Original subtitles

(wind whistling)

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Our journey begins near Calais,

at the narrowest point of the English Channel.

Past Boulogne is the start of the Opal Coast

that was an inspiration

for 19th century writers and artists.

At the picturesque yacht harbor of Saint Valery,

we take a detour inland to Rouen,

where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.

We follow the Seine back to the coast at Le Havre,

the city port that was almost

completely destroyed in the war.

Passing the chic resort of Deauville,

we end our journey at the historic city of Caen,

the final resting place of William the Conqueror.

The northern coast of France lies on

one of the most famous waterways in the world,

the English Channel.

It's a slender stretch of sea

separating England from France.

From the narrowest point at Cap Gris Nez,

it's possible to see the English coastline

only 34 kilometers away.

For thousands of years, this strait has served

not only as a trade route, but also as a defensive line

between the British isles and the European mainland.

It was from here that Julius Caesar

launched a massive invasion fleet around 50 BC

to expand the Roman Empire into Britain.

And from a much later era, these World War Two bunkers

that now lie in ruins were among hundreds

built along this coast.

They were to defend German-occupied France

against an invasion force from across the channel.

The Allied offensive was finally launched in 1944,

leading to a decisive victory against the Nazis.

(waves splashing)

Today, the crossings are less hostile.

Though the many ferries operating across the channel

are tightly controlled to give safe distance

to the massive ships that navigate this,

the world's busiest seaway.

Being so close to England,

a major center for trading and transport

developed on the French coast as early as the Middle Ages.

And today, Calais continues

as one of the biggest passenger ports in Europe,

used by over 10 million people each year.

(quiet music)

Major industries have grown around the port,

including paper manufacturing.

(quiet music)

Traditionally, Calais was famed for its textiles,

and today, two major lace factories still operate.

The town was devastated by German bombing

in the second world war,

leaving only a few original landmarks,

like the magnificent town hall,

built in the Flemish Renaissance style.

(quiet music)

Each year, millions of English tourists visit Calais,

not least to take advantage of

cheaper beer, wine, and tobacco.

But not all come by ferry.

Many of them choose to travel not over the English Channel,

but beneath it, by way of the Channel Tunnel.

(quiet music)

Running an average of 45 meters

below the chalk seabed for 38 kilometers,

it has the longest undersea portion of any tunnel.

The American Society of Civil Engineers describe the tunnel

as one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

(quiet music)

As well as the roll-on, roll-off transporters,

the tunnel services a fleet of 27 high-speed trains

capable of 300 kilometers per hour

and carrying up to 750 passengers.

Connecting the capital cities of England and France,

the journey time between London and Paris

is around two and a half hours.

(quiet music)

We continue south along the French coast,

where the continuous flat, sandy beaches

offer an ideal place for walking and sand yachting

against the fresh winds blowing off the channel.

(upbeat music)

Further along is the biggest

and busiest fishing port in France, Boulogne-sur-Mer.

With its position on the English channel,

it's one of the most important centers in Europe

for processing and distributing seafood.

The town was originally established by the Romans

as a base for the invasion of Britain.

Over the centuries, Boulogne continued to grow

as a major port as well as a religious center.

At the heart of the old town stands

the imposing dome of the Basilica,

built on the site where miracles

were believed to have occurred in the seventh century.

(birds chirping)

The industrial coastal towns finally give way

to a string of beach resorts.

They gained prominence in the early 1900s

as the seasonal haunts of both the English

and French upper classes.

And none more so than Le Touquet.

(upbeat music)

The resort was founded in 1876

by the owner of the Paris newspaper Le Figaro

and was later taken over by English developers

keen to promote Le Touquet as the chicest resort in France,

complete with golf courses.

(upbeat music)

Its heyday was in the roaring 1920s,

up until World War Two, when much of the town was destroyed.

Today, Le Touquet continues as a year-round resort,

having regained some of its former splendor.

Le Touquet lies along a vast stretch of beaches,

dunes, and cliffs, known as the Opal Coast.

It's a name coined by the painter, Edouard Leveque,

who was taken by the distinctive quality of the light.

(quiet music)

Many artists have been inspired by its landscapes,

among them the writers Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens

and the great English painter, J.M.W. Turner.

(quiet music)

Just inland lies the medieval town of Montroy.

Remarkably, this was once a port,

but now lies 14 kilometers from the coast,

due to tidal changes over the centuries.

(quiet music)

The old town is surrounded by a three-kilometer rampart

built by the greatest French military engineer

of the 17th century, known simply as Vauban.

(birds chirping)

But Montroy found fame as one of the settings

for Victor Hugo's epic 19th century novel, Les Miserables.

