Northern France has so many great restaurants that it’s difficult to pick out the best. For a start there are 16 Michelin-starred chefs in northern France. Two restaurants, both in Pas de Calais, have two stars; 14 spread through Nord, Pas de Calais and Picardy have one star.

And don’t forget the restaurants with a Michelin bib gourmand (good quality; good value). Always look out for the local estaminets which are good bistro-style restaurants often with a Flemish twist.

There are many that should be included in this list of the best restaurants in northern France. So please if you find top restaurants, bistros, small local estaminets or even places for excellent snacks, do let me know.

For this article, Northern France refers only to the Hauts-de-France region. More on Normandy restaurants later!

PLEASE NOTE: I have only included set menu prices. Every restaurant has a carte to choose from as well.

A Note about the Maps

Here is a map for the whole northern France – Hauts-de-France region. You’ll find restaurant maps for each department – Nord, Pas de Calais and Picardy at the top of each list.

I have listed the restaurants geographically. So go to the map, see where you might be staying and click on the relevant restaurant. Information of the restaurant is in each department, following the geographical layout. I hope this makes sense!

Restaurants with 2 Michelin Stars in Northern France – Pas de Calais

La Grenouillière

Alexandre Gauthier cooks up a storm at La Grenouillière near Montreuil-sur-Mer. It’s a beautiful location in an old farmhouse now transformed with two impressive metallic marquees. The view is over the extensive woods and gardens to the countryside and Montreuil’s ramparts.

Alexandre Gauthier took over from his father in the kitchen 20 years ago. One of France’s most inventive chefs, his molecular cooking is contemporary, providing a meal to savour. He has a 19/20 score in Gault Millau. He also has the new ‘Green’ Michelin star given for his local, regional credentials.
There are 4 rooms to rent in the grounds.

Château de Beaulieu

Château de Beaulieu is owned and run by Christophe Dufossé . The estate has a vegetable garden (watered by springs from the estate and the moat), citrus greenhouse, a small farm for animals, an orchard, aromatic garden and beehives. The chef is a champion of organic, self-sufficient and sustainable fish and meat. Don’t miss out on the desserts! There are two restaurants in the red brick 19^th-century mansion, the Michelin-starred dining room and a country style brasserie. He has a green Michelin star for his use of over 30 local producers like saffron and fish from the Côte d’Opale.

For more restaurants in Pas de Calais see below.

Best Restaurants in Northern France – Nord Department

Haut Bonheur de la Table – 1 Michelin Star

Perched high up on a hill with great views, this restaurant is in the charming typically Flemish village of Cassel, well worth a visit for its windmill and museum. And here you’ll find this small restaurant (20 covers only) where chef Eugène Hobraiche produces some spectacular cooking. Fish comes from Dunkirk; try grilled wild turbot or tuna for a treat.

L’Auberge – Bib Gourmand

Once a tannery, now a very good simple restaurant near Hazebrouck. Chef Antonin Maresciano champions local produce and cooks well-known Flemish classics given a light modern twist.

Auberge du Vert Mont – 1 Michelin Star

Florent Ladeyn champions Flemish food with some of his inspiration from nearby Belgium. In a dining room with exposed rafters and overlooking the West Flanders hillsides, the food is cooked on a wood fire in front of the diners. He has always championed local produce using flowers and plants to decorate his dishes and he has been awarded a green Michelin star as well. Don’t miss the fries cooked in Maroilles cheese with caramelised onion.

Nature – 1 Michelin Star

Opposite the Saint-Vaast church in Armentières, Nicolas Gautier’s cooking is classical with contemporary twists. Local specialities produce dishes like lightly smoked scallops and roast Flanders pigeon stuffed under the skin with mushrooms. Fish comes from Boulogne and Dunkirk; local cheeses are excellent and varied.

Bistro RG – Bib Gourmand

Just next door to Nature, this more casual restaurant is run by Nicolas Gautier and his brother Mathieu. The short menu is based on the cooking of their father, Roger Gautier. It’s an acknowledgement of how important their father’s cooking was. Short bistro-style menu has favourites like steak frites, mussels; service is very good.

Outside Lille

Lille, capital of the Nord department, is a foodie destination. Its proximity to Belgium has added another Flemish layer with cosy small restaurants specialising in Belgian specialities as well as some notable destinations.

Balsamique – Bib Gourmand

Benjamin Bajeux is the inspiration behind this pretty restaurant which has a terrace for summer dining. Try inventive dishes like a beetroot Baba with smoked haddock from one of the top smokeries in Boulogne; classics like magret de canard with oven-cooked boulangères potatoes are equally good.

