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A jaunty little Seine-side town with a centuries-old Saturday market, brilliant museum of river life, Flamboyant Gothic church and medieval Templar’s house.

In the capital of Norman Vexin, a fine 13th- to 14th-century church keeps company with the castle William the Conqueror built to protect his borders.

This popular seaside town at the mouth of the River Bresle is famous for its smoked fish (see Delgove et Cie, Le Tréport) – also for the view of the coast from the Calvaire (calvary) above the town.

At a beautiful spot on the Seine, Villequier marks the point where river becomes estuary. Victor Hugo’s daughter Léopoldine drowned here in 1843. The Musée Victor-Hugo commemorates her life.

An exquisite example of Norman Romanesque architecture.

The chequered history of this working Benedictine monastery goes back to 649, and includes a spell in the 19th century as home to the Marquis of Stackpole.

The handsome collegiate church in this tranquil riverside town is named after the Irish primate St Lawrence, who died here in 1180 (see Château d’Eu).

Gloriously situated, its cliff-top church has windows by Ubac and Braques. Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll collaborated on the nearby Parc du Bois des Moutiers.

The heart of Écouis is the church of Notre-Dame, built by Enguerrand de Marigny in 1313. The ruined 12th-century Abbaye de Fontaine Guérard is worth a short excursion.

In its own valley, at the mouth of the shortest river in France, this pretty village clusters round its 12th-century church.