Cote d'Opale Photos

Tuesday, 31 March 2009 19:57

The Côte d'Opale turned out to be a) quite pleasant and b) very wet. The latter did nada to aid my photography mission, but luckily I was well positioned on the rare occasions when the sun did slap its hat on -  literally 3-4 hours out of 5 days.

It was great to be near the sea - felt like eons since I'd traipsed across sand, even if I did also have to wear a warm jacket and bend into the wind. The beach in question belonged to Le Touquet. I was bemused to find rows of colourful chalets down below the promenade, just like the ones in Brighton but, uh, smaller. Same blocky 60s architecture along the seafront too but (again like Brighton) much more charming when you enter the town proper.

Got a decent hotel for a very good off-season price, which was useful since I spent a lot of my time inside, working and writing and avoiding the rain. After that, an abbaye, a Relais & Châteaux hotel and the area around the Baie de Somme (including Le Crotoy and the bird sanctuary Parc du Marquenterre) - then it was time to come home. Didn't get time to stop in Bolougne-sur-Mer, though did manage to avoid spending too much time in Calais. Phew.

Would love to come back here - when there's more sun, preferably. But then I always say that, knowing full well that life's generally way too short to visit the same place twice. Damnit.