Le Val d’Auge – 1 Michelin Star

Christophe Hagnerelle is typical of the young chefs making a name in France today. He worked with Joël Robuchon at Le Jamin then went to Beirut and later spent six months in  Connecticut. He is strong on fish and also game in season such as grouse and hare.  

Arborescence – 1 Michelin Star

In a former textile factory near the station, Félix Robert and his sommelier wife Nidta run the restaurant. The dishes are geared towards fish and vegetables often with a Japanese or Asian slant. So expect dishes like tempura and subtle curries, all given a classical French and beautifully presented.

Rozó – 1 Michelin star

In Marcq-en-Baroeul, a suburb of Lille, pastry chef Camille Pailleau and chef Diego Delbecq are cooking up a few storms in a former printing works which took 2 years to restore. The open-plan, airy loft-style dining room has a glass roof and metal beams. The chefs operate in open kitchens behind glass panes and produce some great modern dishes using local ingredients like chicory and tartes au sucre. Two signature dishes to try: mushroom medley from the chef and heather honey dessert from the pastry chef.

In Lille

Le Restaurant du Cerisier – 1 Michelin star

On the first floor of a bold contemporary building in the heart of Lille, the former chef of Le Meurin, Mathieu Boutroy, can be seen performing in a superb theatrically visible kitchen. Mixing classic technique with modern flavours. Try lamb in a ras-el-hanout crust.

Pureté -1 Michelin Star

Lille’s old town is the location for another great restaurant. Behind a conventional wooden shop front, Gérald Guille’s restaurant decor is modern with wooden floors, tables and chairs and banquette seating. At the end an open kitchen shows the chef and his team cooking classic dishes with inventive touches, using the likes of yuzu and kumqat.

La Table – Hôtel Clarance – 1 Michelin star

The Hotel Clarance and La Table are located in an 18^th-century mansion in Lille’s delightful old town. You can eat in the wood-panelled dining rooms and in the former library. In good weather, dine on the terrace looking out over the grounds. Chef Alexandre Miquel, originally from Bethune, is equally at home with fish or meat and uses local, seasonal ingredients with herbs from the hotel’s garden.

Best Restaurants in Northern France – Pas de Calais

Hotel/Restaurant de la Plage

Niece of Michelin-starred William Elliot at Le Pavillon in the Hotel Westminster in Le Touquet, Solène Elliott won various big awards including Escoffier Young Talents in 2019. In 2020 she opened her restaurant in her parent’s hotel. Championing local produce, her menus include dishes like warm cheese pastry with salted radishes and smoked herring. Main dishes might include pork loin cooked in smoked garlic and paprika with creamed artichoke, onions and broad beans. The hotel, set on  the beach, is a delightful seaside destination.

Atlantic Hotel La Liégoise – 1 Michelin Star

Take in the panoramic sea view from the first-floor restaurant in the delightful Opal Coast Atlantic Hotel, much beloved by the locals. Benjamin Delpierre concentrates quite rightly on fish and shellfish, red mullet, snails, oysters, razor clams and mussels.
There’s also the excellent Brasserie L’Aloze on the ground floor which is open for lunch and dinner daily.

Le Colegram

This small bistro which opened a year ago serves the freshest food using local ingredients. In an old house on a corner, it’s simply but stylishly decorated and has a professional, friendly staff. Attracting both locals and tourists, the good value menu includes starters from €7 and mains from €17. Don’t miss the desserts (from €6) of the young pâtissier, 24 year old Candice Declercq.

Au Soldat Laboureur

Conveniently located near St Pol-sur-Ternoise, Arras and Béthune, Al Soldat Laboureux is a great, thoroughly traditional restaurant. The red brick building has a rustic décor, complete with wallpaper and a fireplace and is particularly good for families. The traditional menu has classic patés, well cooked meat and crème brûlée.

La Cour de Rémi – Bib Gourmand

Owner Sébastien cooks everything, from sourdough bread to ice creams. Well-sourced ingredients produce dishes like pink haunch of venison with dauphinoise potatoes or scallops with parsnip mousseline. It’s good value for money. If you want to stay, book one of the excellent rooms.

L’oeuf ou la Poule 

In the heart of Arras, this buzzing, friendly and very local restaurant delivers traditional French dishes with a modern touch. Try la poule au pot or any of the chicken dishes cooked in different ways (or go for the guinea fowl or vegetable risotto). And of course any egg dishes come from happy, free range hens.

Restaurant N9UF

The Leplat family runs this new restaurant opened in August 2022 on the ground floor of the large, grand, red brick Manoir Sainte Paule in a small town near Béthune. Chef Maxime Leplat produces modern dishes like veal paupiettes with a chausseur sauce and potatoes roasted with rosemary. All ingredients are locally sourced. There’s a terrace for summer dining.

