During summer, Parisians, looking for sun and sea for obvious reasons, tend to think about Spain, Italy, Greece, or closer to home, the French Riviera and Corsica, for vacation destinations. Rarely do we think of going to the nothern coast of France which houses a lot of suprises, including good weather!
So I took off to Hardelot Plage last weekend. Not very far from Touquet, but a more modest and discreet town I was told. Not too far from Paris either, only 3 hours by train, so a journey that can be comfortably done on a normal two day weekend.
I went with a friend on Friday evening from Gare du Nord, right until Hardelot Neufchatel, with a switch at Amiens. The person who was renting us his car greeted us at the train station and off we went to the little house that we had rented at Hardelot, quite close to the beach and between two golf courses (Gîte des Loups - Allée des Chênes). As soon as our bags touched floor, we packed our picnic and took off for the beach; it was a little windy but it was so wonderful to picnic with the sound of the waves and not too many people around. It did get cold after sometime so we took refuge in a local bar filled with youngsters mostly from the region, and Lille. A beer and a game of darts later with our new found friends Mathias and Louise, we called it a day.
Saturday - after a quick breakfast, we went to the beach (côte d'opale) to enjoy the sun. It was a little windy but the sunshine was definitely warming. I must admit that I did not dare to swim in the sea but my friend did; he had to walk nearly a km before reaching the water at low tide. We then headed for lunch in the city centre and what is nice about being in Hardelot is that you easily find a place in the sun on the terrace!
In the afternoon we walked around in the forest, following a well marked out trail along the dunes, called Café du Mont. We came across only 3 people during our walk and even found a nice opening in the forest to play some badminton.
Next stop: the St Augustin church for the 7pm mass. This modern and simple church that can accomodate about 300 believers, was absolutely full.
After a quick change of attire, we headed to a chic restaurant, Hostellerie de la Rivière in St Etienne du Mont. The food was delicious and the service was great.
Sunday - after a long and lazy morning breakfast, we headed to the Château d'Hardelot or Hardelot Castle which is actually in Condette. I'm sure there's a reason for this bizarrerie but I haven't found it yet. The site was built in the 12th century, changed hands several times between the French and the English, and was even dismantled at some point. The castle that you see today is a fairly modern one with 19th century interiors which I frankly didn't find very interesting. The surroundings however, including the gardens, are absolutely charming. We halted in the garden for a quiet picnic, once again, no crowd around here!
This pretty much marked the end of a restful weekend and we headed back to Paris, finishing our leftover wine and picnic on the way.
Tips:
- A car is not indispensable in Hardelot, but do try to hire or take your bicycles, the region is well adapted with cycling tracks and beautiful views of the dunes as you go along.
- Now, I'm not into golf but it seems that Hardelot's golf course is really worth it.
- If you decide to go dining at the Hostellerie de la Rivière, make sure you book a table in advance and that you respect the timing...depending on the time at which clients turn up, they sometimes close the kitchen as early at 9.15pm! We nearly missed our reservation because of a delay!
- Entry to the Château d'Hardelot is free on the first sunday of each month.
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