Calais - Dieppe 3 routes

scorp888

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Probably going to do a hybrid of the three and A16 down to J24, then head to the coast and cut the corner off.

Any suggestions for places to visit on the route, or a good place to stop for a break around Baie De la Somme.
 

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St. Valery-Sur-Some is a favorite of mine. A great little place with nice cafés on La Somme estuary. It's approximately where the 3 is on your map. Have a great trip.
 
Awesome Adventure (with a capital, A) you got yourself there, dude. The 100 or so miles is rich in great roads and packed with awesome things to see and do. Here's just a taster to get your imaginative juices flowing, an amuse-bouche as they say in foreign:

Todt battery, if large lumps of concrete are you thing. It was commissioned by Hitler as a key element in his plans to turn Europe into a fortress. A very good example as to why nobody should ever make plans and, if they do, be flexible enough to change them as circumstances dictate.

Cap gris nez, from where you'll be able to stand and look towards England, just like Naploeon and Hitler. You might even see the white cliffs at Dover if the weather is kind. If you are short like Napleon, take a box to stand on. There's a nice cafe; biker friendly with ample parking, though arguably not entitrely secure, so take a chain, lock, bike cover and remove your panniers if you stop for even just an ice cream. You really cannot be too careful. It's not far from England but across that narrow strip of water great dangers lurk around every corner. If you do decide to take a box to stand on, then you can put the chain, padlock and bike cover in it. This is called, 'Thinking outside of the box'. It's a skill learned by many advanced Adventure travellers, not just those on motorbikes either. How to hold the box onto a motorbike is another matter entirely. There is an entire thread on the tricky matter in the 1200 section.

Site of the battle of Crecy, 1346. Were you to visit on 26 August, you'll be standing there on the anniversary of the great victory. Take a bow and arrow for the full experience, though do be aware of French anti-terror laws. At a push, you could also amend your route slightly to take in the site of the battle of Agincourt, 1415, itself part of the same 100 Years War as that of Crecy, though fought by different kings and armies, obviously. Take care though, as the French spell the small village of Agincourt with a 'z' not with a 'c' as we do. This makes things very confusing for some bikermates on this site, as the French Agincourt with a 'c' - as opposed to a 'z' - is many, many miles away. This, naturally enough, is Garmin's fault.

Canadian WW2 cemetery, not to be confused with Vimy Ridge which is some way away.

Chinese WW1 cemetery, including a stretch of unmade car park for the full Adventure off-road experience.

The spot where I receieved a fine for failing to observe a 'Stop line' and where I taught the policeman that the English word 'code' (as in Highway Code) is pronounced just like the English word 'road' not 'cod', as in fish. He was tres grateful for the instructive lesson.

Baie du Somme steam train ride, though do read the timetable before joining the train. It's a long way to walk back if you miss the return.

V3 super cannon site, from where Hitler (yes him, again) planned to bombard London. Come Brexit, it may well become of strong strategic interest to the French. See it now as with even your short visit you'll become UKGSer's resident expert (we have many, on a vast range of sometimes very technical issues) as the shells rain down. In a nice reversal of roles, the French may even pressgang thousands of Germans to carry out the extensive rebuilding works required to bring the site up to 21st century standards. Our own skilled artisans will of course not be eligible to work on the project (strict border controls will see to that) and not least it will be seen as unpatriotic - and assisting the enemy - at a time when we all need to pull together most, summoning up the spirit of Dunkirk (not far away) or better still the ghosts of English heroes past:

Attack the breach in the city wall once more, dear friends, attack it once more—or else let’s close it up with English corpses. In peacetime, nothing looks better in a man than restraint and humility. But when the battle trumpet blows in our ears, then it’s time to act like the tiger. With muscles taut and blood stirred up, hide your civilized nature under the guise of ugly rage. Lend your eyes a terrifying gleam and let them jut out from the portholes of the head like brass cannon. Make your brow jut out over your eyes like a frightening cliff over the wild and desolate ocean. Now grit your teeth and let your nostrils flare. Take a deep breath and draw on every impulse to its fullest strength. On, on, you noblest Englishmen, descended as you are from battle-tested fathers, fathers who, like so many Alexander the Greats, have fought in these regions from morning until night, sheathing their swords only when there was no one left to fight. Don’t dishonor your mothers! Prove that the men you call your fathers did truly conceive you. Serve as an example to men of common birth and teach them how to fight. And you, good farmers, whose limbs were made in England, show us here the vigor of your upbringing. Prove you are worthy of your birth, which I do not doubt for a moment. For there isn’t one of you so low-born that your eyes don’t shine with noble luster.