A l’Fosse 7

This family-run, joyous restaurant is always buzzing with locals. Mellow stone walls, wooden floors and beams set the scene for good value, classic cooking. Dishes might include French onion soup and pot’je Vleesch and – great idea: all mains can be ordered in smaller portions. And with vegetables from the Sallaumines market gardens 3 kms away, you don’t get much more local than here.  

Air Accueil – Bib Gourmand

Chef Franck Gilabert offers good value for money and local specialities in this large restaurant near the Bitry-en-Artois airfield. Once the officers’ mess, now the restaurant offers the likes of local trout with creamed buckwheat and celery mousse. For meat try pork loin, braised chicory and creamed mushrooms. A far cry from the past.

For more restaurants in Calais, here’s my guide to this great, unexpectedly interesting city.

Best Restaurants in Northern France – Picardy

La Clé des Champs – Bib Gourmand

Nicolas Chamoin and his wife Adéline are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and charming. The restaurant’s modern décor is delightfully comfortable rather than startling. Concentrate on the excellent fish and shellfish from the coast, though meat dishes are equally pleasing. They do take-away, and have a small shop attached.

L’Orée de la Forêt – 1 Michelin star

This family–run hotel and restaurant has a great location in a late 19^th-century mansion surrounded by wooded grounds. The restaurant was opened by the grandmother of the chef Nicolas Leclercq in 1956. From the beginning, vegetables from the large kitchen garden were used, something of a novelty back then. Nicolas Leclercq won his Michelin star in 1994 and has held it ever since. He uses top seasonal ingredients to produce classic dishes.

Auberge À la Bonne Idée – 1 Michelin star

The restaurant is in a medieval village in the middle of the forest of Compiègne, near the Armistice Museum. With stone walls, beams and a fireplace, its’ a delightful venue. Try something a little different from chef Sébastien Tantot whose dishes are chalked up on a board. Set menus are adventurous and vegetables, fruit and aromatic plants and herbs from his own kitchen garden dominate.  

Le Verbois – 1 Michelin star

Le Verbois is another very successful family-run restaurant. Located in the former Rothschild family late 19^th-century hunting lodge, the décor is modern. Guillaume Guibet is the third generation, highly successful chef offering new creative dishes often with an Asian twist.

Auberge de La Grange aux Loups – Bib Gourmand

Julie and Dorian Wicart have established themselves in this enterprise – essentially a restaurant with rooms. Design is contemporary with exposed stone walls, wood beams and a central fireplace. Come here for excellent classic dishes with modern flourishes. Try a starter like salmon terrine with ratte potatoes and herbed fromage blanc. Mains include fish and meat with modern touches like roast shrimps and Camargue rice with chorizo and fennel. There’s a terrace for summer dining.

La Grange de Belle-Église – 1 Michelin star

This is the restaurant for great traditional cooking. The pretty restaurant is classically decorated with plush and comfortable tables and chairs and there’s a garden for outdoor dining. Chef Marc Duval champions classic dishes using local ingredients: asparagus, gnocchis, escargots. Main dishes are divided into 4 fish and 4 meat possibilities. Try roasted guinea fowl cooked in its own juice and in Jura vin jaune with sweet potatoes. For fish? Go for roast turbot with morilles and asparagus.  

More about Hauts-de-France

In 2023, Hauts-de-France won the Best European Gastronomy Award. Here’s an article about why the region won – ingredients, restaurants, dishes and more.

More about Food in France

The Food of France – An Intriguing Story
Discover the Best French Regional Food
Discover the top Food Festivals in France 
Read more about Food in Burgundy
Read more about the Food of Provence
French Christmas Food

Surprisingly, the artist Toulouse-Lautrec was a great cook. He followed the seasons and local produce. More about this unexpected gourmet and the Art of Cuisine.

France Regions
France Departments
How to get to Nord, Pas de Calais and Picardy

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France’s ‘Most British Airport’ in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage is to rename its airport in honour of Queen Elizabeth.

The north France chic resort of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage is one of France’s most British of cities, so what could be more appropriate than to rename its airport after the late Queen Elizabeth II who was so popular in France?

First Visits to France

France has always loved the Queen and the feeling was mutual. In 1948, Princess Elizabeth with her new husband, Philip Mountbatten, visited Paris. It was her first official visit abroad and was a rip-roaring success.

She repeated the visit in 1957, officially as Queen. It started with a state dinner in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles and concluded with an official dinner in the Louvre. Again it was a highly popular visit though the French were doubtless rather nonplussed by the memo the Élysées Palace received from Buckingham Palace:

“Her Majesty has a small appetite but will eat just about anything, except caviar, oysters and shellfish in general. She prefers simple food.”

