A mostly overcast and breezy day for us today – even needed a jumper! Moving a little further up the coast we stopped off briefly for a wander around Rang-du-Fliers….

A peaceful but lived in village with an amazing Boulangerie (see below) and the makings of a pleasant stroll to fill in a bit of time before arriving at our pre-booked Aire at midday.

The Aire was pretty full when we arrived (it had been full over the weekend as I had originally planned to come here yesterday) but during the afternoon it mostly emptied out with only a couple of other arrivals.

We headed straight out and down to the somewhat windswept and grey beach choosing to walk southwards towards Berck and something we haven’t seen for a while – remnants of WWII bunkers…

The receding tide has left the beach scattered with seafoam and Tilly has a blast chasing the bubbles. After a mile or so we turn about and on arriving back at the village of Merlimont, wander along the promenade looking down on the main beach (which has a dog ban) and then northwards towards Le Touquet which is lost in the distant mist…

We return to the van for something to eat but decide to venture out again after 6 as the sky is clearing, this time heading northwards to the next village along Cucq and Plage de Stella…

On the way back we follow the kite surfers along the sea’s edge…

Clambering back up through the dunes we are excited to capture today’s ‘money’ shots….

Thoughts of the day:

• Two reasons why I don’t visit a Boulangerie very often, the other (a croissant) already having been consumed….

• Well that is at least 1 of my five a day – probably 2 really.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 16
• Miles walked – 7
• Beaches – 2
• O/N – £15.49 (EHU) CCP Merlimont

I hate to say this, but waking up this morning and finding that it is a cloudy and considerably cooler day, is quite a relief. To be on the safe side we still aim for an early walk and head straight down through the village to Plage de Quend and begin walking along the vast expanse of damp firm sand northwards….

It is probably less than a mile to Fort Mahon, a slightly larger and possibly a little more lived in village….

We leave the beach to wander up through the village and whilst there is certainly more to it in the way of shops and the like, it is not particularly interesting or attractive and we soon return to the beach as it has gotten quite a bit warmer and the beach at least offers a slight breeze and of course the option to paddle in the shallows….

Rather than press on any further up the beach we make a slow return the way we came, with Tilly being able to enjoy a nice run around on the sand and with some encouragement a little paddle…

Before heading back to Quend Plage as the tide is rising….

Back at the van we find ourselves a little shade and slight breeze and I settle down to make plans for the rest of our time in France and the areas of coast we plan to cover in the UK before heading back to Cornwall for the summer. As for Tilly – well she just makes herself a little well in the sand/ dust in the shade and relaxes.

We do take another stroll down to the beach in the early evening and Tilly gets to enjoy chasing the ball in the cooler air before settling down for the evening….

Today’s stats:

• Miles walked – 6.5
• Beaches – 2
• O/N – £8.70

Another very hot day and we were in two minds whether to stay put and enjoy the little bit of shade that we have on this Aire but as we have exhausted the walking opportunities from here and our days are numbered so to speak, we decided to move 30 miles further up the coast to the little village of Quend Plage.

After a small grocery shop on the way we arrived on the Aire just on the outskirts of this rather typical second / holiday home village. . Not quite as much shade here but a little. It is a large Aire with basic facilities apart from electric, which is not a problem for us, especially in this weather and is quite busy with mostly French vans enjoying the sun….

By midday we are settled and managing to channel a little breeze through the van, choosing to sit outside and wile away the afternoon planning until it has cooled down enough for us to venture the half a mile through the village to the sea….

A stunning wide expanse of pale damp sand, backed by soft high tide sand and dunes, awaits in either direction….

The main beach in front of the village has a dog ban (not that this appears to mean a great deal!) but for miles either side the beach is open to be walked and enjoyed – our perfect beach walking kind of beach – we shall enjoy it over the next couple of days.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 30
• Miles walked – 3
• Beaches – 1
• O/N – £8.70 (no EHU)

Another very hot day so we get our skates on for an early morning walk to the neighbouring village of Cayeux-sur-Mer passing Brighton Lighthouse standing tall and proud, along the way….

Cayeux-sur-Mer is another one of those sort of Dorma Villages, where the main village is a mile or so inland and this is just a shell of mostly closed up holiday apartments and properties with a small collection of bars (some open, some still to do so) in the centre.

However but it does have a fine wooden boardwalk running for a couple of kilometres along the top of the stony beach backed by a row of cheerfully painted beach huts for almost as far as the eye can see….

The odd conveniently photogenic boat….

And still more beach huts and in this case providing us with a welcome bit of shade to enjoy a cup of coffee and a sit down before making our way back by jumping into whatever shade we can find….

We were glad of the opportunity to sit outside the van in the leafy shade with the little wisps of cooling breeze for the afternoon and in my case crack on with some future planning and in Tilly’s take a snooze on the cooler earth. We didn’t venture out until about 9pm and even then the temperature was still in the high twenties so it was just a quick whizz around the block before bed.

Today’s stats:

• Miles walked – 5
• Beaches – 2
• O/N – £13.56