I went to the Canadian-style safari resort in Europe with American bison and new restaurants
SAFARI SO GOOD I went to the Canadian-style safari resort in Europe with American bison and new restaurants
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IN my best David Attenborough voice, I whisper: 'The majestic bison, shaggy giants of the plains, thunder across the fields in their hundreds.'
It's baking hot and I'm rumbling along dusty tracks in an old army truck, my eyes peeled for the large animals.
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Canoe down the Varenne River in the afternoons
Credit: Thomas Le Floc'H
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Visit Chateau de Dieppe, the town's 15th-century castle
Credit: Thomas Le Floc'H
So far, so safari.
However, I'm not roaming the Great Plains of North America, where they normally reside, but a little closer to home in the Eawy Forest in Normandy, France.
A half-hour drive from Dieppe through ancient villages lies Parc Canadien, home to the largest herd of American bison in Europe.
It opened in 1994 when a herd of North American bison were successfully released into the wilds of Normandy.
Over the last 20 years, the herd has grown to more than 200. They have now been joined by stags, fallow deer and several packs of wolves.
While the jeep tours are only conducted in French — we are given a laminated sheet of information from the desk — English guides can be booked in advance.
Before spotting the bison, we trundle through Wolf Temple, a fenced-off part of the park where the wolves reside.
There's plenty to do for an afternoon — canoeing down the Varenne River and walking tours around the wolf enclosure and mini farm.
You can sample bison burgers, steaks and more at the Canadian-style bar and restaurant, with its log cabin walls and trophy skulls.
New for 2025 is fast-food restaurant La Toundra, with sandwiches from £5.20 and full kids' meals with drinks, dessert and a present from £8.65.
How to make your safari holiday more affordable - with quieter seasons and budget lodging
You can even stock up on bison sausages and terrine from the farm's onsite butchery.
Wildlife-spotting aside, a weekend in Dieppe has stacks of appeal.
The ferry from Newhaven lands in Dieppe, on Normandy's Alabaster Coast, at 10pm and it's a 15-minute drive to the charming Hotel Aguado, where most rooms overlook the sea.
As most places have stopped serving food at this late hour we hit the jackpot at a hole-in-the-wall joint called Big Al And Little Joe.
This serves Lebanese-style flatbreads filled with salads, meats and sauces, which we ate al fresco listening to live jazz from the wine bar next door.
Saturday is the best day to visit Dieppe, largely because of its brilliant market.
Named the best market in France in 2020, the 200 or so stalls wind their way from Quai Henri IV through the town and sell everything from homemade wicker baskets and locally made Neufchatel cheese to fist-sized tomatoes and slabs of nougat.
Shopping secured, do as the locals do and stop for a cold beer in Cafe des Tribunaux on Place du Puits-Salé, where Oscar Wilde used to drink.
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Saturday is the best day to visit Dieppe, largely because of its brilliant market
Credit: Supplied
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Parc Canadien is home to the largest herd of American bison in Europe
Credit: Supplied
Visit Chateau de Dieppe, the town's 15th-century castle overlooking the sea, which has a maritime museum with paintings by Boudin, Lebourg and Pissarro.
Don't miss a peek at Les Tourelles gate, the only surviving gate from the medieval ramparts, which were used as a prison during the French Revolution.
Dieppe was considered France's first seaside resort some 200 years ago, and while the Belle Epoque architecture has largely been bombed away, it still has the largest seafront lawns in Europe and a grey-pebbled beach packed with locals splashing in the shallows.
While bison and beaches are an excellent reason to visit, the highlight for me is dinner at La Marmite Dieppoise, a gorgeous Normandy restaurant just off the main drag.
We feasted on oysters, fruits de mer and the house speciality, marmite Dieppoise — a creamy fish stew with turbot, monkfish and scallops pulled fresh from the sea that morning.
When it comes to celebrating Anglo-French relations, a weekend in Dieppe is the way to go.
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