Dieppe Things to Do

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Buy some fresh fish or shellfish from the fish wives on the quay.
You'' get the freshest fish and the best prices from the ladies on the quay.

There are two places on the quay to buy from. You'll only get the seasonal catch from Dieppe but when we were there in December Bass, Turbot, Scallops, Sole and a few others were available.
The prices seemed to vary around 50 - 70% of the local stores and supermarkets.

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We went down the coast to see a French house and Garden we had read about in a garden magazine.

Guillaume Mallet, a botanist bought the land on which he was to build his house and create its garden in 1897. He commissioned the English architect, Edward Lutyens to design the house and he in turn called upon the equally famous English garden designer, Gertude Jekyll, to provide a planting scheme for the grounds.

Mallet spent the next 40 years developing and cherishing the formal gardens around the house, and his own plans for woodland and glades, meadows and parks.

Impossible to imagine how he must have felt in 1940 when Nazis occupied the house and mined the grounds.

After the war and following the death of his parents Andre Mallet and his family spent 10 years restoring the house and gardens .

On our visit the house was not "open" but we were privileged to be allowed a peep inside. Always a fan of Lutyens I loved it.
Furnished simply but beautifully in the arts and crafts style of Morris and others,with some McKintosh design influences and with more exotic touches from all over the world .
A show piece - but first and foremost a family home.

News Flash. 26.September 2011 . I heard on the BBC today that this beautiful house and the lovely gardens that surround it have just been put up for sale. The owner and great grandson of the original owner said that as a result of the French inheritance laws, selling the property was the only "solution" but they hope it will be be placed under a preservation body.5c*

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Andre Mallet lived only 9 years after the restoration of the garden was completed and died in 1964 leaving the family with the question - could the house and garden be maintained?

I was told a lovely story about the lucky event that enabled the family to keep the house and its grounds.
An antique gold coin was discovered hidden away in a trunk; its sale raised sufficient to buy a tractor and other mechanical garden implements which helped the family maintain the garden with minimal paid help.
Six years later the Garden opened to the public for the first time, still owned by the Mallet family.

Really enjoyed the new salt water swimming pool on Dieppe sea front. The spa looks nice but did not check it out this time. Good for swimmers plus kids pools. Not at all overcrowded. Recommend goggles and also men take note, NO SHORTS. Skin tight speedo type trunks only. You can buy them and goggles from a machine at the reception.

The old fishing quarter of Dieppe is a lovely place to walk with its winding lanes, narrow flights of steps and brick and flint fishermen’s cottages. It’s also where the painter Walter Sickert lived and worked.

This pretty little square, set around a fountain, is in the centre of town and is dominated by Dieppe’s oldest gabled house, the Café des Tribunaux, built in the 17th century and a favourite haunt of Oscar Wilde and his friends during his time here in the summer of 1897, as well as other writers and painters such as Renoir, Monet, Sickert, Whistler and Pissarro. Nowadays, it is still a popular place to have a drink.

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Dieppe’s mediaeval castle stands on a cliff on the west side of town and provides excellent views across the coast. Built as a defence against the English, the oldest part of the building, the round tower, dates back to the 14th century. Housed within the Castle is the Musée de Dieppe, which includes a variety of permanent and temporary exhibitions, including a valuable collection of ivory carvings, and others relating the history of Dieppe and its maritime heritage. Another permanent exhibition includes over 100 prints by Georges Braque, the co-originator of cubism, as well as works by other famous painters such as Pissarro, Renoir, Dufy, Sickert and Boudin.

The ‘Petit Train’ is a little tourist train that will take you on a ride around the town during the summer; the first stop is the Tourist Office but you can then jump on and off at various stops around the town.