La Mer - some French seaside resorts

Berck sur mer

Despite facing onto the edge of the English Channel - and I guess ultimately - the Atlantic, Berck seems more like a Mediterranean resort than a Northern France one. Obviously set out as a purpose-built resort in the 1900's - with roads radiating out from the sea front like rays of a setting sun - and who else but the French would call a very large roundabaout the "avenue circulaire"?
The giveaway clues are the namesof the streets and boulevards - London, America, Italy, Nice, Suzanne?!
Make your way through ever-decreasing angles of attack to the sea - all roads in Berck either lead to the sea or to the "avenue circulaire" - and you arrive at a wide, open sea front, bordered on both sides by heathland that merges in with the sandy beaches. Sandy beaches aren't what normally comnes to mind when talking about english Channel resorts, but here they are fine and wide and a great place for a picnic - just buy all the ingredients in the local shops, a bottle of chilled Loire and a happy time can be had by all....

Soulac sur mer

Soulac is a typical French seaside resort, developed in Edwardian times. Lots of villas for the wealthy and small bungalows for the middle & lower classes. You can walk along the promenade and feel the bracing winds coming off the Atlantic, but unlike further down the coast where the winds cause big breakers and unpleasant troughs & currents, here I guess as a result of the outpouring of the Gironde, the beach is sandy and recedes a long way when the tide is out. Almost on the tip of the Gironde peninsular, its an easy 5 minute drive up to the tip itsself where you can get a ferry across the mouth of the Gironde to Royan (a much larger more commercialised resort). Every so often the Tall Ships race comes through here and if you are lucky you can get a great view from the harbour walls as they are all constrained by the sand banks into a narrow parade as they exit into the Atlantic proper.

Collioure

Don't stay in Collioure - its expensive and busy - but there are good little hotels or camp sites dotted all around. But do go back for the nightlife - lots of restaurants, open air dining, pizzas, ice creams etc. After you've pigged out you can stroll around the picturesque inner harbour and watch all the other posers strolling around the picturesque inner harbour :-) It has too much of Nice and St Tropez about it, but nevertheless, either side along the coast are some great little places where you can swin and snorkel in the warm Mediterranean. Up the coast a bit - North - is Argeles Plage. A bit of an urban sprawl, nevertheless it does have a nice sandy beach and all the things you could want in terms of kiss-me-quick hats (sorry just joking - but it feels like that) and other holiday paraphenalia. A quick trip inland to the hinterlands of the Pyrenees can be cooling in the heat (and crush) of summer.

Calais

You probably wouldn't pick Calais as your beach destination of choice, but it does have some really nice wide sandy beaches and East towards Dunkerque out by the old Hoverport some dunes and wild areas, albeit back-dropped by a large cement works (I think its closed now though). Its a sort of strange, post apocalyptic place for a picnic.
The town itself was flattened in 1943/4 so there's not too much of interest apart from the City Hall which looks like someone went mad with an Edwardian version of giant-Lego - it has a certain charm of its own and from a distance can make you think "I thought we were going to Venice next week" such is its resemblance to St Mark's
Along the coast the other way is Bleriot plage - named after the French aviator who, 100 years ago in 1909, was the first the fly the channel. Just look out if you are driving along the D941 - there is a large fishing boat that looks as though it was tossed ashore and landed on the (surprisingly coincidental) roundabout b y accident one dark & stormy night. Thisn is a very French "thing" and perhaps the subject of another guide...

Cap ferret

Drive through Lege Cap Ferret and head South. Don't worry - you can't drive too far - the world stops after about 2 miles when you hit the sea. The Cap itself (cape) points down towards the South where you can get a great view across the bay or basin to the largest sand dune in Europe at Pyla. Sadly its probably a 30 minute detour to drive all the way around the bay to get to it, so if you want to experience it, then I'd start from there and then look back across to Cap Ferret . Of course, while you were driving, you could always stop off in Audenge and sample some of the local oysters - the whole bay is dedicated to producing them and they deliver around 60% of the oysters eaten in France. Autumn is when the season starts - and a bag of 24 will cost you around £6/€8 from a roadside stall.
Bon appetit!