Nord Pas de Calais: Looking for a charming place to stay
Aug 30th, 2011, 09:32 PM
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Nord Pas de Calais: Looking for a charming place to stay
Our plan is to drive from Honfleur to a charming place to stay for two nights before catching the Eurostar from Calais to London (September 2012). The purpose of our visit is to see the Vimy Memorial. For this short stay, we are looking for a different experience: a farm house or a manor house in the country (one that is run like a hotel with a restaurant) or a small hotel at the seaside with ocean views!
My search for accommodations (under €150) has been a bit 'hit & miss' & I wonder if I've missed any wonderful places to stay in the Nord Pas de Calais! Here's what I've found:
www.lacourderemi.com
www.fermeduvert.com
www.lagoelette.com
Any recommendations?
Many thanks!
My search for accommodations (under €150) has been a bit 'hit & miss' & I wonder if I've missed any wonderful places to stay in the Nord Pas de Calais! Here's what I've found:
www.lacourderemi.com
www.fermeduvert.com
www.lagoelette.com
Any recommendations?
Many thanks!
Aug 31st, 2011, 12:33 PM
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It may sound pedantic, but there is no "hotel at the seaside with ocean views" in Northern France.
What you get (if visibility is sufficient, which it often isn't) is a view of the Channel. Wave-free, drama-free, and frequently just plain foggy.
The local visual speciality is light. Reproduced by some of the world's greatest painters, and depending on a mass of water to work its miracles. But you absolutely don't need a sea view: the nicest views along Wimereux seafont are actually the seafront buildings suffused in that light and the Channel itself is just plain boring. The things to do are mostly about dune-walking, though some bits of the Cote Opale are good for (mainly illegal) digging up of edible crustaceans
At Wimereux you can't even see the English White Cliffs, because the seafront points the wrong way.
In the flanner household, if we want charm in the Pas de Calais, we go to Montreuil (though it's really a Cotswold town accidentally marooned on the wrong side of the Channel), where the Chateau de Montreuil has enough charm for most of London and keeps a reasonable table. Our favourite eating place nearby is Aux Pecheurs d'Etaples in Etaples (a real, working, fishing port, where the working port obscures the tedium of the Channel view)
Most people's favourite in Wimereux is the Hotel Atlantic. Over the decades it's had its ups and downs: but the messed about seafood dishes are still among the most typique local food
What you get (if visibility is sufficient, which it often isn't) is a view of the Channel. Wave-free, drama-free, and frequently just plain foggy.
The local visual speciality is light. Reproduced by some of the world's greatest painters, and depending on a mass of water to work its miracles. But you absolutely don't need a sea view: the nicest views along Wimereux seafont are actually the seafront buildings suffused in that light and the Channel itself is just plain boring. The things to do are mostly about dune-walking, though some bits of the Cote Opale are good for (mainly illegal) digging up of edible crustaceans
At Wimereux you can't even see the English White Cliffs, because the seafront points the wrong way.
In the flanner household, if we want charm in the Pas de Calais, we go to Montreuil (though it's really a Cotswold town accidentally marooned on the wrong side of the Channel), where the Chateau de Montreuil has enough charm for most of London and keeps a reasonable table. Our favourite eating place nearby is Aux Pecheurs d'Etaples in Etaples (a real, working, fishing port, where the working port obscures the tedium of the Channel view)
Most people's favourite in Wimereux is the Hotel Atlantic. Over the decades it's had its ups and downs: but the messed about seafood dishes are still among the most typique local food
Aug 31st, 2011, 01:25 PM
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To address another part of your question, if you would like to stay at a farm use this website:
http://www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/
For bed and breakfast stays in a variety of types of dwellings from a simple home to a manor or château try this site:
http://www.chambresdhotesfrance.com/
A couple of general websites I use for any kind of accommodation are these two:
www.abritel.fr
www.homelidays.com
Or maybe try a gîte:
www.gites-de-france.com
If you know what town you would like to stay in then try searching that towns tourist office website. You will find loads of info on these websites including accommodation and restaurant info as well as what to see and do in the area. Occasionally the websites have English versions. In doing a google search enter the name of your town followed by the words "site officiel" or "office de tourisme" and this will bring the town to the top of your search.
http://www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/
For bed and breakfast stays in a variety of types of dwellings from a simple home to a manor or château try this site:
http://www.chambresdhotesfrance.com/
A couple of general websites I use for any kind of accommodation are these two:
www.abritel.fr
www.homelidays.com
Or maybe try a gîte:
www.gites-de-france.com
If you know what town you would like to stay in then try searching that towns tourist office website. You will find loads of info on these websites including accommodation and restaurant info as well as what to see and do in the area. Occasionally the websites have English versions. In doing a google search enter the name of your town followed by the words "site officiel" or "office de tourisme" and this will bring the town to the top of your search.
