Dieppe's working harbour is still one of the busier fishing ports on the Normandy coast. The fish market — the criée — operates in the early morning when the boats return, and the quayside near the ferry terminal gives a good view of the trawlers, the ferries to Newhaven, and the general working business of a harbour that has been doing roughly the same thing for centuries.
The harbour area has been smartened up in recent decades with restaurants and bars lining the quays, but it has not been entirely gentrified. Walk around to the eastern side of the inner harbour to see the smaller fishing vessels and the stacked nets and pots. The Saturday market spills from the Grande Rue down toward the harbour, making this the liveliest corner of town on weekend mornings.