161 - The chasse marée

Sea fish was available fresh on the coast but had to be salted or smoked to reach cities too far away.

During the High Middle Ages religious prescriptions (lean days, Lent ...) increased the consumption of fish. Rapid transport was set up to have fresh fish in large cities (Rouen, Paris, Beauvais ....).

These transports suffered from the greediness of some lords, abbots and officers who imposed abusive tolls but also bandits who ransomed and looted these fish merchants. King John II the Good in 1351 took measures to protect them and thus ensure the abundance of fish in Paris.

To reduce transit time, “chasse-marée” were given priority in ports to buy goods and a centralized market was organized at the Halles de Paris. But the limiting factor remained the state of the roads, which throughout the centuries had been poor.

The “chasse-marée” adapted their route according to the weather because some trails were impassable in rainy weather. Road improvements in the 18th century by laying cobblestones were not favorable to these cars because at high speed, horses slid on these cobblestones. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century and the paving of the roads, according to the ideas of Mac Adam, that higher speeds were reached.

Upon arrival at the port, the fish was unloaded from the boat and put in wicker baskets. These baskets were standardized and contained only one species of fish from the same fishery. The baskets were loaded onto the car and covered with a tarp to maintain freshness. This vehicle was a two-wheeled car that was designed to be lightweight and to absorb shocks during the trip. The bottom of it was not made of planks but of crisscrossed ropes and the curtains were made of clerestory wicker. The carriage consisted of four or six horses which were changed after seven leagues in relays. This meant that the fish merchant using a team of six horses had to have thirty horses to reach Paris, distant of thirty-five leagues from Dieppe. The lead horse of this team wore a bell that signaled the arrival of the vehicle. In the 19th century a “chasse-marée” leaving Dieppe at the end of the day arrived in Paris early the next morning.

The “chasse-marée” that passed through Saint-André came from Dieppe and headed to Paris. The vehicle passed through Clères then Saint-Georges-sur-Fontaine and passing through Saint-André went to Pierreval where the relay was located (1). A lookout posted in the tower of this relay sounded the horn to signal the arrival of a team and activated the preparation of spare horses. After the relay, they made their way to Ry, Beauvoir, Neuf Marché, Gisors and Paris.

At the time when roads finally made it possible to move quickly with horse-drawn carriages, the railway appeared and the opening of the lines in 1848 condemned the “chasse-marée”.

(1)   Only the tower of this building remains, the rest was destroyed in 1942.