I have cravings for them now more often than I should! I ate a lot of seafood, drank lots of wines and especially enjoyed the Chardonnay with fried prawns and squids. The Spanish assistant made Paella (a Spanish culinary delight comprising of 5 different types of fish) which was ever so delicious and with that we had Sangria which I thought was a lemonade at first but uh uh! Its way stronger! its red wine spiked with rum and it has apples, lemons and other fruits marinated in it, so delicious but to be drunk in moderation :)
The last few days of my vacay, it did not rain much but sure was a lot colder than Rouen thanks to to strong sea winds. I was glad it was time to leave because I had run out of things to do. I love the little town of Dieppe and I would absoulutely recommend it to anyone only for a short weekend trip. I was walking back to the SNCF railway station in a relaxed state of mind and when suddenly it began to pour and I realised I had not put on waterproof eyeliner :)
End of October hols 2009 :)
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