Right on the southern outskirts of Calais, BLÉRIOT-PLAGE was thus named to commemorate Louis Blériot's epic first cross-Channel flight in 1909. Six kilometres further along the foreshore of well-conserved dunes, by the dreary village of SANGATTE, the Channel Tunnel comes ashore; the actual terminal is 5km to the east outside the village of COQUELLES. Thereafter, the D940 winds up onto the grassy windswept heights of Cap Blanc-Nez, topped by an obelisk commemorating the Dover Patrol who kept the Channel free from U-boats during World War I. Just off the D940, opposite the turn-off to the Cap Blanc-Nez obelisk, is the Musée du Transmanche (April–June & Sept Tues–Sun 10am–6pm; July & Aug daily 10am–6pm; €3), which offers an overall history of Channel Tunnel exploits; the museum is housed in the basement of Le Thomé du Gamond, a rather pricey restaurant with panoramic views (open all year from noon; menus from €14). From here, 130m above sea level, you can spot the Channel craft plying the water to the north, while to the south you look down on WISSANT and its enormous beach between the capes from which Julius Caesar set sail in 55 BC for a first look at Britain.Modern Wissant remains a small and quietly attractive place, popular out of season with windsurfers and weekending Britons. The tourist office (tel 03.21.82.48.00, www.ville-wissant.fr) is on place de la Mairie. First and foremost among the good places to stay and eat is the old, red-timbered Hôtel de la Plage, 1 place Edouard Houssen (tel 03.21.35.91.87, fax 03.21.85.48.10; €40–55; good restaurant from €14), whose rooms are arranged around a wide courtyard. Decent alternatives are the much smaller Le Vivier, in the village centre (tel 03.21.35.93.61, www.levivier.com; €30–40; closed mid-Jan to mid-Feb), with a good restaurant at similar prices; and the clean and modern Escale, on the crossroads in neighbouring ESCALLES (tel 03.21.85.25.00, fax 03.21.35.44.22; €40–55; restaurant from €12). Wissant also has a municipal campsite, La Source (closed mid-Nov–March).
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