CRUISING LIFE
Peter Cumberlidge: The Normandy coast is classic cruising country, with a string of colourful ports. It is also a gastronomic delight, offering fine seafood, creamy sauces and superb local cider
Our imminent Normandy cruise will not be to the D-day landing beaches but the classic ‘France across the Channel’ further east, which has its own white cliffs and a tradition of exquisite cooking. Fécamp, St Valéry-oncaux, Dieppe – I love the ‘fishiness’ of these places and can spend hours watching boats of all sizes unloading or taking on ice for another spell at sea. Dieppe lands 2,000 tonnes of scallops a year and more than 5,000 tonnes of every type of white fish. Its quayside markets are irresistible.
Fécamp will be our first stop. Its shallow entrance is flanked to the north by the chalk bluff of Cap Fagnet and to the south by a long beach. Approach with at least two hours of flood, keeping nearest the north pier before turning to starboard into the Avant Port. There are some shallow, rolly visitor pontoons here and it’s best to go into the sheltered Bassin Bérigny, open for 2½ hours before HW until 45mins after.
Fécamp is known for its cod fishing and production of Bénédictine liqueur, created in 1510 by a clever monk at Fécamp Abbey. This heavenly digestif is distilled at the grandiose Bénédictine Palace.
Sixteen miles east of Fécamp, St Valéry-on-caux is an easy-going town that has grown around a cleft in the steep white cliffs. Its sheltered marina, retained by a sill, lies at the head of the long harbour inlet which has pontoons either side. The Friday and Sunday markets are out of this world.
Dieppe is a gastronomic treat and not just for seafood.
The lush hinterland is ideal for dairy cows, and Normandy cream and butter make the sauces I simply can’t resist. Dieppe’s signature dish, Marmite Dieppoise, is a luscious fish stew with added cream and cayenne pepper. Buttery Sole Normande, flambéed in calvados, is one of the great French accomplishments.
Dieppe’s seafront has an attractive pebble beach popular on summer weekends. Beyond the ferry terminal, a channel leads into the Avant Port, where a marina stretches to starboard along Quai Henri IV and its line of cafés and restaurants. This is a sociable place to lie, with plenty to watch. Dieppe is a scallop port and you can savour these classy shellfish in the town’s bistros or buy them from stalls on the south side of the harbour. Coquilles Saint-jacques à la Dieppoise uses generous quantities of scallops, cream, white wine and, traditionally, mushrooms from Paris. I fear we may be putting on a bit of weight.