Immensity of water, vegetation and sand, shaped by a thousand shades of light, the Baie de Somme forms a majestic link between sky, land and sea. Around this estuary unfolds a varied landscape woven of dunes, cliffs, pebbles, meadows and marshes. The beauty of the Bay, the richness of its heritage, but also the commitment of those involved in preserving it and passing on its values have earned it national recognition: the Grand Site de France label.
Along the English Channel, the Baie de Somme draws a vast indentation of water, sand and wild grasses in the Picardy coastline. The one called the Baie is actually an estuary, which extends over approximately 7,200 hectares. To the south, the waters of the Somme, channelled from Abbeville, flow into it. To the north, it is irrigated by the Maye. As the crow flies, Paris or Brussels can be reached in 206 km and London in 189 km. At this point where land and sea unite, immensity is the scale of the eye. Here, the eye is bathed in a changing light that changes with the hours and the tides, from the brightness of ochre, green and azure to the shades of a vibrant grey.
A landscape of a thousand faces
Behind the term "Baie de Somme", we mean not only the estuary, but also the entire country surrounding it. We thus discover that this landscape contains a myriad of facets. Let's start by following the Picardy coastline from north to south, along its seventy-two kilometres, of which only 15% are urbanised. This walk begins in the Bay of Authie, the little wild sister of its famous neighbour. We then walk along the dune massif of Marquenterre, classified under the legislation on the protection of natural monuments and sites, before arriving in the Bay by the tip of Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont. Five kilometres open the estuary to the English Channel. On the other side, the pointe du Hourdel is also classified with Cap Hornu under the same legislation on natural sites. From the Hourdel stretches a string of pebbles. In Ault, it gives way to the sharp cliff overlooking the sea. We will follow it for six kilometres to Mers-les-Bains, where the Bresle flows on the border of Normandy.
But the country isn't just a coast... Going inland north of the bay, we climb the white dune, the grey dune covered with mosses, then the wooded dune. You then arrive in the Lower Fields, then in the backshore marshes, before going up to the agricultural plateau. To the south, the pebbled cordon was once open, sheltering a lagoon. Now closed, it separates the sea from the Bas-Champs. Crossing the latter, one then comes up against the dead cliff, which marks the old coastline and the beginning of the chalk plateau. The Bay, the coastline that surrounds it, and its hinterland... so many landscapes come together to make up this Grand Site de France, which covers 38,000 hectares, 25 communes and 20,000 inhabitants, and which is visited by many people every year.
The Bay of the Somme is not a frozen land: every day, the tide gives it a changing face, new lights reveal it, according to the succession of the seasons. Nature is ardent and constantly shapes the landscape. The sea recalls its power, eroding little by little the sharp cliff by modifying the coastline. It is the sea that moves the pebbles; born of the crumbling of the Normandy cliffs, they move up the coast to the entrance of the Baie de Somme, forming hooks that lengthen over the years
An inhabited territory
The reading of these vast expanses could not be complete without the traces that the builders left there, witnesses of their way of inhabiting the place over the centuries. The Middle Ages left a precious imprint, which can be discovered, for example, in Rue. It is hard to imagine that this open-air town was then a fortified place, and an active port! In 1101, the sea miraculously placed a crucifix there. It was venerated until the Revolution in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, a finely chiselled flamboyant Gothic jewel. As for the belfry, it testifies to the autonomy that the city obtained as early as the 15th century
Saint-Valery-sur-Somme is also rich in history: in 1066, its port welcomed the fleet of William the Conqueror, before his departure to conquer the throne of England. Fate returned in 1431 when Joan of Arc passed through the town as a prisoner of the English. Even today, the upper town is still fortified. There are a few half-timbered houses, and the church in its beautiful polychrome setting: a checkerboard of white chalk and anthracite flint forms its walls. Higher up, this harmony can be found on the walls of the Chapelle des Marins which dominates the Bay.
On the other side of the Bay, in Le Crotoy, the streets draw the authentic history of a fishing village. In the 17th century it was one of the most important ports in the Channel, but today the silting up of the bay has forced fishing boats to moor at Le Tréport. But in Le Crotoy fishermen's houses mingle with holiday homes. The village had its hour of glory at the beginning of the 20th century with the perfumer Guerlain, who attracted the fashionable Tout-Paris of the Belle Époque to the banks of the Somme Bay. Painters also immortalized these landscapes, from Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec, via Seurat and Manessier.
Not far away, in the Bois de Cise valley, there are holiday resorts rivaling each other in splendour and originality. Cayeux-sur-Mer holds, in a former shed, the first lifeboat at sea that draught horses hauled to shore. In summer, the beach is still adorned with charming rows of cabins. Finally, as you travel through the hinterland, you encounter the rural life that has shaped the land: picturesque whitewashed farmsteads stretch along narrow roads where you love to get lost. In Lanchères, in a 15th century seigniory now ruined, lived the viceroy of Canada Jean de Poutrincourt (1557-1615). Further on, in the commune of Noyelles-sur-Mer, the Chinese cemetery of Nolette is a strange and painful remnant of the First World War, which devastated Picardy.
From bay to man, traditions and resources
In the Bay, nature offers man a thousand riches that he has been able to dispose of with intelligence and respect. Traditions are passed on and know-how is passed on. The local economy has adapted to the evolution of the landscape as much as to the development of tourism
Fishing on foot is one of the traditional activities of the Baie de Somme. At low tide, fishermen pick up hulls in the sand with a sieve, sand worms prized by anglers, or samphire. The samphire is picked more than it is fished, since it is a small plant that grows on the sand with its feet in the sea water. Crunchy, salty, the glasswort is eaten fresh in season, in salads or to accompany fish, and in jars the rest of the year. Gourmets will also pick "pig's ears" - the maritime aster - another typical plant of the area.
The Bay is also home to a tasty mollusc: the bouchot mussel. The mussel farming site, north of the Bay, has 100,000 bouchots, the stakes lined up on which the mussels take a year to mature. The mussel growers' tractors, which are essential to their work, are the only motorized vehicles authorized to cross the Nature Reserve. The excellent quality bouchot that comes out of production is sold locally, to the delight of regulars and tourists alike. A delight of first-rate freshness guaranteed!
Clever information
When? As soon as the fine weather arrives to enjoy walks and lunches in the sun.
Go there. By train (Abbeville, Noyelles-sur-Mer and Rue stations) or by car.
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