The White Cliffs of France: A Stunning Walk Along the Opal Coast

Aren’t the white cliffs English, then? I mean, they represent Britain in the song and all that! Well, France has its own white cliffs that stare straight back across the Channel at the Dover ones, and it was along those very French cliffs that I took a walk on a very clear day, with England never out of my sight, 20 miles away to the north, and with ferries crossing the water in both directions at a stately pace. The scenery was spectacular, the spaces were open, the air was clear, and the sky and sea were every shade of turquoise.

Where I walked

My route ran between two great headlands: Cap Blanc-Nez in the east and Cap Gris-Nez in the west, the white cape and the grey cape, named for the colour of the stone that holds them up. I began at Blanc-Nez, up on a high viewpoint with views in three of the cardinal directions, then I followed the path along the sands of Wissant Bay before climbing back to the cliffs and on to Gris-Nez.

A little history and the lie of the land

The geology is the same on both shores. The chalk here and the chalk at Dover were laid down together on the seabed millions of years ago, then split apart when the Channel breached through. The cliffs of England and France are, geologically speaking, the same rock.

That nearness has always made this a fought-over stretch of coast. At Cap Blanc-Nez is the Dover Patrol Monument, a memorial to the sailors who guarded the strait in the First World War. All long the cliffs are the concrete remains of the Atlantic Wall, the coastal defences of the Second World War, slowly sinking into the dunes. The capes were chosen for guns for the same reason they are chosen for views today: from here you can see a very long way.

What you’ll see in the film

This is a slow walk, filmed the way it felt: near-empty sandy beaches, the sea a deep turquoise, the chalk faces of the cliffs, and the small town of Wissant where I stopped for a picnic. Part of the walk is up on the cliffs overlooking the Channel, the ferries going back and forth, and on the horizon the clear white line of the white cliffs of Dover.

Practical notes

• The walk runs roughly between Cap Blanc-Nez and Cap Gris-Nez, with Wissant a natural halfway stop for lunch.
• It’s open, exposed clifftop and beach for much of the way, so pick a clear day and take a windproof layer even in summer.
• Wissant has cafés and shops if you would rather not carry a picnic, though the beach is made for one.
• Both capes have car parks, and a taxi from Calais is an easy way to reach the start.
• Wear something with grip: the cliff paths can be chalky and slick after rain.

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