Pays de Caux

Location within France

The Pays de Caux (pronounced: [pɛi də ko]) is an area in Normandy, France. It makes up the greater part of the French département of Seine Maritime in Normandy. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extends to the cliffs on the English Channel coast. Its coastline is called the Côte d'Albâtre. In the east, it borders on the Pays de Bray where the layers of soil below the chalk show through.

The area depends on manufacturing more than as agriculture. Even so, the soil quality of the Pays de Caux is the finest in France. It is also known for its fine fabrics.

Cauchois is a dialect of the Norman language. The Pays de Caux is one of the last places outside the Cotentin Peninsula where the Norman language is spoken. Its main cities are Le Havre, Dieppe, Fécamp, Yvetot and Étretat.

In the Norman language caux means lime, calcium carbonate.

Artistic connections

The rugged scenery of the Pays de Caux is only a short distance from Paris. Artists including Claude Monet and Gustave Courbet came there to paint.

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  Renoir

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  Monet

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  Monet

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  Courbet

Pays De Caux Media

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  Étretat, falaise d'aval and the needle

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  Beeches grown as a wind break around a now derelict farm on the Pays de Caux plateau.

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  Abbey church of Fécamp, Seine-Maritime

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  Pays de Caux: a small building in brick, flint and clunch

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  Description : Château d'Etelan, face ouest, en Normandie (76)*Source : Photo Alain BOUDIER - Photo personnelle*Auteur : Alain BOUDIER (Propriétaire du monument) Permission : Tous droits libres (mention du crédit obligatoire)