Côte D'opale: From Calais to Le Touquet, Thriving Ports and Seaside Resorts

Chef Stellio Lestienne of La Matelote in Boulogne's harbour navigates the city's daily morning fish market, seeking crab and sole in season, while his usual lobster fisher remains at sea. The market, though modest and set along a nondescript port car park, offers a fantastic, cheaper selection from both artisan fishers and retailers. People come here from the UK with cool bags to do their shopping, Lestienne notes, as filleted dogfish sell for €2 each and a vendor carves prized cheeks from a monkfish.

Boulogne-sur-Mer, France's largest fishing port, sits just across the Channel, making the region irresistible. The journey begins in Audresselles at La Marie Galante, run by sisters Béatrice and Godeleine Cuvellier, where razor clams in garlic and parsley precede a classic fruits de mer platter of oysters, whelks, prawns, and crab. In Wimereux, Hotel l'Atlantic's chef Benjamin Delpierre, who with wife Aurélie has relinquished the restaurant's Michelin star, serves prawn croquettes with curried beetroot puree and roast cod with celery cream and chicken jus.