Pays de Caux

The Pays de Caux is a region of chalk plateau in Normandy (caux means lime i.e. limestone in Norman). It covers an area in Haute-Normandie between the Seine valley, the English Channel coast and the Pays de Bray.

The area is comparatively sparsely populated, exposed as the plateau is to the elements, with consequently poorer farming than other areas of agricultural Normandy.

The climate also explains one of the architectural features of the region - enclosed farmsteads, typically surrounded by high earth banks, walls and a sheltering square of trees.

Along the Côte d’Albâtre (alabaster coast). stark cliffs shaped by the forces of the sea have produced needles and arches which have been painted by artists such as Monet.

Dieppe, Fécamp and Étretat are important towns along the coast.

The comparative isolation of the Pays de Caux has allowed Cauchois, the local dialect of the Norman language, to survive.