Today’s love affair

The love affair between France and the Queen has continued to today. After her death France flew flags at half-mast, and all the leading newspapers, whether right- or left-leaning, carried front pages and tributes. The most impressive speech came from Emmanual Macron after her death:

“The Queen of 16 kingdoms loved France, which loved her back. This evening, the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth are mourning their Queen. The people of France join them in their grief.”

Le Touquet’s Fashionable Past

In 1930 a small airstrip was built for British visitors who included the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII though not for long), Noël Coward, P.G. Wodehouse and Ian Fleming. They came on the daily flight from the UK to play golf and polo during the day and gamble heavily at night.

By 1950 the expanded airport was the third largest in France in terms of passenger numbers.

Today’s Tribute from Le Touquet-Paris-Plage

The airport said on announcing the news:

 “In order to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and in memory of her visit to Le Touquet with her uncle Edward VIII, during which she practised both horse riding and sand yachting, the town of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage wishes to name its airport after her, who, for 70 years, served her country with commitment, respect and constancy.” 

The name has not yet been revealed (probably not even decided upon).

Le Touquet continues to be popular with both nations. President Macron’s wife, Brigitte, inherited a house there, so if you’re visiting you might spot them. They often spend weekends and holidays in the town.

If you want to know more about Le Touquet-Paris-Plage and other north France resorts, read about them here: Seaside Resorts in Northern France

Le Touquet-Paris-Plage Tourist Office

Guide to Calais, one of my favourite French cities (there’s a lot to see!)

How to get to France by ferry

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Have you heard of Château Hardelot? If not, you’re in for a treat.

It’s one of the prettiest, and least known, attractions on the fabulous stretch of north French coast between Le Touquet Paris-Plage and Boulogne.

Built of white stone, its square and round towers and vaulted windows look out over the gardens while a flag made of the British and French insignia flies cheerfully in the breeze from the sea.

Today the château is the centre of the Entente Cordiale, an agreement signed on April 8^th, 1904 to help diplomatic relations between the two countries.

It was a close, but not always amicable, relationship. 

History of Château Hardelot

The château first appears in records in 1194 but it wasn’t until the late 1220s that the small wooden fort was turned into a fully fortified castle. The Counts of Boulogne modeled it on the local fortifications at Boulogne-sur-Mer and Montreuil. It was, of course, designed to keep the traditional English enemy at bay.

The castle may have been defensive, but it was also the last word in medieval luxury with steam rooms and baths to keep the French Lords fragrant.

Louis XI grabbed it as a royal castle, and in October 1532 Henry VIII besieged it as part of his campaign against Boulogne. Later he and François I met here to form one of those all-too-brief alliances between the two warring nations in the interminable 100 years war.

It did okay until the 17^th century when the all-powerful Cardinal Richelieu destroyed the château. He wasn’t too happy with the power of the Counts of Boulogne so pleased the French King with a handy policy of destruction.

A new lease of life for the Château

Nothing much happened over the next two centuries until 1848 when an entrepreneur from the port of Bristol bought the ruins. Sir John Hare began to repair, restore and renovate the buildings.

It became something of a destination for his English friends. Charles Dickens popped in to visit while staying with his mistress (in secret) in nearby Hardelot. 

In 1865 Captain Henry Guy bought the château and rebuilt the castle in its present Tudor style. In 1872 he and his family moved here. 

But it was the entrepreneur John Whitley who had the greatest impact on the château and its surroundings. In 1898 he bought the castle and the 400 acres that went with it to create the seaside resort of Hardelot. He later used the experience to develop chic and rather English Le Touquet Paris-Plage.

The second English invasion of this part of north France was complete.

The two resorts followed a similar pattern of villas set in their own grounds in the pine forests that led down to the sea. They were aimed at a clientele of wealthy English. The Prince of Wales, Edward VII and his sister Louise, Duchess of Argyll sailed over here to join the chic Parisians who came to play golf, ride and walk, misbehave…and party.

The story didn’t stop here though the glamour went out of the window for a while. The castle was sold by John Whitley to one Benjamin Evans in 1921, then in 1932 it became the property of the extraordinary Abbot Bouly, a water diviner and a healer.

In place of the riotous parties came the Sisters of St. Agnes and a retreat. 

Today the château is owned by the local authority who run it as a cultural attractions.

Visiting the Castle

The château is delightful; a thoroughly elegant, and unusually comfortable, place with a plush Victorian interior.

Most of the objects are loaned from public institutions and museums. Items come from the Louvre to the museums in Boulogne, from the ceramic museum in Desvres and the l’hôtel Sandelin de Saint-Omer. They look thoroughly at home here.

In the entrance hall, tiles from the Houses of Parliament set the tone. Look out for deep red lincrusta wallpaper on the stairs from John Whiteley’s factories; William Morris wallpaper in the Smoking room; pictures of Churchill, the Black Prince, Charles I and his French wife Henrietta Maria; chairs in the dining room bought by Napoleon III when he was living in England.