Each summer, around 600 townsfolk take part

in a spectacular Les Miserables sound and light show.

(quiet music)

Held on the lawn in front of the castle keep,

this famous town tradition draws thousands of spectators.

(quiet music)

Back on the coast, we cross the largest estuary

and nature reserve in northern France, the Bay of Somme.

(quiet music)

The tidal area covers over 70 square kilometers

and these marshes and ponds provide

a haven for migrating birds.

(quiet music)

At the picturesque fishing town of Olt,

striking white cliffs rise up from the lowlands

and are the highlight of the Picardie region's coastline.

(quiet music)

Popular with walkers, some loom 80 meters over the sea.

(quiet music)

They're rich in fossilized remains of sea creatures

from the upper Cretaceous period,

between 65 and 100 million years ago.

(quiet music)

The soft limestone, however, means the cliffs are

prone to erosion and the occasional landslide.

(quiet music)

Crossing over into the region of Normandy,

the natural beauty of the coastline is interrupted

by the Penly Nuclear Power Plant.

It's one of four nuclear installations along this coastline

that uses water from the English Cannel for cooling.

The two reactors generate a total of 2764 megawatts,

around 80% of the region's electricity consumption.

Following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi

nuclear disaster in Japan,

plans for a proposed third reactor have been postponed.

10 kilometers away is the port of Dieppe,

a town of around 35,000 inhabitants.

Today, Dieppe is an important ferry and fishing port.

(energetic music)

Some 500 years ago, it was the home

of the finest mapmakers in France.

Their knowledge and skill helped

early expeditions to America

that led to the first French colonies in the New World.

(dramatic music)

However, Dieppe is probably better known

for a failed landing operation

by mostly Canadian forces during World War Two,

leading to 1400 deaths of Allied soldiers.

(dramatic music)

One of Dieppe's great landmarks is its medieval castle.

Ironically, it was built as a defense against the English,

but now it flies the Canadian and British flags

to honor those killed trying to liberate the town.

(birds chirping)

From Dieppe, these sheer cliffs continue

for over 100 kilometers.

(upbeat music)

Though this stretch has been romantically named

the Alabaster Coast, referring to the whiteness of the chalk

the cliffs actually reveal a variety of rich earth colors,

not the least due to

the many different types of lichens present.

(upbeat music)

Now and again, little valleys and miniature gorges

offer themselves to small beaches.

Fishing villages like Veules-les-Roses.

And even this isolated stone jetty at at Sotteville-sur-Mer.

(upbeat music)

A perfect spot for taking in the brisk sea breeze,

salty air, and shrieking gulls.

(seagulls calling)

(upbeat music)

One destination for yachters along the Alabaster Coast

is Saint-Valery-en-Caux.

(upbeat music)

A harbor town with berths for 550 boats.

Flanked by steep cliffs, the chalky sediment

turns the water around the harbor

a distinctive milky green color.

(upbeat music)

Though Saint Valery has always been

a fishing and market town,

today, much of its income is from tourism.

From the air, it's also possible to see

the second nuclear power plant on this journey,

just five kilometers away at Paluel.

It is one of the biggest in the world

and part of the French commitment to nuclear power

that was sparked by the 1973 oil crisis.

(dramatic music)

Today, almost 80% of the country's electricity

is from nuclear power, the highest proportion in the world.

France is also the world's biggest exporter of electricity,

selling around 20% of its production

to five neighboring countries,

including Britain, across the English Channel.

But from here, we turn our attention inland

and across these fertile farmlands,

where we find the historic capital of upper Normandy, Rouen.

(dramatic music)

Situated on the river Seine,

and 200 kilometers downstream from Paris,

Rouen is Europe's biggest cereal shipping port,

accounting for almost half of France's grain exports.

(dramatic music)

Destinations are worldwide and include West Africa,

the Indian Ocean, as well as Cuba.

(dramatic music)

Rouen has been an important estuary port for centuries

and was once one of the largest

and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe.

(quiet music)

From the 11th to the 15th centuries,

Rouen was at the heart of the Anglo-Norman dynasties,

which ruled both England and large parts of modern France.

(quiet music)

But the city is probably most associated

with the French heroine and saint Joan of Arc.

In 1431, at the age of 19, she was brought to Rouen,

tried, and burned at the stake for heresy.

Her remains were then cast into the Seine.

(quiet music)

Today, Rouen's rich history and heritage

attracts one and a half million tourists each year.

Its greatest landmark is the cathedral,

which dates back to the fourth century.

Its been rebuilt and modified several times

and the impressive 19th century spire

briefly qualified as the tallest building in the world.

