Cap Blanc-Nez and Cap Gris-Nez - stunning scenery on the Opal Coast | Northern France Part 5

The Cote d'Opale in northern France is a French coastal strip on the English Channel with spectacular cliffs and wide beaches. One of the most beautiful parts of the Opal Coast is the 23-kilometer section of the Deux-Caps coastline. Les Deux-Caps, the two capes, are the wild headlands of Cap Blanc-Nez (White Nose) and Cap Gris-Nez (Gray Nose). With its white cliffs over 100 meters high, the Cap Blanc-Nez offers a fantastic panoramic view of the Opal Coast and the English Channel up to the White Cliffs of Dover in England on a clear day. Today we are lucky and see the white cliffs shining on the horizon. The constant parade of ferries crossing the sea between Calais and Dover is always interesting. In the distance we see big merchant ships passing by. This sea route is one of the busiest in the world.
Actually, we wanted to hike along the cliff path at the top. But a short detour to the beach turns into an extended beach hike. It's low tide right now, the beach is very wide and it's quite a distance to walk to the water. The height of the tidal range here on the English Channel is fascinating. Either the water is gone or the beach. 😊
Accompanied by the sound of the waves, the cries of the seagulls and with the taste of the salty sea air on our lips, we walk along the beach. The view of the big cliffs is much better from below than from above. They seem incredibly mighty and we feel small and insignificant.
You can walk along the beach up to Cap Gris-Nez, but you should check the tide calendar before! In the afternoon we see the tide coming and the sea reclaims the beach. So we turn around and walk right back along the cliffs to Cap Blanc-Nez. On the cliffs we see the traces of erosion. The rock is crumbly and you can see the cliffs receding further and further inland. For safety reasons we keep a little more distance.
Then we continue to Cap Gris-Nez. From Cap Gris-Nez it is just over 30 kilometers to the English coast. But we don't see the coastline of England anymore because a thunderstorm is brewing. The lighthouse looks dramatic against the dark clouds. We flee into the car in time before the cloudburst.
But when we reach our hotel in Hardelot-Plage the storm is gone. In the evening we enjoy a beautiful sunset on the beach.

The beach trail of Cap Blanc-Nez can be found in Komoot: https://www.komoot.de/tour/1021292281

Next week we continue to Amiens, the capital of the Picardy with the largest cathedral in France.
You can find the video here:    • Amiens - largest cathedral in France ...  

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You can find the complete channel playlist for our trip to the north of France here:    • Nordfrankreich  

Trip in August 2022

Chapter:
00:00 Intro
00:36 Cap Blanc-Nez
05:05 Cap Gris-Nez
06:11 Hardelot-Plage