I get the feeling that the world divides into two very different halves as my two-hour train from Paris pulls into the splendid half-timbered station of Trouville-Deauville, with holidaymakers either turning left towards chic, luxurious Deauville, the Saint-Tropez of Normandy, or branching right, across the Touques River, to Trouville-sur-Mer, a more historic, easy-going destination.

I have opted to stay at Trouville, known as La Reine des Plages (The Queen of the Beaches), a tiny fishing port that was transformed from the 1820s onwards into one of France’s first fashionable bathing resorts by bohemian artists and writers, seduced by the unique coastal light, and the Parisian bourgeoisie looking for a healthy dose of sea air and a flutter in the glamorous municipal casino.

It is Wednesday morning, market day, and the high street that leads into town is teeming with stalls showcasing Normandy goodies: creamy Pont-l’Évêque and pungent Livarot cheeses, cider and apple juice, peppery andouille sausage, freshly harvested fruits and vegetables. The families of local fishers do a brisk trade at stands piled high with still-wriggling sole, plaice, mackerel, crab and red mullet that have come straight from the nets of small boats docked below on the quayside.

For visitors who have booked one of Trouville’s numerous self-catering apartments, the market is an ideal place to shop for dinner or a picnic, but I carry on into the centre of town to the unbeatably priced Hôtel Le Fer à Cheval (doubles from just €59 room-only in winter/around€140 in peak season). Identical twins Virginie and Sonia Bisson created their smart, welcoming hotel from three adjoining mansions 20 years ago, and are a mine of insider tips. So after checking in my bags, I take their advice and head straight for the beach bar Le Galatée a couple of hundred yards away from the hotel.

An iconic wooden boardwalk, Promenade Savignac, runs parallel to the lapping waves for more than a kilometre, the scene pretty much unchanged from Claude Monet’s 1870 impressionist masterpiece Promenade à Trouville. The terrace of Le Galatée is certainly the strategic place to sit, indulging in their famous chocolat chaud or an ice-cream sundae while taking the pulse of what is now a buzzing family resort.

The Reine des Plages now resembles a stately dowager, spoiling holidaymakers with classic seaside treats such as pony rides on the beach, mini golf and petanque. The boardwalk is lined with Normandy’s distinctive 19th-century half-timbered villas and palatial mansions, each trying to outdo its neighbour for opulence and grandeur. The iconic Hôtel Les Roches Noires – again immortalised by Monet, whose painting now hangs in the Musée d’Orsay – is a luxurious hotel, as many of these stately piles once were until they were converted into private apartments.

While Deauville’s boardwalk is lined with art deco bathing cabins dedicated to Hollywood stars who have attended the Deauville American Film Festival, such as Gene Kelly, Kirk Douglas and Marilyn Monroe, Trouville offers plain wooden benches bearing the names of writers drawn here for inspiration: Gustave Flaubert, Marcel Proust, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. Just behind Les Roches Noires, I walk uphill to the imposing Villa Montebello, home of the municipal museum, where I discover that Trouville was also a favourite destination for the 19th-century painters Courbet, Corot, Caillebotte and above all Eugène Boudin, later acclaimed as the father of impressionism

Aside from lazing on the beach, browsing retro fashion boutiques such as À La Petite Jeannette and Devred 1902, or exploring Trouville’s distinctive maze of narrow alleyways and steep staircases that climb high above the main town, the big draw here is eating out. Like every visitor, I am charmed by the raucous fishmongers lining the landmark Marché aux Poissons. With tables along the pavement, they serve plateaux de fruits de mer piled high with oysters, clams, prawns, whelks, cockles and mussels. Lunch is a memorable occasion, especially accompanied by a chilled bottle of Muscadet, though beware the bill – the prices you see on the stall are for takeaway, with a mark-up when served at the table. As Stéphane Brassy, president of the Trouville fishmongers association, tells me between shucking oysters: “We have queues of tourists lining up here every day of the week. Everyone loves the banter and understands that the quality of our fish and seafood comes at a certain price.”

In the evening, plush brasseries such as Les Vapeurs and Le Central are packed, but in the back streets I discover two exceptional addresses that have both been open for less than a year. The romantic Chez Ginette is decorated with checked tablecloths and chintzy wallpaper, presenting a bistronomique menu of grand-mère recipes such as eggs mimosa with smoked mackerel (€4.90), chicken cordon bleu (€17.90) or juicy bavette steak, frites and creamy camembert sauce (€18.90).

The funky Turbulent is like no other diner in town, with young chef Jarvis Scott proposing a daring five-course tasting menu for €70. His name betrays Anglo-French roots, but Jarvis says that, “even though I was brought up on baked beans and fried sausages, my cooking inspiration is very much French. I was looking to escape the high-pressure cooking world of Parisian fine dining and Trouville was the perfect solution, especially with the wonderful local produce from small boat fishers and organic farmers.” His menu changes every week and includes dishes such as deep-fried artichoke resting on a creamy chicken liver mousse, frogs’ legs alongside spicy merguez sausage, smoked beetroot with tapenade and wild sorrel.

But Trouville-sur-mer is not just a seaside destination, as the idyllic Normandy countryside of the Pays d’Auge begins just outside town. Les Trouvillaises bike shop recommends hiring an ebike (€35 per day) to comfortably explore the region’s rolling hills, and a leisurely 22-mile (35km) ride allows for stop-offs at an artisan dairy farm and ancient cidrerie.

At La Ferme Martin, Thierry and Caroline Martin are the fourth generation to produce artisan, raw-milk Pont-l’Évêque cheese. Each morning, Caroline takes the still-warm milk, fresh from their 60-cow herd, and makes cheeses in her tiny dairy, where a steady stream of locals and tourists turn up to buy direct from the farm.

Just outside the bustling market town of Pont-l’Évêque lies the sprawling 17th-century manor and orchards of Maison Drouin, the perfect place to discover the secrets of cider and calvados. Half a dozen Norman colombage (half-timbered) outbuildings house a press for creating the apple juice, vats to ferment and age the cider, an alembic still for distilling, a barrel room to age the calvados, and a busy boutique. No reservation is necessary, and as Guillaume Drouin explains, “We offer the chance to taste all our products, take a tour explaining our orchards with 36 varieties of apples, then see how we make everything. There is no charge, because I want our visitors to try, to understand and enjoy, rather than thinking they are paying to enter some kind of tourist attraction.”

Back in Trouville, on the way to the station, I cannot resist a glimpse inside the fabulous belle epoque Casino Barrière, an opulent reminder that this was one of the early magnets drawing travellers to Normandy a century ago. Just outside, in a former police building, a new attraction is opening at the end of October: Le Ciné Bistro is the brainchild of Claude Lelouch, director of the acclaimed Un Homme et Une Femme (1966), which he filmed in Trouville, and will offer an evening movie screening followed by dinner. Definitely a good reason to come back.

The trip was provided by Calvados Attractivité. Further information can be found at Trouville-sur-Mer and Terre d’Auge Tourisme