| Thirty kilometres east of Dieppe, on the border with Picardy, LE TRÉPORT is a seaside resort that has clearly seen better days. It was already something of a bathing station when the railways arrived in 1873 and promoted this as "the prettiest beach in Europe, just three hours from Paris". It remained the capital's favoured resort until the 1950s – and is still served by around five trains daily – but it can't ever have been that pretty, and these days its charms are definitely fading. Le Tréport divides into three sections: the flat wedge-shaped seafront area, bounded on one side by the Channel, on another by the harbour at the mouth of the river Bresle, and on the third by imposing 100-metre-high white chalk cliffs; the old town, higher up the slopes on safer ground; and the modern town further inland. Only the parts closest to the shore are of any interest to visitors. The seafront itself is entirely taken up by a hideous pink-and-orange concrete apartment block, with one or two snack bars but no other sign of life, facing the Casino and a drab grey shingle beach. The more sheltered harbourside quai Francois-1er around the corner holds most of the action, lined with restaurants, souvenir shops and cafés. The assorted stone jetties and wooden piers around the harbour make an enjoyable stroll, watching the comings and goings of the fishing boats. Climbing up from the quai, you come to the heavily nautical Église St-Jacques, built in the fifteenth century to replace an eleventh-century original that crumbled into the sea, along with the cliff on which it stood. Nearby, next to the fortified former town hall that is now the local library, successive flights of steps, 365 of them in all, climb to the top of the cliffs. Alternate spellings:: France, Le Tréport, Le Tréport, Le Treport
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