Two weeks ago we spent a weekend at the Bay of the Somme, also known as the Somme Valley. Northern France is not the first thing that comes to mind to spend a weekend, especially not on the west coast, but that has turned out to be a big mistake. How beautiful it is there!
In addition, this area is less than a four-hour drive for us, viewed from the Den Bosch area. With the luck that last year Lotte still had Friday afternoon off and Luc's roster in the seventh grade was only filled until two hours on Friday afternoon, we were able to leave early.
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Maybe you think, he's crazy… a four-hour drive for a weekend away, but we do that often 😉 . There is so much beauty to see at such distances and let's face it, those four hours are over in no time, right? A little chat, a little singing together and voilà, you're there!
I wanted to go to the west coast of France sometime. Normally during the big holidays we tend to drive to the south of France and stay near Monaco, Fréjus or Cannes. Or we go to Spain. And even though I've been coming to France for years, the whole part of the west coast, including the Bay of the Somme, I've never seen that. We also love nature, so it's high time to change this.
The Bay of the Somme is a beautiful piece of nature in Picardy, about 70 km² in size. It looks like a kind of Wadden area and the whole ebb and flow happening here is clearly visible, quite impressive I must say!
The town of Le Crotoy is definitely worth a visit. We stayed at camping le Ridin of Yelloh Village, near le Crotoy. A campsite of modest size, but fully equipped. Lotte just wondered why our mobile home was pink. Well, eight years old isn't it, then that is of course no longer possible 😛 .
Anyway, in le Crotoy you can clearly see what I mean by the ebb and flow differences. Where you enter the port of va le Crotoy (seen from inland), I have 2 pictures for you. One was made at the end of the morning and the other at the end of the afternoon, from the other side, admittedly, but you can clearly see what ebb and flow does here.
Beautiful face isn't it.
Besides the fact that you can enjoy a lovely walk here in le Crotoy, through the town or on the beach, you can eat very well here (fresh mussels of course) and they have the most beautiful houses with pastel shades that you will fall in love with spontaneously. Day one was therefore completely filled with nature and this town for us.
Of everything, that may already be said 😉 . I will highlight a number of activities that are definitely worth doing.
The area is beautiful to view by bike. It is relatively flat here, which makes it a bit easier, especially if your children start cycling themselves. We were planning to take the bike, but unfortunately we had problems with rain when we wanted to start 😉 . So no bike for us this time, but next time we will definitely do this. You see the environment in a different way.
You could also rent bicycles at our campsite, which is handy!
Another fun way to see the surroundings of the Bay of the Somme is a ride on the steam train, the Chemin de Fer. Small children will be captivated by 'the old days', but this train journey is also fun for adults. You see just a little more than you go by car and did you know that you can even dine in this steam train? The route you take is approximately 27 kilometers.
More information about the steam train can be found here.
The Parc du Marquenterre is a protected area of 200 ha and is located in the heart of the Baie de Somme nature reserve. In all seasons you can observe the species without disturbing them. Thousands of birds (waders, shorebirds, crossbirds and raptors) and other mammals that can be visited, of course there are guides present.
Even more fun than by train (I think so 😉), is a trip on horseback or with a horse and carriage through this beautiful nature reserve.
If you are tough enough to sit on a horse yourself, you can explore the area on 'de Henson'. You don't have to be very tough for this, because this horse breed seems to be the sweetest horse breed in the world. Even the littlest ones can stay on this. Would you rather ride in the carriage behind a horse? That is also possible! More information can be found here.
Just like in our own country, you can spot seals here in the Bay of the Somme. You can take a walk with a guide where you not only see the seals, but also spot birds, for example. We chose to go out on Sunday.
You can spot the seals 'on the other side' of the Bay of the Somme, at le Hourdel. You can get there in various ways (as indicated above), but also by car. In that case you just park at le Hourdel, in the tip. From the parking lot it is still a nice walk and as you walk further up the beach you will automatically see the seal colony sunbathing on a mudflat. And seals playing in the water 😉 . How special it remains to spot these kinds of animals in the wild, fantastic. It gives a similar feeling to the dolphins we spot during our holiday in Tenerife with the kids.
As we walked further up the beach, it turned out that a small white seal pup was still lying on our side on the beach, all alone. Probably 'left behind' when the low tide came in. A sad sight, but fortunately there were some kind of lifeguards present who were already busy making plans to get this seal pup closer to the water so that her mother could find her again. Above at the arrow you see the seal pup and in the circle are all the other seals… far away for that little one .
When you think of France, you think of castles, don't you? Half an hour from the Bay of Somme you will find the castle Domaines du Chateau de Rambures. You can come here all year round for a nice tour.
We have to go back one more time 😉 . Very simple. You cannot do all of the above in a weekend in France. I am very happy that we had a nice walk, spotted the seals (including baby seal) and visited le Crotoy. However, I would also very much like to go back again to take the electric train, trudge through the bird park and also just cycle around a bit relaxed and read a good book at Camping le Ridin. We only saw the campsite itself just before going to sleep and immediately after waking up, a typical case of a pity, because they have a lovely (heated!) swimming pool and a nice playground. As said, the campsite is not very big, but it is pleasant. Below is a video of our experiences.
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