Do ignore any well meaning bikermates' recommendations to take in either Oradour sur Glane and / or the Millau bridge. They always come up but really are nowhere even close to where you plan on being. Similarly, the Alps or that you should have crossed from Cherbourg, St Malo or Caen, as they always do.

PS If you are anticipating making the journey on a Sunday, I can only offer you one word of advice: DON'T! There is no fuel and you will surely die. Don't is arguably two words, 'do' and 'not' but the correct use of an apostrophe renders it one. Do not (don't) confuse this with potato's and cabbage's, as seen on many grocers' displays.

PPS I hesitate to mention it but your thread is entitled Calais - Dieppe, which might suggest that your awesome jaunt / hoon / bimble is intending to take that direction of travel. Your screen shot of your Garmin route does seem to be going the opposite way. Take care (many don't) and / or blame Garmin (many do) if it all goes pear shaped. Explaining 'pear shaped' to a Frenchman is never easy, trust me. Simarly, yelling hysterically to the locals, "It's all gone Pete Tong, mate" only serves to confuse and probably alienate those best placed to help you in your hour of need.
 
Do ignore any well meaning bikermates' recommendations to take in either Oradour sur Glane and / or the Millau bridge. They always come up but really are nowhere even close to where you plan on being. Similarly, the Alps or that you should have crossed from Cherbourg, St Malo or Caen, as they always do.

Could have crossed from Newhaven to Dieppe and cut out a large amount of riding, and last time i priced it it was not much more expensive than the tunnel, i think around £90 return. :beerjug::beerjug::green gri:green gri:D
 
Nobody else got anything?

Com'on, dig deep, this is a guy's holiday we are talking about.
 
There are some good restaurants in Mer les Bains, just up the coast - Le Zoy is renowned for its moule-frites (they are really good).

But frankly the riding from there to Boulogne is pretty dire. You may as well sit on the motorway - or head inland to Hesdin (nice cafe on the main square) and pick up the Route des Bois (D108) to Desvres, then head out to the coast to stop at Cap Gris Nez and then back to Calais - something like this
 
Simon W is spot on, of course. His suggestion of Hesdin is a good one.

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By way of a possible idea or suggestion, there is a single track, semi-made, road that runs parallel between the popular coast road (D940 Cap Gris Nez to Sangatte) and the motorway, A16. With the right atmospheric conditions creating a strange optical illusion, the ferries crossing to Calais and the white cliffs at Dover sometimes appear huge, almost touchable. The road is nothing more than a farm track, though it is signposted a bit. It's a bit broken up and gravelly in parts, though I've ridden it on anything from an HP4 to a 1600GT without coming to grief. Give it a go, perhaps? It climbs up high (in relative terms) with some great views.

One last tip when coming north from Boulogne to Calais or visa-versa, just at around Boulogne the motorway is free; I forget the exact junction numbers. I often join it there when coming from say Alincthun and jump off again at Cap Gris Nez, when I'll go on to the cafe I mentioned and / or to then take the D940 up to Calais. As Simon says, there is not so much to recommend on the pure coast road from Dieppe / Baie du Somme northwards to about Audresselles, whilst Boulogne can be a needless grind through. So cut inland (where there are some good'ish to good roads *) or even take the motorway to north of Boulogne, exiting left on the D191 towards Cap Gris Nez. Any half decent Michelin map will show you the way.

Here's the cafe at Cap Gris Nez, it's the near enough the first property you come to when entering the village on the D191. Nice people run it, who have become sort of 'half-friends' of mine, we've stopped there so often.

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* Roughly: Dieppe, Amiens, Doullens, Hesdin, Desvres, Retry, Freithun, Calais. In short, there are lots of possibilies as to how to travel the 100 miles of direct route between Dieppe and Calais. It really all depends on you, how long you have got to complete the Dieppe to Calais run and, not least what you might like to see and do along the way, if anything.
 
I think the roads in the Vosges, Alps, Ardennes, Pico's, Pyrenees and Black Forest are all much better.

With a good pair of binoculars you could see most of Wapping's recommendations without leaving the South Coast of England and save on the costs and dangers of France.
 


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