(quiet music)

Inside the cathedral is the tomb containing the heart

of the 12th century crusader king, Richard the Lionheart.

(birds chirping)

Following the winding river Seine

back out towards the English Channel,

we pass a series of impressive bridges,

each remarkable in its own right.

This is the Brotonne Bridge, completed in 1977,

and spanning 320 meters.

It is the oldest cable stay bridge of its type in the world.

(quiet music)

30 kilometers downriver is the 1959

Tancarville Suspension Bridge.

(quiet music)

At the time of opening, it was the longest bridge in Europe

at 960 meters.

(quiet music)

But this enormous structure wasn't even half the length

of the bridge that was opened 36 years later

at the mouth of the Seine estuary.

The Normandy Bridge.

(quiet music)

Up until 1999, this was

the longest cable stay bridge in the world,

specifically designed to withstand high winds.

(quiet music)

It provided crucial access to one of the

most important industrial centers in France, Le Havre.

Le Havre, which simply means "the harbor,"

is the second busiest seaport in France, after Marseilles.

(quiet music)

It was also a major passenger port

for transatlantic crossings, up until the 1970s,

when commercial air travel became widespread.

(quiet music)

Among the city's industries are oil refining,

as well as the manufacturing of cement and fertilizers.

But despite Le Havre's relative prosperity,

it has a dark and painful history.

During World War Two, the city experienced

the worst damage of any city in the country,

having been almost completely destroyed.

5000 people died in the Allied bombing raids of 1944,

3000 of them on the night of September the 5th.

It was the greatest single French loss

of the second world war.

(quiet music)

Le Havre was almost entirely rebuilt

and the 107-meter tower of Saint Joseph's Church

is a memorial to the 5000 civilians

who died in the conflict.

(quiet music)

And with a drive to redefine

the city's gloomy industrial image,

the eminent French landscape architect, Alexander Rodchenko,

was appointed to create this

two-kilometer pebble and sand beach.

It was awarded the National Seaside Resort status in 1999.

Across the Seine estuary to the south

is a completely different picture

of an old traditional port town

that was spared from the bombings during World War Two.

A popular stopover for cruise liners,

Honfleur is a picturesque fishing town and marina

whose history goes back to 11th century.

(upbeat music)

In the 1600s, it thrived on trade

with Canada and the African coasts.

As a result, the town became one of the principle ports

for the slave trade in France.

Much later, as its neighbor Le Havre

out-shadowed Honfleur's importance as a seaport,

its quaint charm drew some of the greatest artists

of the late 19th century.

(upbeat music)

Widely regarded as the cradle of the Impressionist movement,

Monet, Cezanne, Renoir, to name but a few, all painted here.

The French landscape painter Eugene Boudin

described Honfleur as the most ravishing spot in the world.

Today, the town attracts three million visitors each year,

making it one of France's top tourist spots.

Continuing along the English Channel,

farmland gives way to sloping woodland and country houses.

Here in lower Normandy, over 5000 properties

are owned by British nationals, drawn to the quality of life

and proximity to their native country.

Around a third live here permanently.

(quiet music)

And one very sought-after area for those with lots of cash

is Doville, one of the most famous

and prestigious beach resorts in France.

In 1858, the Duke of Morny,

half brother to Napoleon the Third,

had a vision to transform an expanse of sand and swamp

into an elegant kingdom near Paris.

(quiet music)

In four years, Morny created a town

whose magnificent villas, racecourse,

and rail link to the capital

helped it become a haven for the rich and famous.

Coco Chanel opened her second shop here

and it's believed that Doville's grand casino

inspired Ian Fleming to write Casino Royale.

Today, Doville continues as a fashionable holiday resort

for the upper classes.

With its marina, racecourse, international film festival,

and sumptuous hotels, Doville is regarded

as the Parisian riviera.

We complete our journey just inland

along the river Orne, over the historic city of Caen.

This was the home and final resting place

of William the Conqueror,

the greatest of all the Norman leaders,

whose influence reached as far as the kingdom of Sicily.

(dramatic music)

In 1066, William was crowned King of England,

after his victory over the Anglo-Saxon leader, Harold.

Only a year later, he was back in Caen to build an abbey

as penance for his marriage to his cousin Matilda,

something the Pope refused to sanction.

The result was the Abbaye aux Hommes,

now regarded as a Norman Romanesque masterpiece.

Its twin towers are topped with Gothic spires.

Rising 84 meters high, these helped earn Caen

the nickname City of Spires.

It's a spectacular sight,

and a perfect place to end this journey.

(quiet music)