48 hours in Dunkirk

Hauts-de-France/2023

30°C on the beach - a rare sight! At 18°C, the crowds would have been the same. As is the case every August in Malo-les-Bains, Dunkirk's seaside resort, the kilometers of sand, the seawall and the dunes are occupied by the locals. All enjoying the sea spray from the north.

For many visitors, locals and travelers alike, the charm of "Malo" - Malo-les-Bains, a district of Dunkirk - works in all seasons, and most often when the sky meets the sea in 50 shades of gray. In fact, the sky isn't gray, it's silver. In winter, we stroll along the beach bundled up, whipped by the breeze, between dog and wolf. In pale spring and foggy autumn, we discover ourselves shyly. The view, however, remains majestic. Anyone who hasn't sat on the dike at dusk with his or her lover, eating a waffle or munching French fries, knows nothing of the popular romanticism of this magical landscape. Souchon knows a thing or two about it, singing in Le Baiser about the "dune path" of "la plage de Malo Bray-Dunes" and the North Sea that "in winter brings out its grey-green elephants". Before him, Brel evoked this setting, that of his Plat Pays, with the "North Sea as the last wasteland, and waves of dunes to stop the waves"... The city encourages us to forget the car. "I'm going to the beach on foot", you can read on the signs. The beach is inaccessible to motor vehicles. The ideal way to enjoy the northern sands, the colorful beach huts, the beautiful facades of the notables' houses built in the last century, cycling on the seawall, sand yachting and kitesurfing for the sporty types. The others look on, enjoy themselves, eat an ice cream and sip a draught. They'll be back in winter with the same good humor for fricadelles, welsh and shrimp croquettes. Bicycling along the well-maintained tracks, you can easily cover the seaside path through the dunes, all the way to Belgium. You'll pass through Leffrinckoucke, home of the world shrimp-peeling championship, Zuydcoote, popularized by Robert Merle's novel about the Battle of Dunkirk in May 1940 - and its various film adaptations (with Belmondo, or more recently Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk) - and Bray-Dunes. Then we reach the border and, on the Belgian side, the famous resort of La Panne, where Dunkirk's youth come to enjoy themselves. Back to the heart of Dunkirk, Place Jean-Bart, where it all happens. The hustle and bustle extends to the Saint-Eloi belfry and church, the stores, as everywhere else, the shopping center, the market and Rue Poincaré, the city's most gourmet street. The promenade over the canal on Quai de la Citadelle, skilfully renovated and lined with attractive new signs, is a must. At the end is the Maritime and Port Museum and the sailing ship Duchesse Anne, the last three-masted square-rigged vessel preserved in France. The jewel of the German navy, she was confiscated and returned to Germany as war reparations. If you've seen the series Baron noir, whose hero (played by Kad Merad) lives in Dunkirk, you'll have appreciated the beautiful shots of the town, the sea, the port, the canals... It's even better in person, with the accent and the warmth - legendary, but real - of the Dunkirk people. What's more, it's easy to get around the city on any of the 16 bus routes without spending a single euro. Since 2018, Dunkirk has been the largest conurbation in Europe to offer its transport network free of charge to all.