Page 68 - (DK Eyewitness) Back Roads Travel Guide - France

66 BACK ROADS FRANCE

Forests and Gardens

Between Paris and France’s northern coast is a swathe /FXIBWFO
of territory that contains a remarkable variety of
landscapes and atmospheres. The beauties of the
Seine Valley are inseparably associated with the % . ' , ) 3 ( # ( ! . . % ,
Impressionist painters, while the coastal light of mari-
time Dieppe has inspired many artists. In between 1PVSWJMMF %*&11&
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them lies the Pays de Bray, called the boutonnière 7"3&/(&7*--& 463 .&3
(buttonhole) because it is a depression of soft, rolling 7FVMFT 4BJOUF .BSHVFSJUF
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green valleys between the flat plains to east and MFT 3PTFT
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west. Around the Bray towns are huge stretches of
beech forest, leading up to the white chalk cliffs of -VOFSBZ
the coast and towns rich in histo rical memories such 'POUBJOF
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as Eu and Dieppe itself. This region is also home to an A Y S D E # A U X
extraordinary collection of very distinc tive green 0
havens from the Pays de Bray to the Varengeville cliffs. 4U -BVSFOU
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Above Picturesque Vallée de l’Héron, see p69 Below right People relaxing at a bar in the
village square of St-Saëns, see p70 MB #PVJMMF
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Scale the ramparts of Richard the Lionheart’s castle of
Château Gaillard
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Count the varieties of half-timbering around the square in
Lyons-la-Forêt
Wander through miles of beech forest around Lyons or St-Saëns *WJMMF
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Discover the gardens of L’Agapanthe and Bellevue
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Get a taste for Neufchâtel cheese and farm-fresh terrines at the $PMPNCF
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market in Neufchâtel-en-Bray
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Shop for gourmet produce in the old town of Dieppe KEY
Drive route
Run into the sea at Pourville-sur-Mer, then head up to
Varengeville for a panoramic sea view