Le Touquet

Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (French pronunciation: ​[lə tukɛ paʁi plaʒ]; Picard: Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (/lə tʊkeɪ/), is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It has a population of 4,244[2] but welcomes up to 250,000 people during the summer.[3]

Hôtel Barrière Le Westminster, Le Touquet
"Paris-Plage" redirects here. For the artificial beaches in Paris, see Paris-Plages.
For the treaty between France and the UK, see Juxtaposed controls § Ferry.

Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
Commune
Beach of Le Touquet
Coat of arms
Location of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
Coordinates: 50°31′07″N 1°35′42″E
CountryFrance
RegionHauts-de-France
DepartmentPas-de-Calais
ArrondissementMontreuil
CantonÉtaples
IntercommunalityCA Deux Baies en Montreuillois
Government
 • Mayor (2014–2020) Daniel Fasquelle
Area
1
15.31 km2 (5.91 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
4,223
 • Density280/km2 (710/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
62826 /62520
Elevation0–42 m (0–138 ft)
(avg. 5 m or 16 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

The resort is dominated by buildings from the 1950s to 1980s, but there are still a number of unique villas preserved that evoque the seaside architecture of both the Roaring Twenties and the 1930s. The most famous local architect is Louis Quételart.

History

The town of Le Touquet was given its full name by Hippolyte de Villemessant (1812–1879), founder and owner of the Paris newspaper Le Figaro. At the time it was an area of wild sand dunes and forest – part of a hunting estate. Its name came from a Picard word meaning "corner", and was originally applied to the area of coast nearby. It became known as "Paris by the sea", and strict building regulations encouraged the most talented architects to create imaginative and innovative developments.

Resort and the wealthy British

In 1894 John Robinson Whitley and Allen Stoneham bought a stretch of coastal land, through their company Le Touquet Syndicate Ltd, and developed the town into a golf and gambling resort. In 1909, H. G. Wells and Amber Reeves fled to Le Touquet in an abortive elopement. The two returned to Britain after a number of weeks, though Amber later gave birth to Wells's daughter, Anna-Jane Blanco White, after the relationship ended.

During most of World War I Le Touquet was home of the Duchess of Westminster's (No 1 British Red Cross Society) Hospital for wounded British troops. The #2 Canadian Stationary Hospital had the distinction of being the first Canadian Unit to land on French soil. No. 2 Stationary opened at the Hotel du Golf at Le Touquet on November 27, 1914. All the 142 British Commonwealth war graves in Le Touquet's Communal Cemetery in Avenue de 18 Jun are from the hospitals. The graves occupy a plot by the cemetery entrance. (The cemetery also contains French and Italian war graves.) In the same cemetery a wooden obelisk was erected by the commune's lifeboatmen in honour of the British.[4]

In the 1920s, Noël Coward and the "smart set" from England spent weekends here, and commissioned more outstanding villa designs echoing traditional and ultra-modern domestic styles. Today the town tourist office offers organised trails to see outstanding examples of 19th- and 20th-century domestic architecture, which are now preserved and protected. Sayaji Rao III Gaekwar of Baroda also owned a house here.

P. G. Wodehouse lived in Le Touquet from 1934 to 1940 until he was interned by the German army.[5]

Sport

Motorsport

Every year in February, an off-road motorcycle and quad beach race called Enduropale (formerly Enduro du Touquet) is held along the beach and through the dunes, with some 1,000 motorbikes, Quad bikes and 250,000 spectators.[6]

Cycling

Le Touquet has been host to four stages of the Tour de France. The resort first hosted a stage during the 1971 Tour de France, as the finish for Stage 6b, from Amiens, on 2 July. Following this, the resort hosted Stage 3 of the 1976 Tour de France, on 27 June. This was a 37 kilometres (23 mi) individual time trial which both started and finished at the resort. The following day, Le Touquet was the departure point for the fourth stage, to Bornem in Belgium. The 2014 Tour de France began Stage 4 at Le Touquet on 8 July, with the stage taking a 163.5 kilometres (101.6 mi) route to Lille Métropole.[7]

Tennis

The Le Touquet Tennis Club is the home of international tournaments. It has 33 courts (25 clay courts and 8 indoor courts), 2 club-houses, 1 central court with 900 places, 2 paddle-tennis courts and 4 mini tennis courts.

Miscellaneous

Inland from the beach, hotels, a casino and a horse racing course, a wide range of sports, particularly golf are offered. The Casino de la forêt provided the inspiration of the casino of Royale-les-Eaux in Casino Royale.

Notable people

Twin towns

Le Touquet participates in international town twinning; its current partners are:

Transportation

Le Touquet is served by Le Touquet - Côte d'Opale Airport. Le Touquet airport is a popular destination for British private pilots due to its geographical proximity to the UK, often becoming the first overseas flight destination.

Trains operated by SNCF operate to Étaples-Le Touquet in the adjacent town of Étaples. These operate from Paris Gare du Nord to Boulogne-Ville (Intercités); from Boulogne-Ville to Arras (TER Nord-Pas-de-Calais); from Lille Flandres to Calais-Ville (TER Nord-Pas-de-Calais); and from Étaples-Le Touquet to Lille Europe (TERGV).

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See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. annee=2016&depcom=62826 Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques : Populations Légales 2016 de la Commune : 62826 : Le Touquet-Paris-Plage Retrieved 20 January 2010
  3. Tuesday, July 8th - Stage 4 - Le Touquet-Paris-Plage / Lille Métropole Archived 2014-07-05 at the Wayback Machine www.letour.fr, July 2014
  4. CWGC Cemetery Report.
  5. "In Defense of P. G. Wodehouse"
  6. "Enduro du Touquet". letouquet-holidays.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  7. "Stage 4: Le Touquet-Paris-Plage to Lille Métropole". Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  8. "Association Christian Ferras". Associationferras.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  9. von Bodenhausen, Baroness Reihild, PG Wodehouse: The Unknown Years, Stamford Lake.
  10. Macron Country - Brittany: Why this region of progressive, lapsed Catholics was a Macron stronghold., Jean-Marie Pottier (Slate.fr), Slate.Com, 2017-05-09
  • Le Touquet Aqualud
  • Christmas band outside one of the Le Touquet's casino
  • Le Touquet sports centre
  • Christmas carol service in Le Touquet
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