Spring 2024

The Opal Coast
hotels, where you feel more like a friend
than a guest. There are beaches of great
boulders reminiscent of the Giant’s
Causeway in Ireland, and beaches where
the white silky sand lures you to sit and
drink in the wide-open horizon all the way
to the White Cliffs of Dover. Seals frolic
along the coast, and now and then, when
the tides are out, an ancient shipwreck
makes its appearance. And everywhere
there are traces of the area’s long history,
bases from which would-be-conquerors
tried for centuries to invade England.
This is a place to relax, enjoy the
delicious food, friendly hospitality and
take your time. Explore the treasures of
this rather secret and surprisingly diverse
part of France that’s hardly known
outside of the region.
Berck-sur-Mer
In the department of Pas-de-Calais, between
the great port town of Calais and the seaside
town of Berck-sur-Mer lies the Opal Coast.
Around 50 miles of glorious beaches, vast
sand dunes, pine forests and soaring cliffs,
peppered with authentic fishing villages, Belle
Epoque seaside towns, monuments, memorials
and museums. Janine Marsh explores the
rather secret coastal jewel of northern France.
At the start of 20th century, painter Édouard
Lévêque came up with the name Côte
d’Opale, the Opal Coast, inspired by the
luminous light and the ever-changing colours
of the coastline. “It has opal, a precious milkycoloured
stone that shimmers with alternating
tones of green and red” he declared. The
name stuck.
The route of the Opal Coast reveals
enchanting treasures, a land of yesteryear
with farming hamlets, little fishing villages,
charming village inns and welcoming
restaurants, Belle Epoque and art deco
hotels, manor houses converted into small
Berck-sur-Mer
White Cliffs of Dover visible from the Opal Coast
Local chocolate maker Beussent
In 1861, when this beach resort was already
the haunt of artists like Renoir, Manet and
Boudin, a local woman who had lost her
husband and four children took in some very
sick children for a recuperative holiday. The
very iodized climate revitalised them and
Berck became famous for its rejuvenating
air. 12km of breezy beaches, perfect for the
annual International Kite Festival (April),
and for seals! There’s a large colony here
who seem to love to entertain onlookers, by
basking on the sand, frolicking in the waves
and singing loudly!
There are plenty of restaurants and bars in
this traditional seaside resort plus a unique
century-old sweet shop, Succès Berckois
where you can watch them make their
famous boiled sweets in-store!
Nip to the town of Merlimont next door and
indulge at restaurant “Sur Mer” owned by
Alexandre Gauthier, the 2-star Michelin
chef of La Grenouillère (Montreuil-sur-Mer).
Overlooking the sea, and a big hit with the
locals the menu includes fish and chips and
mouth-watering minute-cooked mussel.
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