Aug 31st, 2011, 01:59 PM
#5
Montreuil was where I was thinking of.
there are some lovely valleys in that area, where you might find a nice auberge or two.
or I found this place on alistair sawdays. [log-on is free for full access to the website]
http://www.lacourderemi.com/en/welcome.htm
there are some lovely valleys in that area, where you might find a nice auberge or two.
or I found this place on alistair sawdays. [log-on is free for full access to the website]
http://www.lacourderemi.com/en/welcome.htm
Aug 31st, 2011, 10:47 PM
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I appreciated all your suggestions & helpful information! 
<b>flanneruk</b>: Thanks for sharing your views on the 'view' of the Channel! I absolutely 'get' what you are saying! I will definitely check out Montreuil (How do you pronounce <i>Montreuil</i>?) + the Chateau de Montreuil as well as the Hotel Atlantic in Wimereux.
<b>FrenchMysticTours</b>: I am beginning this search a bit backwards from my usual approach. Rather than selecting a town and then looking for accommodations, I am searching for a charming place to stay & then looking to see where it is located in relation to Vimy & Calais! It has been a bit challenging. So, the links you have listed will be very useful! Thank you!
<b>annhig</b>: Thanks for reminding me of Alastair Sawday's websites! It will be fun to see what special places he features in this region!
<b>flanneruk</b>: Thanks for sharing your views on the 'view' of the Channel! I absolutely 'get' what you are saying! I will definitely check out Montreuil (How do you pronounce <i>Montreuil</i>?) + the Chateau de Montreuil as well as the Hotel Atlantic in Wimereux.
<b>FrenchMysticTours</b>: I am beginning this search a bit backwards from my usual approach. Rather than selecting a town and then looking for accommodations, I am searching for a charming place to stay & then looking to see where it is located in relation to Vimy & Calais! It has been a bit challenging. So, the links you have listed will be very useful! Thank you!
<b>annhig</b>: Thanks for reminding me of Alastair Sawday's websites! It will be fun to see what special places he features in this region!
Sep 12th, 2011, 09:36 AM
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Just following my original question with another one!
We are looking to stay in Wimereux. I've read that summer-time (July/Aug) parking in town can be difficult. I'm wondering if it's an issue in mid-September?
Thanks!
We are looking to stay in Wimereux. I've read that summer-time (July/Aug) parking in town can be difficult. I'm wondering if it's an issue in mid-September?
Thanks!
Sep 12th, 2011, 01:34 PM
#10
The Hôtel des Deux Caps between Cap Blanc Nez and Cap Gris Nez wouldn't break your budget. It's in Marquise. http://www.hoteldes2caps.com/
On a clear day, you can see the English coast perfectly well from Cap Gris Nez. It is the French point to which channel swimmers swim from England.
On a clear day, you can see the English coast perfectly well from Cap Gris Nez. It is the French point to which channel swimmers swim from England.
Sep 14th, 2011, 06:56 AM
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"Chester" is a French-made cheese variety, widely available in France's naffer supermarkets.
Tastes rather like cheese used to in English-speaking countries back in the days most cheese was extruded out of machines in Kraft factories.
Looks like Cheddar, but without the flavour and with added wax, it doesn't even try to look or taste like Cheshire cheese. Well, it looks a bit like the Cheshire with annatto colouring you can find in parts of NW England, but with a completely different taste kind of like processed cheese slices.
Handy for toasting, and for turning into what's called (in much of Northern France, and not just Marquise) a "Welsh".
The French might like it: anyone with a taste for cheese will just throw it away. Our dog just refuses to touch it, which marks a unique achievement on the part of whatever taste-deprived engineer dreamt this product up as a way of recycling Edam red wax. No other food on earth has ever been rejected by him.
Tastes rather like cheese used to in English-speaking countries back in the days most cheese was extruded out of machines in Kraft factories.
Looks like Cheddar, but without the flavour and with added wax, it doesn't even try to look or taste like Cheshire cheese. Well, it looks a bit like the Cheshire with annatto colouring you can find in parts of NW England, but with a completely different taste kind of like processed cheese slices.
Handy for toasting, and for turning into what's called (in much of Northern France, and not just Marquise) a "Welsh".
The French might like it: anyone with a taste for cheese will just throw it away. Our dog just refuses to touch it, which marks a unique achievement on the part of whatever taste-deprived engineer dreamt this product up as a way of recycling Edam red wax. No other food on earth has ever been rejected by him.
Sep 14th, 2011, 09:01 AM
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Well, flanneruk, your dog certainly has discerning taste! Ours, not so much being a labrador retriever tho' we've never offered her a tidbit of 'recycled Edam red wax'! She just might turn her nose to that!
We'll take a pass on Chester!
We'll take a pass on Chester!
