Le Touquet: old-world glamour on the French coast

Go for a bit of Hollywood, hedonism and history… stay for the beach

I was sold on Le Touquet even before we reached the beach, a vast sweep of golden sand and grey green sea. There’s something about the way the town was created that appeals, an eccentric idea that was based on nothing more than a desire for pleasure. (A bit like Las Vegas, but classier and French.) It was in 1837 when a wealthy Parisian lawyer decided to plant about 2,000 pines in the area for his hunting parties.

Around 50 years later, a linoleum magnate from Leeds bought the town, attracting the British gentry with a horse track, casinos and golf course.

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