Tasty open road of the Opal Coast
You may recall the iconic 1920s poster image of a happy couple motoring along the coast with their roof down and a scarf flapping in the breeze. Well, that was me (kind of) as I enjoyed the frisson of oldschool driving on the wonderfully scenic D940 from Calais to the foodie spot of Montreuil-sur-Mer.
This is the Opal Coast, where there’s history to savour, medieval streets to wander, a steam train to ride and seafood to devour. And, of course, the exceptional opalescent light that seduced Monet and more.
Our first stop was Escalles, where a steep cliff walk on the
Cap Blanc-Nez provided a blast of fresh air and an appetite for dinner at Hotel-Restaurant de L’Escale, where the table d’hote lives on. For less than €25 we enjoyed three courses, including terrine and mussels with chips. Then, motoring at l’escargot pace so we could admire the views, we arrived at Wimereux – a seaside town beloved by Parisians.
Facades of whimsical Anglo-Norman villas are painted ice cream colours and foragers collect crabs in rockpools. Seafood rules the land, from bulots (whelks) to crevettes grises (tiny grey shrimps).
Our room at Wimereux’s jauntily renovated Art Deco Atlantic Hotel had vast beach views as we tucked into lobster with squid risotto.
And it gets better still! SaintValery-sur-Somme, our next stop, was even more captivating.
The medieval cobbled streets charmed, as did the Beaux-Arts villas, as we sauntered along the high promenade beside the Baie de Somme – great for bird-spotting.
We stayed at the boutique Hotel Echappee en Baie for around €170. Consulting the timetable, we booked a 45-minute steam train ride running to Le Crotoy, a fishing village on the other side of the Somme estuary. Perhaps it’s that my Dad ran a model railway shop in London, but the smell of the steam as we tooted through bucolic countryside made me ridiculously happy.
Moving on for a final time, we arrived at Hotel Loysel Le Gaucher, a mini mansion with a jasmine-filled courtyard just outside the city walls of Montreuil-surMer, which Victor Hugo used as the setting for Les Miserables.
Local poster boy chef Alexandre Gauthier’s world-famous La Grenouillere hotel-restaurant – with as many as three Michelin stars – is just outside the town.
But we went on a few kilometres and instead made for his more affordable Sur-Mer eatery on the Merlimont seafront for a spectacular final feast.
Surely there are few better places for a spoiling culinary weekend than the glorious Opal Coast. n Multiple airlines offer flights from Dublin to France, and to Belgium near the Opal Coast.