There are lofty cliffs at Fecamp and a curving bay, with a casino in
the centre and the mouth of the Fecamp River to the east; but it
cannot claim to be so much the resort of fashion as its western
neighbour. The town has a busy port and all the picturesqueness
contributed by the fishing-boats that go to the cod or herring
fisheries. There is, as well, the abbey church and the Benedictine
distillery with its interesting museum, but such features do not
attract many holiday-makers, who are looking for amusement of the
entirely social order.
St. Valery-en-Caux has a beach made up of both sand and shingle, the
upper portion of the bathing-ground being exceedingly stony. On the
lower level children bathe in safety, and the joy of shrimping is
indulged in by visitors of all ages.
A little to the east is Veules, where the cliffs are low and of rather
loose earth, and the beach is not ideal for bathing. It is popular
with the people of Rouen, being conveniently placed and inexpensive.
The shrimp here too offers a fund of excitement to the families who
are usually content with the most simple of amusements, provided
they can drop into the casino after dinner.
[Illustration: THE VEGETABLE MARKET, NICE.]
Dieppe, owing to its connection with England by the Newhaven steamers,
is popular among English visitors, who can run over for a day or two
with the minimum of trouble and expense. The broad sunny Plage, the
casino to which one is free all day on payment of three francs, and
the Etablissement des Bains keep the place very full of life and
gaiety throughout the season; but one does not expect to find there
the people who may be seen at Etretat or Deauville. Possessing a busy
and not unpicturesque port, an historic fifteenth-century _chateau_,
and a beautiful Gothic church, it is surprising to find the sea-front
so entirely suggestive of one of the newly developed resorts. To the
north-east is Treport, an interesting and picturesque little coast
town, with the usual requirements for bathing and summer visitors.
Along the top of the great bank of shingle are the dressing-sheds,
with wooden steps at intervals leading down to the beach. Those who
have any interest in history find the proximity of the famous old town
of Eu a great attraction, but golf acts with such magnetic force over
the average Anglo-Saxon that such considerations do not often weigh
in the choice of a holiday resort. The French have only lately begun
to know the joys and the profound dejections of golf; it is not yet a
necessary adjunct to a seaside resort. Where there are golf-courses it
is mainly British capital that brings them on to the sand-dunes. Le
Touquet is very cosmopolitan, but it could hardly exist a month
without its English patrons. It is one of those places which come into
existence with the wave of the capitalist's wand. He says, in effect,
"Let us make on this waste an ideal health resort, let us erect
hotels, casinos, theatres, and to these add golf-courses, croquet
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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