Beside the Seaside

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August 6, 2007 by Mike

Camiers

Route: Dunkerque - Calais - Boulogne-sur-Mer - Camiers

Lots of towns and villages en route today. (See, I've already started writing en Francais.)

Dunkerque
Surprisingly little to see in relation to the evacuation of Dunkirk [sic] in 1940. I aimed for the Port Museum instead. And, err, not too much there either: the local history of herring, cod and a sailor called Jean Bart who was a national hero (to the French) and a pirate (to the English.) What I noticed to be missing -- having enjoyed it so much in Norway and Sweden, for example -- was the use of *smell*. Just 'cos you can't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't make a difference. The caulk of a boat, the whiff of the catch -- it brings a museum alive. Not much cop, then, but if you're here I'd pop in if it's raining. (The staff are lovely.)

I rode out through the docks and along a four-mile concrete flood-defence barrier, between the sea, the beach and the mainland. (It doubles as an unmarked road. There were a couple of other vehicles out here. What riding besidetheseaside should all be about.)

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Incidentally, they say that travel broadens the mind. Here's an example: I used to think that French cooking was very good. Then I had a steak in Dunkerque last night that changed, may I say broadened, the mind. It was rank. My knowledge of French cooking has expanded, thanks to travel.

Grand-Fort-Philippe
Well folks if you're ever in the area, stop in and look round. It's a large fort indeed. Unfortunately, I'd got into a groove and didn't feel like stopping, so nothing to report.

Le Fort-Vert
.. is only two miles outside Calais. It's a sizeable place. But when I drove through it mid-morning I didn't see a single human being. Not in the houses, not on the pavements or on the road. It's clearly lived-in. Lawns are mowed, curtains are cleaned, drives are swept. In fact, it looks quite pleasant.. but it was empty. Spooky. (I'll check the papers tomorrow and make sure there wasn't an alien invasion here today.)

Calais
I felt it only right as a History graduate to stop in Calais for a burger. Happily for my stomach, I had a croque-monsieur instead, and very nice it was too. Confidence is restored in French gastronomy. Otherwise, Calais seemed closed. (I have arrived when this bit of France is on holiday. Big shops and small, boulangeries and charcuteries and all the rest we learned in school, all are closed.)

Sangatte
Not overflowing with foaming-mouthed Eastern Europeans desperate to cross the Channel by fair means or foul to steal yr car, yr job or yr daughter. In fact, a charming seaside town perched in front of rolling green hills.

Escalles
The road here is gorgeous, with enough elevation to make me forget Holland's endless flatness. In other words - it's hilly. Down one particularly bendy bit at the foot of Cap Gris-Nez, with outstanding views across to Dover, sits the village of Escalles. If it wasn't so close to Blighty.. and therefore liable to be over-run by the same Daily Mail-reading hordes who worry about their own country being over-run by foreigners.. I'd plump for a little white-walled house here any time. Cute.

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[If I hadn't been home for my 'extended' christmas, this would have been my closest sighting of England for... a year? Two years? Strange to think.]

Wimereux
Another town oozing "live here"-ness. But, at least temporarily, I cannot. The campsite doesn't have any trees.

Boulogne-sur-Mer
Blimey. What a lovely town. Fabulous beach. But.. that groove again.. I just had to keep moving.

Hardelot
.. thinks it's Beverley Hills. Swanksville. Haute bourgeois. Not for me.

Camiers
Five miles down the road, and five miles this side of Le Touquet, and the polar opposite of Hardelot. Camiers is simple, plain, honest, friendly.. and the campsite has trees.

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