The Hotel de Paris is the best restaurant in town. It was constructed in 1820 for Lord Suffield, as his coastal retreat. Ten years later, Pierre le Francois converted it into a hotel. Hence the name.
Stephen Fry worked as a waiter there in his youth.
Does anyone recall a similar notice about noticing that you noticed, from Embu in Kenya? I can’t find my post, but it was in 2018.
Across the Gangway from this row, the Rocket House Cafe does great lunches (try the Ploughman’s with local Norfolk Dapple and Binham Blue cheese, bread and a pickled onion) and even better views. When a ship was in difficulties, a rocket would be fired from this spot to alert all the volunteer lifeboatmen. Nowadays, they just send out an SMS text message.
Under the cafe is the Royal National Lifeboat Institute Museum, dedicated (very appropriately) to Henry Blogg. He served the RNLI for 53 years and is credited with saving 873 lives from drowning in the North Sea. The lifeboat covers a huge area of coast, 40 miles either side of Cromer.
Set in stone on the promenade above the pier, there are some quotations about Cromer. My favourite was from a young Winston Churchill, “I am not enjoying it much.” That was in 1888.
“Whenever I’m on the Norfolk coast and it’s a bit grim, I console myself with remembering that at least I’m not in Yarmouth.”
