Autumn in Northern France 24th - 27th of September 2025

A trip to the coast

We all had a good night's sleep; I woke up at 2am, and it was pitch black with not a hint of light anywhere, and the peace was profound! I surfaced again at 7.30am and went downstairs to make a coffee, closely followed by Keith. Sunrise is about 7.50am here, and it was great to ease ourselves slowly into the day.

After breakfast of granola and yoghurt, as well as more coffee, we were showered and dressed by 10.30am. The sky was a little cloudy, and it was about 14 °C, so I had chosen a long-sleeved top and jeans to wear. I think the dresses I brought with me will go home unworn!

Jeeves directed me to Le Tréport through open fields of maize and huge wind turbines. We saw numerous tractors on the roads, and an ingenious system where there's a narrow broken line down both sides of the highway, which the tractors half-use; it makes it easier to overtake, especially if oncoming cars also pull over.

It took us about half an hour to reach Le Tréport, and we parked easily on the street, right next to the harbour. We strolled into the town in search of a café and found a little bar where I had a coffee, Sophie chose a chocolat chaud, and Keith enjoyed an Irish coffee with cream to warm himself up.

We nearly get shot...

The tide was out when we arrived.

I wanted to go on the famous funicular railway up to the clifftops, and it was only a short walk away. On the way, we admired the beautiful old buildings and had a look in a couple of shops. Keith tried on a couple of flat caps, but both Sophie and I agreed they didn't suit him, and he has loads of hats anyway!

The streets were quiet, with hardly anyone about. At 12pm, the shops closed for lunch - they take it so seriously here! We found the funicular railway and joined the queue. Keith didn't want to go on it, so he walked to the front, while Sophie and I waited. Of the four, only one was now running, and we found out why later...

Sophie was a scaredy-cat

Our little carriage was full, and we were crammed in with a French couple who had a little Yorkshire-terrier type dog with them. He was shaking from head to foot! The views going up were stunning, and it was a bit like travelling in a glass lift. When we got to the top, a woman stood outside the pod and hurried us out, which was a little intimidating... why? We soon found out! There was a film shoot going on, and we were told to walk away from the building as the shoot was in progress! I don't think they wanted us wandering across the shot! 

We went to the lookout point and tried to see Keith far below. The views were gorgeous:

Erected to protect the French from the invading Germans

On the way back to the funicular, we looked at an art gallery with some brightly coloured paintings for sale and little figures of cats. None of it was our style, but a couple of pieces of artwork did resemble Salvador Dali's paintings.

We were herded back to the lifts by the production crew, and I saw a very suave and handsome actor talking to other cast members. A hair and make-up girl hovered over him, lightly touching his hair, which looked perfect to me! We were crammed into the pod by the same woman who had hurried us out. One poor woman was nearly separated from her husband in the rush to get us all out of the shoot! Now, we knew why only one lift was working! Back at the bottom, I asked another crew member if he spoke English, and he did, so I asked what was filming. He replied that it was a television show for France's Channel 1, called Ombre or something. As he was talking to me, his radio crackled, and he was called away. I very much doubt we'll ever get to see it!

By now, it was almost 1pm and mindful of France's lunch laws, we sought out a restaurant. One looked good and was called Le Pile D'Assiettes (A Pile of Plates). A blackboard outside advertised a 34 euro menu, and after eventually locating the entrance door, we enquired whether they had a table. We were asked if we had a reservation, but only a few tables were taken, so the woman rearranged a small table in the window and invited us to sit.

Autumnal window display

We had hoped that another menu would be available, but no, so we set about translating the fare. I chose the warm goat's cheese with honey to start, while Keith and Sophie opted for the poached egg. For our main courses, Sophie and I picked out the beef in a mustard sauce, and Keith went for cod. To accompany our meals, Sophie and I shared a 500ml pichet of vin rouge while Keith bravely ordered a Belgian apple beer... hmmm!

We were given little freebie starters of crab paté on bread, with tiny crackers, all of which were delicious and a hint of the good cooking to come. Another couple arrived, but the surrounding tables were never taken, so we wondered why we had been asked if we'd booked. The woman was a little frosty to start, but she mellowed as the meal went on, especially as I ordered in French and understood all she said to us.

My starter was fabulous and the flavour of the goat's cheese, balanced on a crouton and served with apples and tiny tomatoes in a nutty, honey sauce, was sublime. Keith and Sophie's eggs were served with chorizo and pasta, and they used the bread basket to mop up the juices.

The service was relaxed, and it was lovely to sit and linger over lunch. What a delightful place! Our main courses arrived, and although my beef was a little rarer than I usually have, the vegetables and sauce made up for it. L'Entrecote, it wasn't, but the meal was still delicious. Keith's cod looked beautifully flaky and was served with a prawn, which he devoured at the end of the meal. Both Sophie and I loved the pichet of wine (a Merlot) and we couldn't believe it was just 500ml worth!

As it was a three-course meal, we all enjoyed dessert - profiteroles for Sophie, and apple and prune crumble for Keith and me. A lovely end to one of the best meals I've had in France. The bill came to a reasonable 126 euros, which we thought was brilliant value for money.

We waddled back to the main street and saw that the tide had come in. The boats that had been lying on a mudflat were now floating in the harbour. We walked slowly back to the car and stopped to watch two boats in the lock. 

Where are the Germans?

I wanted to go a little further up the coast, to Dieppe, so we asked Jeeves to take us along the D925. By now, we were firmly back in Normandy, and the beautiful houses that I love so much started appearing. We drove along a busy, arrow-straight road to the port of Dieppe, where you can take a ferry to Newhaven, as Keith and I did back in 1992, when we got engaged. Then, we stumbled upon Psycho-style houses right on the beach, and I was keen to find them again, but didn't have a clue where they were!

We negotiated busy Dieppe and became stuck behind a tourist "train". It was crammed full of people, and they were thrown about all over the place as the driver negotiated the hills and bends on the road. I was almost hysterical with laughter watching them, and said we ought to follow it wherever it was going so we could see all the sights for free!

Once past Dieppe, we stopped at a viewing area overlooking the pretty town of Pourville-sur-Mer and its beach. We could also see towering cliffs in the distance, and I could understand why the Impressionist painters flocked to this area of France.

Back on the road, Sophie directed me towards Varengeville-sur-Mer, and our mouths dropped open when we saw some of the gorgeous houses hidden down a narrow lane leading to the sea. I dreaded meeting a tractor, but soon we came to a small car park and could go no further. Two other cars, both German, were in the car park, and we walked down to the beach. Huge rocks were piled up, and the beach on either side was pebbly. The waves were crashing in, and it was exhilarating to stand and gaze at the sea and the surrounding cliffs. Of the Germans, there was no sign, so maybe they had gone for a walk around the headland?

Keith and I found some sharp, flint rocks that were added to the Mooney stepping-stone pile, and one looked like an orca whale, as it was black and white.

Just before we left, a man and a woman with two dogs appeared, and the man looked angry for some reason. The dogs scampered about, and the man, after glaring at us, left and got back into his van. When we arrived back at the car, a French Volvo was parked, so we had no idea what was going on, and I'm sure the couple knew each other!

We retraced our route back to the main road and circumnavigated Dieppe. The other carriageway was snarled up, and the traffic was heavy. On the way back to the house, I overtook three tractors, but the road system made it a lot easier to get past! We arrived back at 5.30pm, and Sophie and I went to see the deer, who appreciated our handfuls of lush grass! They were skittish, though, and always jumping away if we made a sudden movement.

The rest of the evening was spent playing Scrabble, reading and watching more of the Icelandic drama we'd started last night. It had been an immensely enjoyable day!