White waves

I love the coast going west out of Calais. It is not called the Côte d'Opale for nothing - the light is wonderful. The name was coined in 1911 by Edouard Lévêque, a painter, writer, botanist, who gave the coastline its name in tribute to the light that is ever changing.

Here we were at Ambleteuse, where it was bright and clear, but very windy; clouds were scudding across the sky and waves were white-capped. We had a lovely lunch at Fort des Caps, a restaurant we have been to many times before - excellent and very popular. We met a couple from the Netherlands who were travelling in their campervan and doing lots of miles on their bikes. They had planned to travel around but arrived here and thought - why go any further, why not stay in this beautiful area. Why not indeed!

(The building is Fort Mahon constructed in the 17th century by Sébastien Vauban to protect the port at the mouth of the River Slack.)