The Opal Coast hotels,

The Opal Coast hotels, where you feel more like a friend than a guest. There are beaches of great boulders reminiscent of the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, and beaches where the white silky sand lures you to sit and drink in the wide-open horizon all the way to the White Cliffs of Dover. Seals frolic along the coast, and now and then, when the tides are out, an ancient shipwreck makes its appearance. And everywhere there are traces of the area’s long history, bases from which would-be-conquerors tried for centuries to invade England. This is a place to relax, enjoy the delicious food, friendly hospitality and take your time. Explore the treasures of this rather secret and surprisingly diverse part of France that’s hardly known outside of the region. Berck-sur-Mer In the department of Pas-de-Calais, between the great port town of Calais and the seaside town of Berck-sur-Mer lies the Opal Coast. Around 50 miles of glorious beaches, vast sand dunes, pine forests and soaring cliffs, peppered with authentic fishing villages, Belle Epoque seaside towns, monuments, memorials and museums. Janine Marsh explores the rather secret coastal jewel of northern France. At the start of 20th century, painter Édouard Lévêque came up with the name Côte d’Opale, the Opal Coast, inspired by the luminous light and the ever-changing colours of the coastline. “It has opal, a precious milkycoloured stone that shimmers with alternating tones of green and red” he declared. The name stuck. The route of the Opal Coast reveals enchanting treasures, a land of yesteryear with farming hamlets, little fishing villages, charming village inns and welcoming restaurants, Belle Epoque and art deco hotels, manor houses converted into small Berck-sur-Mer White Cliffs of Dover visible from the Opal Coast Local chocolate maker Beussent In 1861, when this beach resort was already the haunt of artists like Renoir, Manet and Boudin, a local woman who had lost her husband and four children took in some very sick children for a recuperative holiday. The very iodized climate revitalised them and Berck became famous for its rejuvenating air. 12km of breezy beaches, perfect for the annual International Kite Festival (April), and for seals! There’s a large colony here who seem to love to entertain onlookers, by basking on the sand, frolicking in the waves and singing loudly! There are plenty of restaurants and bars in this traditional seaside resort plus a unique century-old sweet shop, Succès Berckois where you can watch them make their famous boiled sweets in-store! Nip to the town of Merlimont next door and indulge at restaurant “Sur Mer” owned by Alexandre Gauthier, the 2-star Michelin chef of La Grenouillère (Montreuil-sur-Mer). Overlooking the sea, and a big hit with the locals the menu includes fish and chips and mouth-watering minute-cooked mussel. 18 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 19