Don’t miss the extraordinary Cabinet of Curiosities. It’s full of the kind of intriguing items gentlemen collected on their travels so they could proudly show them off to their guests. Often some of these items were a bit dodgy in taste, but I couldn’t see anything remotely tasteless when I visited much to my disappointment.

Each year there’s a temporary exhibition. They’ve covered Dickens and Bleriot, and this year feature knights and noble ladies, and photographs of the Beatles. It’s an eclectic programme!

The Elizabethan Theatre

This is a small masterpiece; a gem of a wooden round theatre encased in a wooden delicate lattice-like bamboo surround. It pipped a building by Sir Norman Foster to win a World Architecture award in 2018. Designed by Andrew Todd, an English architect working in Paris, it seats 400 in tiered seats.

If that’s not enough to tempt you, the lively annual program of events, baroque music, jazz, Shakespeare, comedy and performances by the likes of Jane Birkin should.  

Check out my article on the best seaside resorts on the north French coast, which includes Hardelot. Other resorts run from Wimereux on the beautiful, lonely stretch of the Cote d’Opale down to Mers-les-Bains.

I’ve also recommended places to stay.

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What were your first memories of France?

Mine were of lying in a bunk with my mother on a ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe. I was four years old and very sick; my two elder brothers were prancing around being terribly brave on the horribly bucking and rearing old ship.

It was not a good start to a summer family holiday to Mers-les-Bains on the north coast of France.  

My parents had booked a small hotel overlooking the beach. It was very old-fashioned with iron shutters at the bedroom windows, big heavy furniture and lumpy beds. We loved it.

I can remember hot days with a shrimping net. Going back to this part of France I realised that it must have been quite difficult to catch anything with a shrimping net. There are no rock pools, though the pebble beach might have yielded the odd catch. Perhaps I was just proud of having a shrimping net.

I remember the owners who went by the outlandish name of Monsieur and Madame Pompilliou (at least that’s what I remember; my brothers can’t remember at all). I don’t know if they had children of their own, but two days into our stay they offered to look after all three of us so my parents could go to Paris for the weekend. I was 4 and my brothers 8 and 12. Absolutely unheard of today, but then? The Pompillous were just being kind.

I remember my parents coming back with toys, particularly a small model of a Paris bus. It had an open back, a bell and was green (I would describe it as British racing green, but that would not be tactful, and perhaps not true either).

It was a little like this bus, but ignore the date!

I remember the breakfasts: hot chocolate in slightly cracked French bowls (much better than porridge), freshly baked bread which was crisp outside and warm inside and joy of joys…unsalted butter and sweet sticky apricot jam.

Childhood memories are fragmentary things that catch you out when you least expect it.

I had forgotten all about Mers-les-Bains until one year when we were returning from a holiday with my husband and small son in our house in the Auvergne. On our way back to the ferry I decided to revisit the past. It was fiercely stormy; the wind roared along and the waves crashed on the beach. It was all we could do to stand upright and we took bets on which of the beach cabins would be the first to fall over.

It was out of season so most of the small restaurants were closed. We walked along the front feeling discouraged but eventually found one that was open. We pulled open the door and staggered inside, the door crashing behind us. The windows were steamed up from the warmth; it was full of locals and smelt of fish.

We ordered mussels and chips and along came steaming bowls of the molluscs and double-cooked chips with sachets of mayonnaise.

My son looked rebellious; this was the first time he had encountered a mussel. He opened his mouth to refuse this disgusting looking pot of shellfish. “Ah, monsieur” the waiter smiled at him “Voici comment on fait”. He picked up an empty shell, using it to extract the mussel flesh from another shell, ate it and put the shell into the upturned lid. “Et voilà!”

Perhaps it was Les Mouettes along the Esplanade du Général Leclerc? Until I know otherwise I will keep getting my mussels and chips here.

My son has been a fan of mussels and chips ever since. I wonder what he will remember and treasure from holidays in France.

More about seaside resorts in northern France from this article. Take a short break in any of the wonderful resorts (think northern Riviera!) that stretch down the coast from the Opal Coast and Boulogne to near Dieppe.

Or stay in one of my favorite cities, Calais, which has an intertwined history with England and all kinds of attractions including…a dragon.

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Seaside Resorts in northern France? I’ll be the first to admit that north France is not high on most Brits’ list of holiday options. But having spent quite some time in this part of France, I have completely fallen in love with the small resorts that cling onto the headlands of the Opal Coast.

