We hired a gîte in a little hamlet called St Martin le Gaillard and enjoyed exploring the nearby seaside resorts of Le Tréport, Criel sur Mer, Saint Valéry sur Somme and Dieppe.  On New Year's Eve we held our celebration party and on our way back to Paris we stopped at Amiens, famous for its magnificent cathedral.

During our stay we explored the nearby coast.

Le Tréport

It's a seaside resort with a casino,

a very stony beach

                   and tall white cliffs.

On the other side of the beach is the port full of little fishing boats and yachts.

Above the quayside lies the town with the 16th century St Jacques church. 

Inside we admired the beautiful stained glass windows.

Criel sur Mer

Further along the coast is another little village featuring chalky white cliffs.

At Christmas John and I bought a new frisbee, so we were all very keen to try it out even if it was a bit windy!

Saint Valéry sur Somme

It's a small town on the Somme estuary

We strolled along the riverside past the brightly painted fishermen's cottages

and around the old town.

It was from these shores that William the Conqueror set sail for England in 1066.

New Year's Eve

We held a party to bring in the New Year.

John sets the place ablaze

Then everyone got busy in the kitchen preparing our festive feast.

The table was decorated with candles and Gareth's fancy napkins, the champagne was chilled, so let's tuck in!

Time for a glass of wine before the salmon's served

Then we enjoyed our Coquilles Saint Jacques

                             followed by a short break

before we savoured roast chicken	and April's Christmas Pudding.

Party Time

A spot of juggling

Gareth dazzled us all with his clever card tricks

 and of course there was plenty of dancing.

New Year's Day in Dieppe 

To blow away the cobwebs we had a good long walk along the windswept beach.

                (does anyone recognise these three characters?)

Along the seafront is the swimming pool with the chateau perched high on the cliff tops.

We strolled around the narrow streets in the town

around the St Jacques church

The stained glass windows tell the stories of the historic connections between Dieppe and Canada.

Amiens

On our way back to Paris we stopped off at Amiens for the afternoon.

The enormous Cathedral Notre Dame dominates the city.

Construction of this Gothic building began in 1220.	At the entrance statues and gruesome gargoyles adorn the three main porches.
The detail is amazing.	Altar boy, Gareth in front of the magnificent stained glass

Next to the cathedral is a network of canals and we wandered around the narrow streets discovering several Flemish style buildings along the way.

                                                                                          The Belfry

Gareth, April, John and Fiona outside the festively decorated Hotel de Ville

It was a fun start to 2005 and I look forward to more holidays throughout the year.