Le Touquet Resplendent in the Pines of the Cote d'Opale, Le Touquet, France

Lighthouses are generally found in isolated places warning of treacherous seas. Le Touquet has a lighthouse in the middle of town. Just one of the many eccentricities to delight and entertain its visitors.

The view from the top of the lighthouse is magnificent. Le Touquet is laid out like a patchwork quilt below. A collage of forest, beach dunes and a natural estuary surrounding a suburb of elegant buildings.

I had approached聽Le Touquet聽along the Avenue du Golf. The town is famous for its golf courses and its gourmet restaurants. I could explore both at聽Golf du Touquet聽as the contemporary clubhouse is open to everyone and features the very popular restaurant聽The Spoon. I had lunch at The Spoon, enjoying a lovely salmon dish created by its chef, Fabrice Chereau. Instead of a dessert I indulged in the gourmet coffee 鈥� a small cup of freshly ground coffee accompanied by six mini-desserts. Exquisite.

Le Touquet has been a centre of excellence for golf since the early twentieth century after the town was acquired in 1902 by two Englishmen, Allen Stoneham and John Whitley, founders of the company聽Le Touquet Syndicate Ltd. By this time Le Touquet, simply as Paris-Plage, was flourishing as a summer resort but very quiet in the winter. In 1909 they decided to base Le Touquet on sports. The town acquired a casino, a hippodrome, tennis courts and a golf course. Today Le Touquet Golf Club has three courses. Its famous links course, La Mer, has recently been restored to championship golf layout, as it was when聽Seve Ballesteros聽won the French Open in 1977. La Mer is the top course in France and rated as one of the best courses in Europe. In contrast, the eighteen hole Le For锚t course snakes through the pine woods going deeper and deeper into the trees. This course is gradually being restored to the original design of the 1930s. The complex also features a nine-hole course, Le Manoir, and a boutique hotel of the same name. Le Touquet is the ideal destination for golfers and the non-golfers in the family will also find plenty to entertain them in the town centre, my next stop. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).

How it works: The full article is featured in the app "51爆料网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" on Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Download the app to your mobile device to read the article offline and create a self-guided walking tour to visit the sights featured in this article. The app's navigation functions guide you from one sight to the next. The app works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The 51爆料网 App

Guide Name: Le Touquet Resplendent in the Pines of the Cote d'Opale
Guide Location: France » Le Touquet
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Article (B))
Author: Valery Collins
Read it on Author's Website:
Sight(s) Featured in This Guide: