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LE TOUQUET
| President Colin’s command to scatter at some point during the year was taken seriously by members of the International Committee, who spent several months laying plans for a visit to a French Rotary Club. Eventually, the seaside town of Le Touquet in the Pas de Calais was decided upon and the visit set for 20 February.
Four intrepid travellers - Mike Davies, John Robson, John Ritchie and Bob Hopcraft - eventually set out on a cold, dank morning, arriving at Folkestone to discover that the curse of British travel had struck and departure was delayed. (Needless to say, the return train on the following day left Coquelles at 12.21 pm precisely !...) |
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| We eventually got away with little time to spare and a swift crossing was followed by an even swifter motorway journey to our first port of call - Les Pecheurs fish restaurant at
Etaples. If you know this part of France and haven’t visited this restaurant, then you must! Excellent food, wine and company all led to a more than soporific mood, enhanced by wonderful views of the estuary and Le Touquet airfield. The sun shone, God was in his heaven, and despite the late departure, all was now well with the world.
To say that we limped to the hotel following that lunch is to exaggerate, but a brisk walk along the promenade quickly blew away any thought of an early afternoon snooze. Le Touquet is a wonderful town - close, crowded streets, sporting every type of boutique, specialist shop and cafe/bar you could imagine. Modern buildings nestle alongside the traditional and the atmosphere, even in mid-February, was unmistakably les vacances Francaises! |
Three of the four intrepid travellers.... |
Old and new nestle side by side in Le Touquet's busy centre. |
The evening schedule involved the main purpose of our visit - the scatter to the Rotary Club of Le
Touquet, Montreil and Berck. This club serves a wide area and its meeting place proved to be suitably central - the Restaurant L’Escale at Le Touquet airport. In common with many French clubs, the Le Touquet Club meets for a meal every other week, with alternate weeks reserved for “aperitifs” and Club business. Sadly, it was such a week that we had chosen, but the experience was still worth it! The club was friendly and extremely informal - our lounge suits and ties rendering us seriously over-dressed! However, it was good to see that Rotary business is the same the world over, with agenda items concerning the visit of the District President and fund-raisers for local good causes - avec les
epouses, of course! Perhaps the most interesting item for us was the arrangements for the visit of their twin club from
Sevenoaks, due to take place in June, which sounded great fun. Bob presented the club with a banner and information about Letchworth Garden City which were graciously received.
The meeting had broken up by 8.00 pm which gave us the opportunity to sample other culinary delights in Le Touquet itself. An excellent night's sleep at the Hotel Red Fox, followed by a hearty breakfast saw us set up for the return journey - a visit to Leclerc Supermarket and a leisurely drive along the superb coast to Calais. I would like to say a personal thank you to Mike Davies for taking on the driving (despite the lack of a sunroof, Mike, it was good to travel in such style!) and to all three of my companions for their fellowship. The trip was a great success - we were back in Letchworth by early afternoon, and an excellent time was had by all. Bob Hopcraft February, 2001 |
