It’s a little over fifty miles from Le Touquet to Calais, the end of the road for this chapter of the larger tour. We could stretch and make it in a single day, which was in fact the original plan until we reconsidered a few weeks ago and decided we’d enjoy it more if we split it in half. Good decision! Wimereux, a place we’d never heard of before, surprises us by being one of our favorite stays of the tour.
Not much to say about the short ride, other than the weather is windy (in our favor!) but brilliant; and we’re impressed by the quality of this section of the Eurovelo 4 which we follow for nearly the entire ride; and along the way we’re awed by the sobering sight of Étaples Military Cemetery. We take our time and arrive in Wimereux right at 3:30, the earliest check-in time available at our hotel for the night.
Leaving Le Touquet we bike past the Saturday market. We should have waited - Rachael could have gotten her new shoes here.
Looking down the Canche toward the sea from Étaples-Sue-Mer. We’ve routed a few miles inland to here because this is the first bridge crossing the river.
We’re working our way seaward again, biking along the north side of the Canche. Here we’re looking across the mouth of the bay to the point we hiked to last night.
A panoramic view of the cemetery, which holds the remains of over 11,000 war dead, nearly all from the First World War. Étaples was a significant base in the Allied war effort, the primary depot and transit point for the British Expeditionary Force in France.
Keith AdamsAnd yet poignant too, representing as it does the abrupt early termination of so many young lives, and the corresponding loss of the promise they held. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
The war dead are intermixed by nationality, ordered by the date they deceased. These four are from the row in the photo above. I didn’t think to check both ends of the row, but from those I saw the row contains the dead from just a one or two week period in late May and early June, 1916.
On an excellent stretch of the Eurovelo 4, which we followed for most of today’s ride. Here we’ve just crested a low ridge at the high point of the ride and have come into sight of the English Channel.
Scott AndersonI only remember seeing one or two, but I wasn’t really watching for them. There were the remains of other concrete structures here and there that seemed likely left over from the war though. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
In Wimereux, which sits at the mouth of the Wimereux River which we see here. Our hotel is the first cream-hued building from the left, just on the other side of the blocky polychrome building. It makes it easy to find our room when we return later - just walk along the beach to the mouth of the river and turn inland.
I’d never heard of Wimereux before we stared at the map closely enough to pick a suitable spot to break the ride between Le Touquet and Calais. One of the great delights of cycle touring is coming to a place like this you’ve never heard of before and finding what an exceptional place it is. It gives the tour a real feel of discovery and makes the world feel larger and richer.
Wimereux is a small place with a population of around six thousand. It sits on a small rocky bay between two capes at the mouth of the Wimereux River. It’s new to us but obviously well known, as it’s crowded today with all sorts of folks enjoying this perfect Saturday afternoon in all sorts of ways. It’s a beautiful spot which we’d like to return to for a longer stay. It gives us thoughts about how we’d like to spend next year, giving us food for thought while we wait for our excellent Thai meal to arrive in the evening.
This and the following are from the cape at the north end of the bay.
The waterfront is lined by a pedestrianized promenade, fronted with what appear to be privately owned beach cabins backed by striking Belle Époque structures. It all creates a vibrant scene, a delight to wander through.
Scott AndersonTo marilyn swettHuh. Forgot to walk down closer to ask or peer in their bucket! Clams seems most likely though. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Well, I thought I was done with this post but then remembered I had a photo from the walk back from dinner I wanted to remember so I unloaded the camera and found a few more. Might as well include them to remember the different feel along the waterfront - much quieter, the beach revealers have gone (or gone under?) because the beach is gone, and the lighting from the late-day sun is better too.
