Neither of us had ever been to (or really heard of) Dieppe. It was chosen for its proximity to both Paris and the ocean. And, as a tourist destination, Dieppe doesn’t have all that much to offer. Like much of this part of the Normand coast, the town is known for it’s (failed) battle against the Germans. Here, during the Dieppe Raid, a total of 3,623 of the 6,086 Canadian soldiers who made it ashore were either killed, wounded, or captured. Because of this not much remains of the original town and the main ocean promenade is lined by boxy 1960′s buildings and a large car park. But like much of this part of the Normand coast, the landscape is positively breathtaking. This more than makes up for bad architecture.
Of course the town itself was not the object of myself and SL. We just wanted to be together, alone, in which we succeeded. We strolled along the beach as the cold wind whipped up off the channel, only going back because it started to rain. We ate dinner, drank too much wine and tried our hands at the 20 centime slots of The Grand. We each lost twenty euros. We watched the Simpsons before bed.

By the suggestion of the uncomfortably chipper reception lady we took the following day to drive up the coast before heading back to Paris. Apparently the coast is known as “The Alabaster Coast,” and there is a route that goes through all the towns along it which is named “The Route of Ivory and Spices”. Lead by a picto-map given to us by the hotel we set out, mostly in search of food.

>more