- Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
French commune
nomcommune=Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
région=Nord-Pas-de-Calais
département=Pas-de-Calais
arrondissement=Montreuil
canton=Montreuil
insee=62826
cp=62520
maire=Daniel Fasquelle
mandat=2008–2014
intercomm=Communauté de Communes Mer et Terres d'Opale
latitude=50.518611
longitude=1.595000
alt moy=5 m
alt mini=0
alt maxi=42 m
hectares=1,531
km²=15.31
sans= 5,640
date-sans=1999
dens=347
date-dens=1999Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, commonly referred to as Le Touquet, is a coastal town and commune of the
Pas-de-Calais "département", in northernFrance . Population (2005): 8,500.Le Touquet has a reputation as the most elegant holiday resort of northern France - the playground of rich Parisians, with many luxury hotels.
Ever since the mid-1990s Le Touquet’s villas have become extremely fashionable amongst architecture lovers throughout Europe, rediscovering the “folie” of seaside architecture of both the
Roaring Twenties and theThirties . The most famous local architect isLouis Quetelart , whose style was named after him:Louis Quetelart Style .History
The resort was created in
1876 by the owner of the Paris newspaper, "Le Figaro ". Then this was an area of wild sanddune s and forest - part of a hunting estate. It became known as “Paris by the sea”, and strict building regulations encouraged the most talented architects to create imaginative and innovative developments.Le Touquet and the wealthy British
In 1903, a British Gentleman bought the land, and set out to sell properties to the rich from across the
English Channel . In the 1920s,Noel Coward and the “smart set” from England spent weekends here, and commissioned more outstandingvilla designs echoing traditional and ultra-modern domestic styles. Today the town tourist office offers organised trails to see outstanding examples of 19th and 20th century domestic architecture, which are now preserved and protected.Miscellaneous
Inland from the beach, hotels,
casino andhorse racing course , a wide range of sports, particularly golf are offered. The casino provided the inspiration of the casino of Royale-les-Eaux in "Casino Royale".Every year in February, a motorbike & quad race called 'Enduro' where bikes race along the beach and through the dunes.
Le Touquet was the birthplace of
Christian Ferras (1933 -1982 ),violinist . [http://www.associationferras.com/artiste/index.html]Twin towns
Le Touquet participates in international
town twinning ; its current partners are:*
Winterberg ,Germany (since September1966 ), winter sports town
*Rixensart ,Belgium , south ofBrussels
*Witney ,Oxfordshire ,United Kingdom
*Sidi Bou Said ,Tunisia , upscale seaside town in the suburbs ofTunis
* Cary,North Carolina ,United States
*Eckbolsheim ,France , 5 km fromStrasbourg Transportation
Le Touquet is served by
Le Touquet - Côte d'Opale Airport .Photo Gallery
External links
* [http://www.letouquet.com/ Le Touquet town council website]
* [http://www.golfinfrance.f9.co.uk/letouquet.htm/ Le Touquet golf club information]
* [http://www.aqualud.com/ Le Touquet Swimming Pool 'Aqualud']Notes
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