Beaches

Sunday 7th June 2026 – our last day in Europe until September doing our favourite thing – beach walking….

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After a very windy night the rain seems to have moved on through, though still blustery and cloudy it was ideal for a walk along the expansive beach that is Plage de Calais and then runs on into Plage de Beriot and finally Plage de Sangatte before being punctuated by Cap Blanc Nez.

We join the beach at the beach hut lined start of Calais North – Plage de Bleriot…..

With Tilly keen to go off lead and enjoy some freedom….

To our right is Plage de Calais – the dog ban doesn’t actually come into effect until 15th June…

We enjoy a lovely walk, bracing as we are walking into the wind, for a mile or so until we stop for a while to enjoy life before heading back….

In the distance along the promenade we can see that the Dragon of Calais looks to be coming to life so we take a small detour to watch as it impressively trundles very slowly along the promenade towards us – wow….

Today’s stats:

  • Mikes walked – 5
  • Beaches – 2
  • Dragons – 1
  • O/N – £15.00

Saturday 6th June 2026 – a walk into Calais…..

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A pretty wet and wild start to the day so we hung on until after lunch and were lucky to stay dry and even see some blue sky and sunshine in the couple of hours we were out and about.

Starting our walk with a stroll along the river to the vast and busy sea port….

With huge ferries seemingly leaving and arriving every few minutes and in between all the smaller craft rushing to get through the port and out of their way, if it wasn’t so windy you could easily while away the hours. Instead we turned our attention to the rather spectacular sandy beach – Plage de Calais which butts up to the Port on the west side…..

We spent a while watching this beauty of a smallish tall ship approach and enter the harbour….

Before skirting around the beach (dog ban) and wandering along the promenade to meet the Calais Dragon….

An incredible feat of engineering this 12m high and 25m long – 72 tonnes of mechanical structure offers rides along the promenade whilst breathing fire and smoke. We didn’t see it in action today as it was just too windy to hang around but maybe tomorrow?

From here we crossed the bridge to the town centre – not the most exciting, in fact without the colourful and very noisy in the wind bunting (Pride?) it was rather disappointing….

Though the Tour de Guet (13th C Watchtower) was pretty impressive and the church of Notre Dame likewise…..

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 6
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £15.00

Tuesday 26th May 2026 – at last we make it to the beach at Brighton Les Pins….

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Fortunately not a long drive today as it is still incredibly hot and even with a stop for food and fuel we are at our Aire in the small mostly second home resort of Brighton Les Pins by midday.

Finding a pitch under the partial shade of a tree, we open all the windows but chose to linger outside under the shade of the tree where a tiny whisper of slightly cooler air is oh so welcome.

Even at half five the temperature really hasn’t dropped very much but we are getting hungry so decide to hug the shade of the trees as we walk the short distance down to the beach.

The beach stretching into the distance in either direction is at high tide just a wide bank if rounded pebbles, but at low tide, as it is now, a huge expanse of wet sands lead down to the sea….

The sea, though not the crystal clear waters we have become accustomed to is a rather sandy brown but actually pleasantly warm and I enjoy the refreshing paddle along the edge whilst Tilly scampers along just out of the seas reach….

Though I do manage to get her to scamper through the puddles and get a little damp and more importantly cool down a bit, that way….

Time to call it a day and head back to eat and sit in our shady spot until it cools down enough for us to sleep.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 46
  • Miles walked- 4
  • Food – £39.63
  • Ad Blue – £10
  • Fuel – £103.88 (ouch)
  • O/N – £13.54

Thursday 9th April 2026 – a walk to St Pierre….

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It was hotter still today as there seemed to be less breeze around, so we left it until mid afternoon before venturing out for a proper walk – this time heading south, again along the cycle path, to St Pierre….

Our furthest point, a couple of miles away was Plage de la Pinede…

Here we stopped for a breather and a drink and for Till to have a bit of off lead time, before heading back this time where possible along the coastal path firstly via Plage Sun Beach….

Next up was Plage Calanque de Tardieu….

Plage de Port St Piere (looking rather like a private beach and definitely no dogs allowed on here…

The next section of coastal path was more a case of clambering over rocky outcrops but encountering some delightful little coves along the way….

Around another rocky outcrop was this serene little Port Ferreol….

Here the coastal path seemed to disappear and we had to detour through a residential area on the other side of the main road for a while until we could rejoin the coast at Plage du Corsaire….

A further rather dodgy section of coastal path…

Took us back to Plages de la Gaillarde Ouest, des Eclaireurs and finally Plage de la Gaillarde and home in time for tea….

Thoughts of the day:

  • Why are washing machines a or rather the repair thereof seem to be a very low priority for campsites? I guess most ordinary holiday folk are not that bothered but for those of us on long term travel they are rather essential, especially as that is the main reason we stay on campsites!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 0
  • Miles walked – 6
  • Beaches – 8
  • O/N – £22

Sunday 5th April 2026 – a lazy Easter Sunday with a bonus bit of Beaver watching….

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Much the same as yesterday we spent a glorious few hours on the beach….

On the last photo you can see Phare de Camarat perched on top of the headland. Today we tried to negotiate our way around the various vineyards in an attempt to walk up to Ramatuelle but without much success as we kept ending up back on the road network which was too busy and without pavements to venture any further, so instead we took a walk along the now quieter beach (not that it was ever busy busy at this end) and were rewarded with a sighting of our Beaver friend from the other day…

He was quite content snacking or having a good wash maybe in the early evening sun.

Thoughts of the day:

  • I have to admit to enjoying this much slower pace of life and have decided that whenever I find a good location and the weather is kind then we shall slow down.
  • This is such a busy stretch of coastline that I suspect coastal retreats such as this will probably (and indeed I have looked) be few and far between and certainly the next few stops look like they may well need to be further in land.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £20