The following extracts are taken from a literature pack from the Dieppe Town Council
Les Roches, A Place to Stay
"The food was excellent, colourful, fresh and varied" : Sladen Middle School.
Would you return to this hostel again ? - "Yes, yes and yes again !" : Buckingham College Lower School.
Les Roches, built as a mansion for a prominent local family nearly a century ago, has been transformed into a comfortable and well-equipped hostel in the ownership of Dieppe Municipal Council. The impressive building, overlooking the centre of Dieppe, and a short journey from the ferry port and the town railway station, is set in its own wooded four-acre park and provides all the facilities required by holiday and study groups. It is open all the year and groups of all ages are welcome - families may come with children aged two upwards. The minimum number of people for a booking is five.
The accommodation comprises 27 rooms, with two to four single beds per room - in all, space for 87 guests at a time, 72 of them in the main building and 15 in an annexe. Each room has its own shower or bath and most rooms have their own toilet. There is a leaders' room, with two single beds and en suite facilities, on each floor. There is also a bedroom available for a coach driver.
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The modernisation of Les Roches, which was undertaken in 1987, has included installing a fire. escape for the main building and fire-break doors. Les Roches is regularly inspected and complies with all the fire regulations. There is a smoking ban in all bedrooms and common rooms. The complex includes three classrooms in the park, with seating for 30 to 40 children or students in each, and a 60-seat lecture hall with television and video equipment (but remember, France uses the Secam system!). The park also has a flat area for open-air sports activities, such as volley ball and badminton.
The light and airy restaurant overlooks the park and has a panoramic view over the roofs of old Dieppe. Normal meal times are : breakfast 7.30 or 8 am ; lunch 12 noon ; and dinner 7 pm or 8 pm. A typical week's menus for a group is included in this package. The restaurant can make arrangements for vegetarian meals if requirements are clearly stated at the time of booking. No alcoholic drinks are served.
The cost of accommodation with full pension varies according to the age of the guests and the time of year of the visit. Packed meals can be provided for groups making excursions outside Dieppe. For French groups, Les Roches frequently arranges a teaching programme, approved by the academic authorities, to impart knowledge and experience of the maritime environment of Dieppe and the adjacent Normandy coast. This programme, combining lectures and visits, costs 57 Francs per person per day.
Similar arrangements could be made for British groups, whose knowledge of the French language is sufficient to benefit from them. But most British groups naturally prefer to arrange their own programmes, using the physical facilities of Les Roches, and taking the opportunity to discover the most picturesque of the French Channel ports and one of the most interesting and historic areas of France.
Whatever the needs of your own group, Monsieur Georges Auvray - Director of Les Roches since 1986 - and his staff of nine will be do their best to meet them. Most groups book for a stay of three to five days. Initial booking may be made by telephone (+33 35.84.34.76 ), to be followed by a letter of confirmation with 15 per cent deposit.
Remember, Les Roches is close to Dieppe port, where the ferry from Newhaven docks several times a day, and groups can be met by coach on arrival and transferred to the hostel for 30 Francs per person. When you are staying at Les Roches, the town centre is only 15 minutes' walk away - or there is a bus stop just 300 metres up the Avenue Gambetta.
Coaches arriving by ferry follow the seafront road to the West, turn left below the Castle Into the Rue de Sygogne, and then continue after the first traffic lights on the road (the Avenue Gambetta) which is signposted to Paris. Les Roches is on the left, at No. 73, about 450 metres up this hill.
