Getting to Le Crotoy, on the North-East coast of France, under a beautiful blue sky. Le Crotoy is not a particularly beautiful or suggestive place; it’s just a nice village with a small harbour and a loud fish market, like many in this area. Its mark of distinction is Les Tourelles. You can’t miss its red and white stripy towers that many mistake for lighthouses. Les Tourelles is one of the most beautiful seaside hotels we’ve ever seen. Part of the same hotel chain that owns Plein Ciel (in Champery), this is far from being a classic hotel. It’s rather a castle clinging onto a stretch of coast overlooking England. The grey boiserie and the wide wood floorboard parquet flooring are everywhere. Rooms are simple, bed-sheets white and the bed cover is a dust blue colour. The view from our room is an endless stretch of sand. The smell of sea salt and the sound of seagulls clearly reach us. Dinner is served in the big hall with windows overlooking the vegetable garden. We eat piping hot prawn croquettes and fish a la plancha with chorizo and red pepper sauce: truly delicious. When we step out for a walk, we are reminded of tides. Where it was sand, now it’s two metres of water. It’s like the sea had come back to relax and close its eyes.

Words and pictures Meraviglia Paper.