The full name of this "Pearl of the Opal Coast", Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, bears witness to its longstanding role as a playground for wealthy Parisians, who commissioned many of its elegant art deco 1920s and 30s villas. Famous British visitors include Noël Coward, PG Wodehouse, Edward and Wallis Simpson, and HG Wells, who eloped here with one of his students in 1909.
Less than 100 years before, there was nothing here but nature. In 1856 the landowner, Jean-Baptiste Daloz, decided to improve the barren landscape of dunes and marshland by planting 800 hectares of pine forest. In 1882 the resort was created around the forest at the suggestion of the founder of Le Figaro newspaper, Hippolyte de Villemessant, and the outdoors remains the biggest draw for visitors.
Le Touquet's outstanding beach, long, soft, golden and dotted with colourful beach huts, is one of the best for sand-yachting in all France, while the dunes and pine forests that still surround the resort are perfect for walking and cycling. The now mature forest is home to woodpeckers, grass snakes and wild orchids. The local tourist office organises guided nature walks, and also offers cycling tours around the town's most significant buildings.
Le Touquet is also home to one of France's most famous golf clubs, with three excellent courses on woodland and dunes.
Despite this chic allure, Le Touquet is a "station famille plus", meaning it has been specially recognised for child-friendliness. Facilities and events include supervised beach clubs in school holidays, nature and arts and crafts workshops, horse riding, tennis, sailing, aquaboarding and other watersports. The vast indoor and outdoor Aqualud waterpark provides a day's entertainment in itself, with everything from pulse-quickening slides to a special area for tots, plus two restaurants.
Le Touquet is also known for its horse racing, on a course that is a listed historic monument, and for its casino, said to have inspired that of Royale-les-Eaux in the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. The semi-covered art deco marketplace is open on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, and on Thursday mornings in summer, while the most chic boutiques, specialist foodshops and restaurants are to be found a few streets from the seafront.
Across the Canche estuary to the north of Le Touquet is the Baie de Canche nature reserve, 45 hectares of wild woodland which boasts impressive views over the estuary, and a recently improved network of routes for cyclists, joggers and walkers to enjoy. On a good day, visitors can see seals basking on the sandbanks below.
To find out more about this destination, visit gotofrancenow.com/northern-france-le-touquet-paris-plage
