# Seine-Maritime

Seine-Maritime is a department in Normandy, France. The departmentincludes the shore of the English Channel from the Seine estuary to the mouth of the Bresle. Tourism is diversified between Rouen, the Seine Valley, and the coastal seaside resorts. Its ports are popular for pleasure boating.

## Cities

* 49.441.11 Rouen — the historical capital of the region
* 49.60031.11112 Clères — a small village, with a zoological park, and an automobile museum
* 49.921.083 Dieppe — seaside resort, ferries to England and site of a disastrous Woeld War II landing by the allies
* 49.710.214 Étretat — world-famous arches in chalk cliffs
* 49.490.15 Le Havre — a port town, its reconstructed city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
* 50.061.376 Le Tréport — small fishing port and seas side resort. Impressive cliffs
* 49.43440.82147 Jumièges — Jumièges Abbey is a typical Norman abbey of the Romanesque period
* 49.44420.96288 Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville — abbey church with restored gardens and art exhibitions
* 49.44561.37819 Vascœuil — small restored château with art exhibitions and permanent open-air sculptures

## Other destinations

* 49.4347220.11751 Seine Valley — fantastic scenery along the meanders of the Seine

## Understand

The coast of Seine-Maritime has many spectacular chalk clifs. The beaches are mainly shingle. If you are looking for a large sandy beach you need to go west, beyond the river Seine, to Deauville in Calvados or east, beyond the river Somme, to Le Touquet in Pas de Calais.

### Read

The novel La Place by Annie Ernaux is set largely in Seine-Maritime. It describes events and changes in French society in the 20th century, especially in relation to the rural population.

## Get in
### By train

From Paris -St-Lazare, ICs run every two hours via Rouen, Yvetot and Breuté/Beuzeville to Le Havre. There are also ICs every two hours that end in Rouen and stop in Oissel en route. The fastest trains from Paris to Rouen take 1 hour 10 minutes, and to Le Havre 2 hours 10 minutes.

### By car

From the greater Paris area, the A 13 motorway leads to Rouen. The A 28 and A 29 provide cross-connections from Picardy ( Amiens ) and the far north ( Calais ) to Rouen and Le Havre.

### By ship

Dieppe by ferry from Newhaven. Transmanche Ferries operate a return trip in peak season with a car and two passengers costs €190 Journey time is 4 hours. Le Havre – ferry from Portsmouth.

### By bicycle

The European long-distance cycle route EuroVelo 4 runs through Seine-Maritime , leading from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium along the English Channel through Dieppe and Le Havre and on to Caen, Cherbourg, Mont-Saint-Michel, and Brittany. From Paris, the Avenue Verte (possibly the future EuroVelo 16 Paris–London) also leads through Gisors and the Pays de Bray to Dieppe. Finally, you can also take the Paris–Rouen route, which then winds its way along the Seine as the V33 cycle route to Le Havre.

## See

* The chalk cliffs on the Alabaster Coast (Côte d'Albâtre), especially the bizarrely shaped Falaise d'Aval near Étretat with a naturally formed arch, and a number of scenic towns and villages. At Étretat, take a walk across the beach to admire the famous chalky pinnacles and arches.
* Norman thatched-roof houses
* The Abbey of Jumièges on the Seine, which Victor Hugo described as the most beautiful ruin in France, about 30  km from Rouen.
* Rouen: Gothic cathedral; Abbey Church of Saint-Ouen; Donjon (fortified tower) where Joan of Arc was interrogated; Gothic Palace of Justice; Clock Tower; Old Town with half-timbered houses; Art Nouveau main station
* Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville with the church of the former abbey Abbaye Saint-Georges de Boscherville, about 15  km from Rouen.
* The beaches of Quiberville and Pourville, where you can treat yourself to a serving of excellent oysters.
* Varengeville has an old church perched high up on a rock and an enchanting park.
* Veules-les-Roses is known for its ancient water mills on France's tiniest river
* The Benedictine monastery of Fécamp

## Do

The Festival International des cerfs-volants, the largest organized kite festival in the world, takes place in Dieppe in France in even-numbered years, and in odd-numbered years in August in Dieppe in Canada.

## Eat

* Duck à la Rouennaise
* fish soup from Dieppe
* Neufchâtel cheese from the city of the same name
* herring from Le Tréport
* Trout and salmon from the Bresle

## Get out

Outline