So forget rushing through Dunkirk, Calais, Dieppe, only looking for the signs to the south. Think about slowing down and chilling out. Do like the French, and take a short break here along the coastline between Calais and the delightful resorts around Dieppe like Mers-les-Bains.

Think of the advantages!

The north coast of France is near and very easy, and cheap, to get to. Just think of the amount of time, effort and expense it takes to roar through France. Those motorway tolls alone cost the equivalent of a very good meal for 2.

It has some of the best beaches in France (in fact much better than the Riviera and Cote d’Azur beaches which are small and overcrowded).
You can go for a short break, a long weekend or even a week. You’ll find that seaside resorts in northern France are a real find.

My first visit

My first introduction to this part of the country was my first introduction to France. I was four, my brothers were eight and twelve and we went with my parents to Mers-les-Bains. It was an unusual choice (nobody we knew had heard of the little French seaside resort) but as it turned out a great one.

More about Mers-les-Bains later. Here I’ve listed the best resorts on this coast geographically, starting from nearby Calais. If your memories include eating sandy sandwiches on a sunlit beach, sand yachting or kite flying, a short break at any of these resorts will take you back to your childhood.

The Opal Coast

There’s a reason this part of France running between the Somme bay and the resort of Berck and the Belgian border at Bray Dune is called the Opal Coast.

Known for its luminescent pearl-like light, Impressionist painters like Monet and Manet and the English painter J.W.M. Turner came here to follow Eugène Boudin who painted so much of this part of the coast. The Impressionists, as we know, were never wrong,

Sandy beaches are backed by dunes stabilised by the tough grasses that cling onto life here. White chalk cliffs stand high above the sea.

Walk up the 49-metre high Cap-Griz-Nez, just 14 kms north of Boulogne-sur-Mer, and you’re at the closest point to England. No surprise then that in the early 1800s Napoleon considered Wimereux an ideal place for a port to launch an attack on England with his troops from Boulogne.

You’ll see his lonely statue standing high above Boulogne peering towards Britain. He decided to cancel the assault on Britain after seeing the view.

Don’t miss

Spectacular walking paths both inland and along the coast take you between the two great headlands, Cap Gris Nez and Cap Blanc Nez.

Or hire an electric bike and go just that bit further.

With the gulls and sheep for company, the sandy paths lead you through the dunes. On a fine day the sea sparkles below you as a gentle breeze keeps the grasses rustling and ferries criss-cross the Channel. You feel on top of the world.

Wimereux

Like many of these northern France resorts, Wimereux grew in the late 19^th century when the arrival of the railways brought plenty of wealthy Parisians on their hols. Eager to impress, they built splendid Belle-Epoque villas along the ‘Digue’ promenade facing the sea and lining the streets behind. With their little stone balconies, big windows and pointed towers they still look the part.

There’s plenty to do in Wimereux, from sand yachting to horseback riding, from sailing to golf.

Wimereux has the French government’s official Famille Plus designation which means it’s family friendly. There’s a glorious stretch of beach and a real holiday vibe.

Don’t miss…

…The Communal Cemetery in Wimereux where John McRae is buried. The Canadian soldier served in World War I in Belgium, and most famously wrote the poem In Flanders Fields. His simple gravestone is surrounded by those of other soldiers and nurses in the Commonwealth War Graves section.

There’s more to seaside resorts in northern France than you imagine.

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row, 
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
 Scarce heard amid the guns below.“

Where to Stay

L’Atlantic

Your best bet is the 4-star L’Atlantic. All the bright, fresh, colourful rooms face the sea; some have balconies or terraces.

The hotel has two restaurants and a spa in case you need some wellbeing after all that sea salt. The first floor La Liégeoise has always been the top local restaurant and has one Michelin star (menus 75€ to 95€) and great view. L’Aloze is more casual. 3-course menus are 25€ and 31€. If you’re a fish or seafood fan, you’ll be specially delighted.

La Villa Sainte Claire

Stay just back from the coast in Wimille at La Villa Sainte Claire where the owner, Catherine Debatte, will cheerfully welcome you to her pretty 3-storey 18^th-century house.

Choose from the charming double room in the main house with its wooden floor, comfortable bed with a red Toile de Jouy cover and garden view. Or go thoroughly nomadic in one of two gypsy caravans in the grounds. There’s also a gîte sleeping 4 people for weekly rent.

Breakfast in the garden if it’s fine then borrow a bicycle for the mile-long ride into Wimereux.

Hardelot

Not many people have heard of Hardelot, which given its illustrious British connections, comes as a surprise.  

Less posh and more relaxed than its big sister Le Touquet-Paris-Plage it’s a charming and elegant resort, with its villas and cottages secluded in the wooded surroundings of the centre.

Plenty of activities for families makes this another Famille Plus resort.  At low tide the beach of Hardelot-Plage stretches for 6 miles.

