France: Cap Gris-Nez, WW2 Bunkers, Étaples Military Cemetery, Fries, Trouville-sur-Mer and Beach
Bronco an me left Nada with René and we went to our morning exploration on Cap Gris-Nez - Garmin Connect. After the breakfast we went searching for the batteries, the remains of the World War II and we found a few. The road led us past the military cemetery to Berck, where we had traditional French fries. Just after Abbeville we left the Hauts-de-France region and entered Normandy, where we visited Trouville-sur-Mer and we found a nice place to sleep nearby.
Previous days of our road trip to Bayern - Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Netherlands, Belgium, Hauts-de-France, Normandie - Normandy, Bretagne - Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Rhineland-Palatinate: Day 6 - 16050, Day 5 - 16049, Day 4 - 16048, Day 3 - 16047, Day 2 - 16046, Day 1 - 16045.
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| On the morning walk with Bronco with the view to the lighthouse on Cap Gris-Nez. |
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| Remains of fortifications. |
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| On our way to the battery. |
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| Turm IV of Batterie Todt lies at the edge of the forest of Haringzelles overlooking the English Channel. |
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| You can walk around the bunker and even have a look inside. |
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| The bunker consisted of two floors. The top floor housed the ammunition bunker and crew room. The second floor was completely underground and housed the machine rooms. |
During World War Two the German garrison of Batterie Todt left various mural paintings on the walls of Turm IV based on propaganda and aimed to boost morale. Many of the murals have been painted over by graffiti artists of younger generations.
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| The gun room's embrasure allowed a 120 degrees rotation of the turret and -4 to 60 degrees elevation for the gun. |
This bunker is part of Batterie Todt which was constructed between 1940 and 1942 together with other German coastal batteries like Batterie Oldenburg along the French coast in preparation for the Invasion of Britain, codenamed Operation Sea Lion. The battery had a total of four casemates or “Turms” fitted with 380mm naval guns.
The firing chamber is circular with a diameter of 29 meters and has ceiling height of 11 meters. In the center of the room is the pivot for the Krupp 380mm SK C/34 naval gun. The gun itself was protected by a C/39 armored steel turret.
The firing chamber that originally housed the Krupp 380mm (15 inch) SK C/34 naval gun inside a C/39 armored turret.
We moved on to the Batterie Todt – Turm II, that lies more hidden away in the foliage of the nearby forest of Haringzelles.
Round-trip was finished and we returned back to René, that was waiting for us in the Haringzelles Woods, that were created from scratch by German troops, who transplanted adult trees from the forests of Boulogne and Desvres, in order to camouflage the blockhouses under construction.
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| On 10 February 1942 and with great pomp, the offensive battery with casemates containing four 380 mm cannons was opened. Known initially as the Siegfried Battery, it was given the name "Todt Battery" in memory of the German construction engineer killed the previous day in an aircraft accident. |
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| Situated at an altitude of 60 to 70 metres, depending on the position of the cannons, it could easily reach the English coast. |
After some driving, we stopped by the coast.
Many people were picking up mussels.
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| Tuši & Bronco. |
Finishing the walk.
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| Approaching Boulogne-sur-Mer. |
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| As we were driving, we spotted the Étaples Military Cemetery and we decided to take a look. |
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| Bronco was very curious. |
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| The cemetery holds over 11,500 dead from both World War I and World War II. |
Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, Étaples Military Cemetery is the largest CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) cemetery in France,and contains the remains of soldiers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and Germany.
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| Étaples was the scene of much Allied activity during World War I due to its safety from attack by enemy land forces and the existence of railway connections with both the northern and southern battlefields. |
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| The town was home to 16 hospitals and a convalescent depot, in addition to a number of reinforcement camps for Commonwealth soldiers and general barracks for the French Army. |
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| The abundance of military infrastructure in Étaples gave the town a capacity of around 100,000 troops in World War I and made the area a serious target for German aerial bombing raids, from which the town suffered heavily. |
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| In Berck, we decided to make a stop for lunch. |
Berck City Hall.
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| Waiting line for the French fries. |
Lunch in the van. Sorry René.
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| Scenery from the van. |
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| According to statistics from the French Ministry of Agriculture, France had approximately 7.5 million sheep in 2020. |
We arrived to Trouville-sur-Mer in the afternoon.
This fishing-village on the English Channel became a popular tourist attraction (beach-resort and holiday-destination) in Normandy from the 19th century. Its long sandy beach earned then the nickname of "queen of the beaches" ("Reine des plages") or "most beautiful beach in the world".
Interior of the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church and a big Ferris wheel.
English weather in Trouville-sur-Mer.
Trouville-sur-Mer features elegant seaside villas and mansions that were once the summer residences of wealthy Parisians during the Belle Époque.
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| They didn't allow Bronco to go to the casino. |
Gustave Flaubert told me, that the beer won't be cheap.
Along Touques, 108 kilometre long river.
On the pier near the sandy beach.
Nada dropped a cap for the camera to the lower part of the pier.
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| Minutes for gymnastics. |
Cap retrieved. Mission accomplished.
Along the beach.
Summer residences.
Bronco, look at the camera!
Trouville-sur-Mer has inspired numerous artists and writers over the years, including painters such as Claude Monet, Eugène Boudin, Raoul Dufy, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte and writers like Gustave Flaubert.
Our "campsite", 200 meters from the sea.
After an air strike, we went to bed.
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| Day 7, 359 km: From Cap Gris-Nez to Dives-sur-Mer. |
Geocaches found (all received a visit by trackable items "MissJenn’s 5 Cents", TB9K7R9, "Sukerbiet 1", TB9VDJJ, "Schwarzer Delfin mit Anker", TB9YMGV and "Geo virus", TB45ZBF):
- Bonus Adventure Lab : Le Cap Gris-Nez, Mystery, GCA3F3F
- Le puits du Cap Gris-Nez, GC534ME
- Le Gris-Nez, GC9Y8T5
- Le Cran des Sillers, GC534FQ
- Batterie Todt, GC8JRC2, where I spotted trackable items "Graffiti TB", TB61CBB and "_Nash_Geocaching License", TB5V5AZ
- 6- Le bois d'Haringzelle, GC8HY4J
- 5- Le bois d'Haringzelle, GC8HY41
- La Pointe aux Oies, GC54HPK
- Trouville Strange House, GC9670W
- (Bonus Adventure Lab) Romance Trouvillaise, Mystery, GC96712
- Les villas trouvillaises [Virtual Reward 3.0], Virtual, GC9P7FJ
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