Early May – Boulogne, Le Touquet, Dieppe

4th May – Wednesday – To Boulogne

A sunny day with a smooth sea and good visibility make for a perfect Channel crossing day.  40 miles from 11.30 to 18.30, 7 hours using the tide, with only ferries at Dover to give us any concern.  Which were no problem, as in our book, they go first.

Mick hoisting the French courtesy flag for this year’s trip.

The entrance to Boulogne Harbour, note the sandbank on the left.  There is an ever present Dredger too, and permission to enter the harbour is required by radio.

However, on arrival Mick found an electrical problem in the engine, which took a few hours to diagnose and repair.  Thank goodness we had a second helping of last night’s curry on hand.

5th May – Thursday

The local map showed an old walled town, which turned out to be quite special.

Once again Boulogne was somewhere we used to catch a ferry to in our youth, not knowing that the town itself was worth exploring.

Within the old walled town is a Basilica, with a large dome, which is the main marker on the horizon.  Pretty streets with shops and cafes lead you to it.

The ramparts around the town are walkable and give a panoramic view of the main town and harbour.  Nearby is the Chateau museum, which has a real moat. 

Boulogne is known for its fishing industry and there is a large fleet of boats, which do come and go at all hours.  With the bonus of a harbour-side fish market, along the boardwalk, with leads to the beach and aquarium (which is currently under development and expansion).

Boulogne has a large tidal range and at the moment the spring tides are making variables quite dramatic and the steep gangways a challenge.  To combat this the harbour had an electric lift for people to haul their goods up from their boats, you can just make out the tray of the lift above.

The photo above also shows the rocks at the lock entrance, which are marked in the pilot books, do not venture passed the last pontoon!

8th May – Sunday – To Le Touquet

We have to specially thank Alexandre, one of the marina managers, who went out of this way to help us with train and bus times to allow us to visit Le Touquet. 

The station is a 20 minute walk from the marina.  The modern train arrived promptly at 08.48, Boulogne to Etaples.  Then a bus from the stop just outside the train station (No. 513 to Berck) to ‘Robert Lassus Square’, stop 9, Le Touquet.

We first walked the length of the beach, watching the Sand-yachts speed along, while the tide was out.

We came across ‘Le Touquet Wake Park’  comprising two huge portable pools with a cable system above which pulled the wake-boarders from one end to the other, via jumps and obstacles.

The town itself has a prosperous, old-world charm.  Lots of boutique shops, cafes and artisan food producers.

Even the fish market was impressive.

The train fare was 12 euros each and 1 euro each for the bus.  A grand day out.

We caught the bus back to Etaples (above), which is an alternative harbour for visiting Le Touquet.  The harbour dries out at low tide and there is flight traffic from Le Touquet airport.  It was nice to bump into Caroline and Dom on their lift-keel boat ‘Hermione’.

Boulogne Marina

All the marina staff are very helpful and friendly.  Very good free wifi and map.  Euros 23.50 per night.  Good facilities with a plug in the hallway.  The markets are Wednesday and Saturday, mainly local produce.  There are several supermarkets nearby and a large ‘Carrefour Market’ 10 minutes walk along the riverside.

9th May – Monday – To Dieppe

Very early start 06:00 to catch the tide for the 10 hour trip to Dieppe arriving 16:10.  A beautiful sunrise helped us on our way.

A calm sea and 15 knots of wind gave us a good motor sail, through the tide change.

10th May – Tuesday

Took the trolley the 1.7 miles to the Auchan hypermarket, which is 1.5 miles up hill, no wonder the GPS said it would take 45 minutes!

Very big thunder and lightning storm in the evening.

11th May – Wednesday

Sunny day then foggy.  We walked around the town.

Dieppe’s sizeable harbour, lined with cafes.

Again we found a wealth of historic buildings, cathedral and churches.

Half timbered building near the old town.

The impressive castle stands at the end of the beachfront and is embedded into the White cliffs.  It houses the town museum.

Dieppe Marina

Euros 20 per night.  3 days wifi is available with a password from the marina office.  The signal was very poor and frustrating.  The facilities are a long walk from the visitors pontoon, but are good with plug sockets.  There is a small fish market on the harbour-side.  Small supermarkets nearby with the large Auchan Hypermarket a 1.7 mile uphill slog, with other shops around it on a commercial retail park.

Next stop Fecamp, the home of Benedictine, my favourite liquer!