Don’t miss

The Château of Hardelot in nearby Condette dates from the 12^th century. It’s delightful, with William Morris fabrics, grand false fireplaces, overstuffed chairs and plenty of references to the Entente Cordiale between England and France.  

The Tudor gardens are full of yew hedges and topiaries but the real gem is the relatively new Elizabethan theatre which can double as a baroque opera house. Go to a performance of one of Shakespeare’s plays done both seriously and jokingly or one of the many music concerts.  

Read more about Château Hardelot, its theatre and the famous Entente Cordiale.

Where to stay in Hardelot

Hotel du Parc

Part of the small Najeti chain, which also includes Château Tilques near St. Omer, the hotel has 80 large rooms and 22 apartments on three stories overlooking rolling parkland. There are tennis courts, an outdoor heated pool, sauna and children’s play area. L’Orangerie is a conventional restaurant and the best bet is to order local fish cooked in classic French style.

Le Touquet Paris-Plage

The poshest of the 20^th century resorts built by the English on this part of the coast, Le Touquet today is more relaxed that you might expect from its past history.

Developed by John Whitley as a model resort, villas and grand cottages were built in the woodlands, alongside that absolute priority, a golf course.

By the 1920s Le Touquet had become the north France playground for the likes of Noel Coward, the Prince of Wales and Wallis Simpson. P.G. Wodehouse lived here from 1934 to 1940 but was caught by the advancing Germans and interned then sent to Berlin where he broadcast to the US from German radio.

The British visitors came for the good life: to sail, to play polo and golf, go horse racing during the day and gamble the night away in the casino. You get a taste of the past at the Hotel Westminster, where the guest list reads like a Who’s Who of the great and the…possibly not-so-good.

The sweeping beach still attracts those after water sports; the Centre Tennistique is the fourth largest tennis complex in France with 29 courts and is fantastically well equipped and run. There are 3 golf courses, horse riding and for families, Aqualud, an aquatic centre on the ocean.

Don’t miss

The Museum of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage offers some unexpected delights from the School of Étaples. Just across the bay, the little town of Étaples attracted artists from 1880 to 1914. The English artist Dudley Hardy, the Americans Walter Gay and L.  Birge Harrison and his wife, the Australian Eleanor Ritchie, joined the better known Eugene Boudin and André Derain.

There are around 200 pictures here from the school as well as a collection of photographs of the great and the good.

Where to Stay

Le Westminster

Where else but at the Le Westminster? Built in the local Art Deco Style and named after the Duchess of Westminster, this large red-brick grande dame of a hotel has been the heart of Le Touquet since it opened its illustrious doors in 1928. And it has now been refurbished to its past elegance.

With its dark wood paneling and deep colours, its black-and-white photo corridor of past guests, its top restaurant and smart bars, it’s worth every penny. The 104 rooms and suites are elegant and the grandly traditional decor is tempered with pretty modern pastel colours. It’s very expensive in the high season.

Michelin-starred chef William Elliott has left his menu in the capable hands of new chef Bruno Borrione who oversees the two restaurants. Le Pavillon and the more casual style La Table du West.

Berck-sur-Mer

This delightful little French seaside resort starts its summer season every April with a huge International Kite Festival (Rencontres Internationales de Cerfs-Volants).

Huge fantastic sea animals, strange creatures and weird amorphous shapes swoop and dive across the huge open skies.

There are competitions and mock battles, parades, fireworks and much fun. Well worth coming for.

Otherwise there’s plenty to recommend Berck-sur-Mer, apart from the 12km-long beach. Take a sand yacht on the firm sand or a boat cruise out to the bay, go jet-skiing or fishing, or just relax on the beach. The delightful little beach huts you can hire by the day keep you protected from too much sun or wind.

For a bit of culture, try the museum with its models of boats, a typical house interior, paintings by local artists and a remarkable collection of portraits of sailors.

Berck is designated a ‘Station Kid’ resort which means there’s plenty for children to do. It has a Pavillon Bleu Européan status which guarantees its clean beach and sea and is known for its flowers blooming everywhere. There are street markets, annual brocantes fairs and a Sea Festival in May.

Don’t miss

Walking along the hiking path by the Baie d’Authie which gives you fabulous views and the chance to see seals frolicking in the sea at low tide.

Where to Stay

La Chaumière

With pretty thatched roofs and a blooming garden, this small bed and breakfast offers 4 charming rooms. It’s just 4 kms from Berck-sur-Mer and the Baie d’Authie.

Mers-les-Bains

And so back to the beginning, or at least to my beginning. This thoroughly Victorian seaside resort in the Somme Bay in Picardy was the first place I visited in France – aged 4, with my family.

