Day in France via the Tunnel.. any suggestions?

Roberto

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All,

I've recently persuaded a lady friend to pop along for a day in France and we're heading over by the tunnel on Saturday. Can anyone recommend somewhere pleasant to visit to spend an afternoon perhaps within say an hour from the tunnel?

I've stayed in St. Omer many times and been out to Le Touquet.. have also been off to Bruges, Gent.

Advice appreciated, cheers folks :thumb

Rob
 
For one day with a girl, if you want roads due west from Calais along the coast, if you want to impress her, got to be Brugge. Park up on main square, treat her to a horse carriage ride and a leffe, touchdown :)
 
Ypres (leeper) in Belgium is also a great place with a bit of history:thumb
 
yes, go to Brugges for the day, its only a hour up the road lovely old town, lots to see, have a boat trip on the canal, cracking day out.
 
Thanks gents..

Have been to Brugges, very nice indeed.. maybe there

Not Ieper, nice one.. maybe there too!

Decisions decisions...
 
To be fair too, you did say 'France' and not Belgium :D

I'd be heading south and picking up the coast road as far as Boulogne and then perhaps across to Devres. I could recommend a cafe in Wissant nearest the coast road (not the beach side of the town). Great moules frites ! Could find it online if you're that bothered.

There's some nice twisty roads that aren't busy at all once off the coast road itself.

Just beware of the Belgian drivers !! :eek:
 
For one day with a girl, if you want roads due west from Calais along the coast, if you want to impress her, got to be Brugge. Park up on main square, treat her to a horse carriage ride and a leffe, touchdown :)

West?

Might take a while to cover those 20 odd thousand miles.
 
Nausicaa is a really impressive aquarium about an hours ride down the coast road from the tunnel.

Well worth a visit
 
Abbeville via the coast road or a little bit further to Saint-valery-sur-somme,
bout hour to an hour & half from the chunnel :beerjug:
If you need to get back to the chunnel a bit quicker then a blast up A16/E402
(toll) should help. :)

Enjoy your trip
 
On our recent weekend in that area, we visited Montreuil on the way down, an ancient walled town where you can walk around the battlements, lots of cafes in the town square, popular with english tourists; also St Valery sur Somme (as Wapping says) which has a steam railway, and is another medieval town with tiny, narrow, cobbled streets (and a jolly nice Herb Garden on the ramparts!). Bit of a walk from the train to the town, though.

Abbeville was a little underwhelming, a confusing mass of streets without much character as far as I could see; mind you, I was lost most of the time...
 
Why not take in Agincourt (spelled Azincourt in France), about 30 minutes from St Omer? Excellent museum and ten minutes away at Fruges there's a great chippy in the market square and a couple of nice bistros. If you want to experience rural France in the raw, visit the bar-tabac at Clety, ten minutes from Fruges in the St Omer direction.
 
Thanks..

..to everyone for their comments. Really helpful, cheers :ChrisKelly

On the basis of so many good suggestions decided to have a night staying over staying in Montreuil, let's hope the weather keeps on as it is :)

Cheers,
Rob :thumb
 
Nearly forgot.

By chance, Wapping's Wanderers met gr8roberto (and Inge) on the train.

Hope it went well?
 
Thanks Wapping :thumb2

Yes, indeed all went very nicely and very nice to meet you and selected wanderers..

So this is how it went:

From leaving the tunnel we took a quick exit from the main drag heading South towards Guines. Using the shortest route functionality in the GPS we took mostly D roads, punctuated with the odd single track affair and found ourslves in Desvres which proved a decent stop for a coffee.

Continuing on the direct theme at a leisurely pace we a hit Montreuil not long after 2pm.

Since it was such a phenomenally sunny day for late September, hitting a lovely 24 degrees we decided to hop across to Le Touquet for a wander on the beach. A nice little run to the coast from HQ. Toes in the sea, rolled up trousers and a wander back into the town to stop for Crepes with Rum and Raisin Ice Cream at the Cafe Leffe (plus mandatory Leffe- yes I know it's not Belgium, but I'm on holiday). The seaside town really is a very nice place indeed- very popular with bikers and no mystery why.

And as the sun lowered we trundled back to our HQ for the evening. Pleased to find a classic car rally group had rolled into the Hotel (Hotel Hermitage), so delighted with an assortment of beautiful machines- Astons, Jags, MG's, all French registered.. delightful to stroll around with an early evening cocktail.

An evening out saw a stroll into town to find a restaurant, hitting the main square there were a variety of bars and brasserie.. we headed to Le Clos du Capucins.. and after a pleasing six courses wobbled back for a cocktails and champagne :ChrisKelly

A quick exit on Sunday took us up to Bolougne as a stop for coffee. A few 'Route Baree' and resultant 'Deviation' took us to a couple of unexpected but pleasant places. Ultimately stopped off in the port town for another coffee and picked up some very nice cakes for later consumption back in blighty.

