Short breaks by car to France

Ibis Hotel Boulogne Sur Mer Outreau

Our choice of hotel for this trip would not suit everybody you find a lot of negative comment on Tripadvisor type sites against budget hotels.This hotel is next to a large Leclerc supermarket and several other large retail outlets.Most of the stores were shut by 8 pm.

So to the plus point the room was clean and had everything you needed for a couple of nights including free WiFi.A good breakfast friendly staff safe parking it is about a mile to the centre of Boulogne where you can easy spend 2 days.

The hotel is just a mile from the A16 the main motorway for this coast which is another plus.there are a lot of seaside towns and village just a short drive away.

Update

The hotel as been knocked down for a KFC drive through.So we will have to find another Ibis hotel in the area

Straight after breakfast we headed down the A16 towards Calais to the Cite of Europe shopping centre. You turn off the motorway at junction 41 about a 15min drive. Most of the shops open at 10 am the Carrefour supermaket opens earlier.So the first job was to get some French bread for the picnic

Inside the Cite of Europe

We spent about 3 hours in the centre and then it was on to the A16 to the seaside town of Wimereux.The weather was bright and sunny and really warm for March.We parked overlooking the beach for our picnic lunch.After lunch we had a walk along the seafront and in to the town centre.

Then back to the car and along the coast road to Boulogne.Where we stopped off in the old part of town just behind the Citadel there are several narrow street to explore.

On the second day of our short break we spent the morning at the very large Auchen supermarket a short drive from Boulogne.The first job was to fuel the car diesel is about 25p a litre cheaper than the UK petrol is about the same.Food prices are simular to the UK but better quality and taste.We purchased about 300 euros of food cheese, ham,eggs,jam,honey fresh vegetables and walnuts.In the past we never brought clothes or shoes they were a lot dearer than the UK.However prices have come down and we brought two pair of shoes.