I’ve been back and it’s still delightful. A remarkable number of brightly coloured, late 19^th-century villas built in Belle Epoque style with Art Nouveau details still line the front. One of my favorite seaside resorts in northern France.

The circular bay with its pebble beach and sand at low tide has children splashing happily in the relatively warm seas (children don’t feel the cold so much) protected at one end by high white cliffs. Friendly little restaurants and street markets bring the French holiday makers here. It’s one of the three towns known as the ‘sisters’, just opposite the smarter and bigger Le Tréport with Eu just inland.

Don’t miss

La Fête des Baigneurs on the last weekend in July sees the town return to its Belle Epoque origins. People dress up as they would have done in 1900; it’s a remarkable site.

Where to Stay

Hôtel le Bellevue Beaurivage

I can’t find the hotel we stayed in on my first ever trip to France. It’s not surprising as it was a very long time ago.

But it just could have been the 3-star Hôtel le Bellevue Beaurivage. The hotel is on the seafront looking out onto the little beach huts and has 22 simple rooms, smartly decorated. The restaurant is more a brasserie these days with menus from 24€ to 38.50€ and the welcome is as friendly as before.

Until I learn differently I will treat this hotel as my first French holiday experience.

Read more about that first French holiday experience in my Memories of France

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The story of the Eperlecques blockhouse in World War II is an extraordinary one. Planned in 1942, and begun in 1943, Eperlecques was designed as a liquid oxygen factory and an assembly and launch facility for Hitler’s V2 rockets aimed at London.

Visiting the site

The Eperlecques Blockhouse in north France north west of Saint Omer looks pretty ordinary: there’s a car park and in front of you a small wooden building where you get your tickets with a wooded hill rising behind it. There’s the sound of birdsong and the scent of the trees.

The first time I visited it was off season at the beginning of March, getting cold and with dusk closing in and I was completely alone. It was an eerie experience, walking along the paths and stopping at different points where a loudspeaker system tells you the story in your own language.

There are good signs everywhere explaining the different aspects and the various weapons. But I advise taking a guided tour which I did the second time and which explained so much about the bunker’s history.

The Story of Eperlecques Blockhouse

Built with slave labour under appalling conditions, the Eperlecques blockhouse went up fast and in relative secrecy but the deforestation of the forest and its proximity to La Coupole set alarm bells ringing in London. Reconnaissance flights followed and in August 1943 the RAF launched a huge bombing raid, destroying part of it.

In November 1943 the Germans started work again on the south part of the bunker which was to be used just to produce the liquid oxygen needed as fuel. The engineer devised a system of pouring concrete into shells then lifting the shells one by one, with the bunker protected from bombing.  

It was effective against the Allied bombing raids – 25 of them between 1943 and August 1944. Finally it took a Tallboy bomb smashing through the roof to create enormous damage and the Germans finally abandoned the site. The Canadian 3^rd Infantry division captured Eperlecques in September 1944.

Start the Visit

You start by stepping into a railway carriage, one of the kind used to transport slave labour from concentration camps to work here. The guide shuts the door and it’s horribly claustrophobic even with just a few people.

Through the forest

The path you take is littered with old weapons that look recently abandoned though in reality they are cannons, bombs, vehicles and old weapons collected by the owners.

The Blockhouse

I hadn’t expected the shock when I climbed the path and emerged at the top. The bunker looks like something straight out of a James Bond film. It’s an enormous, ugly and menacing concrete structure though it’s only a third of its intended size.
V2 rockets were to be assembled here, then fueled with liquid oxygen tanks.

You walk around it then enter the damp vast echoing building through a 2-metre thick door; at 17.5 metres high it was big enough for a railway carriage. It’s damp and deeply depressing even on a warm day. What it must have felt like for the labourers is unimaginable. 

Inside a film and a description of how the V2 rockets were moved shows you the mechanics.

Finally you come to a model of the Tallboy which destroyed the bunker. It hangs suspended over water endlessly reflect a hellish vision.

Outside the Bunker

Walk out of the blockhouse, with a huge sense of relief, and you’re faced with a replica of a V1 launch pad with a V1 at the end.

Between June 1944 and March 1945, 22,384 V1 flying bombs were launched mainly towards England, though there was also a campaign against Liege, Antwerp and Paris.

Practical Information

Part of World War II History

Eperlecques Blockhouse should be visited along with La Coupole (the most complete of the German ‘Vengeance’ weapons sites, and Mimoyecques, where the V3 was meant to be launched.

For an expert’s view of the site, its weapons and history, check out the MechTraveller Eperlecques Review.

For an expert’s view of La Coupole and its technical aspects, check out MechTraveller La Coupole Review.

Visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to see how this great organisation looks after the cemeteries of the great wars, and deals with newly found bodies.

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