The Côte d’Opale is just a 15 minute drive away when you emerge from Eurotunnel onto the continent. Named after the beautiful sea colour the area now offers visitors wonderful views back to Blighty, beautiful French seaside towns to explore and fantastic seafood sample. It was once famed as Germany’s starting point for the invasion of England, ‘Operation Sea Lion’ in World War II. Thankfully Hitler changed his mind about invading and postponed the operation indefinitely in September 1940.
However not before he’d commissioned the building of some very impressive fortifications. All along the coastal road to Boulogne-sur-Mer you can visit bunkers and impressive gun emplacements, including Cap Gris Nez and Cap Gris Blanc and the imposing Batterie Todt which once housed 380mm calibre Krupp guns capable of reaching the British coast.
Opened in February 1942 its first shell was fired a month earlier. Today, Batterie Todt is known as the Museum of the Atlantic Wall (Musée du Mur de l’Atlantique). Dedicated to military history, there are thousands of collectibles from 1939/1945 including weapons, uniforms, original signage and posters spurring on invasion spread across ten rooms on three floors. The barracks, engine room and armoury have all been reconstructed so you can imagine what life must have been like manning the fort.
We travelled in September on a beautifully clear and sunny weekend with our ultimate destination an Air BNB in Boulogne-Sur-Mer. At this time of year the roads are practically empty, although the seaside villages are busy at lunchtime with the lure of mussels and a plethora of other seafood. As we found when we stopped at a beautiful fishing village of Audresselles.
Although its population is less than 700, the market square was abuzz with many taking advantage of the mussels, crabs and shrimps on offer. Audresselles has always been a fishing village and traditional long houses can still be found in the centre.
After having a wander around its narrow and picturesque streets we headed to the relatively undiscovered Wimereux where we devoured a rather late lunch. This seaside town is located in a valley and served well by shops, hotels and restaurants with architecture primarily Anglo-Norman in style. There are many activities on offer in Wimereux from swimming, sailing, yachting and windsurfing to horse riding, walking and golf.
Having satiated our hunger we head on to our destination for the evening. Boulogne-sur-Mer is the country’s largest fishing port and was the major Roman port for trade and communication with Britain. It has a new and old town, with the latter enclosed by an ancient wall with ramparts built at the beginning of the 13th century on the foundations off the Gallo-Roman walls. There are four gateways that surround this part of town. From the walkways there is an amazing view of the old port and the main town. In a corner is the 13th century Château, with its moats filled with water and waterlilies, modified in the 16th and 18th centuries.
One of our reasons for visiting the area was to take our four year old daughter to the world class NAUSICAA Aquarium on the outskirts of the town, home to over 35,000 fish and other marine creatures. There we stroked stingrays, met the penguins, had a close encounter with sharks (through toughened glass!) and tried to keep our eyes on the sea lions as they raced around. A fantastic undersea experience.
On our return journey we stopped at Wissant, a pretty seaside just over 10 miles away from Boulogne and about the same distance away from Calais. The town is one of the last fishing villages in France that uses a traditional method of fishing using a flobart (wooden boat) it’s also known by Parisians as the mecca of surfing due to the frequent and favourable winds. There were hundreds of kite surfers and surfers along the length of the beach. What a sight though, I’ve never seen so many in one place.
The Côte d’Opale is so accessible it’s the ideal place for a weekend on the continent. Having taken Eurotunnel it’s also an extremely economical adventure and with so much to see and do enjoyable for all the family all year round.
We’ve travelled to France a few times in the past year, this looks like somewhere we might have to visit!
Definitely do Karen, it was so easy. Took Le Shuttle over to Calais then drove up the scenic coast route rather than taking the motorway. Beautiful views, lots of history and fabulous beaches 🙂