After Bolougne we took the coast road North. Previously when I've used that road it has been uncomfortably crowded, but today the biking gods smiled upon us. A truly superb run only briefly intruded by a myopic Belgian idiot in a Range Rover, or an idiot in a Belgian Range rover, whatever.

Taking the right turn at Sangatte we headed down to the Tunnel. Probably the only blight on things actually- the tunnel was impossibly crowded and we spent an age trying to get through to the train. The old girl started overheating in the afternoon sun and since she can be a devil to hot start it resulted in pushing all 364kgs (On the 1200LT, not the GS) plus gubbins up the gentle slope to the french customs and passport checks.

Off the other end of the tunnel and jumped off down to Hythe, then wound the way back to London through the towns and villages..

In summary though this was a perfect little run and highly recommended. Thanks to everyone here who helped :thumb .. Inga was a newbie to the bike so a little apprehensive, but took to it like a 'canard to eau'.

Summary:
Total weekend miles on the bike from London: 243
Total hours in the gym required to remove above stated excesses: 20
Total smiles: Just too many to mention

:beerjug:
Roberto
 
Thanks Wapping :thumb2

Yes, indeed all went very nicely and very nice to meet you and selected wanderers..

So this is how it went:

From leaving the tunnel we took a quick exit from the main drag heading South towards Guines. Using the shortest route functionality in the GPS we took mostly D roads, punctuated with the odd single track affair and found ourslves in Desvres which proved a decent stop for a coffee.

Continuing on the direct theme at a leisurely pace we a hit Montreuil not long after 2pm.

Since it was such a phenomenally sunny day for late September, hitting a lovely 24 degrees we decided to hop across to Le Touquet for a wander on the beach. A nice little run to the coast from HQ. Toes in the sea, rolled up trousers and a wander back into the town to stop for Crepes with Rum and Raisin Ice Cream at the Cafe Leffe (plus mandatory Leffe- yes I know it's not Belgium, but I'm on holiday). The seaside town really is a very nice place indeed- very popular with bikers and no mystery why.

And as the sun lowered we trundled back to our HQ for the evening. Pleased to find a classic car rally group had rolled into the Hotel (Hotel Hermitage), so delighted with an assortment of beautiful machines- Astons, Jags, MG's, all French registered.. delightful to stroll around with an early evening cocktail.

An evening out saw a stroll into town to find a restaurant, hitting the main square there were a variety of bars and brasserie.. we headed to Le Clos du Capucins.. and after a pleasing six courses wobbled back for a cocktails and champagne :ChrisKelly


ERM.......... gap of 10 hours or so :aidan :thumb

A quick exit on Sunday took us up to Bolougne as a stop for coffee. A few 'Route Baree' and resultant 'Deviation' took us to a couple of unexpected but pleasant places. Ultimately stopped off in the port town for another coffee and picked up some very nice cakes for later consumption back in blighty.

After Bolougne we took the coast road North. Previously when I've used that road it has been uncomfortably crowded, but today the biking gods smiled upon us. A truly superb run only briefly intruded by a myopic Belgian idiot in a Range Rover, or an idiot in a Belgian Range rover, whatever.

Taking the right turn at Sangatte we headed down to the Tunnel. Probably the only blight on things actually- the tunnel was impossibly crowded and we spent an age trying to get through to the train. The old girl started overheating in the afternoon sun and since she can be a devil to hot start it resulted in pushing all 364kgs (On the 1200LT, not the GS) plus gubbins up the gentle slope to the french customs and passport checks.

Off the other end of the tunnel and jumped off down to Hythe, then wound the way back to London through the towns and villages..

In summary though this was a perfect little run and highly recommended. Thanks to everyone here who helped :thumb .. Inga was a newbie to the bike so a little apprehensive, but took to it like a 'canard to eau'.

Summary:
Total weekend miles on the bike from London: 243
Total hours in the gym required to remove above stated excesses: 20
Total smiles: Just too many to mention

:beerjug:
Roberto

Well done that man :thumb2
 
All,

I've recently persuaded a lady friend to pop along for a day in France and we're heading over by the tunnel on Saturday. Can anyone recommend somewhere pleasant to visit to spend an afternoon perhaps within say an hour from the tunnel?

I've stayed in St. Omer many times and been out to Le Touquet.. have also been off to Bruges, Gent.

Advice appreciated, cheers folks :thumb

Rob

Was it you I was talking to in the tunnel Friday morning? Hugh.
 


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