Dunkerque

Famous, of course, for the 1940 evacuation; the magnificent beaches certainly look different today from that sweeping panorama of destruction in the film 'Atonement'. The town, of course, was utterly destroyed. The rebuilt port handles containers and a ferry from Dover. On the edge of the town, the two villages of Fort-Philippe retain a certain charm, and the leisure Centre 'Sportica' is splendid. The fortifications of nearby Gravelines bespeak a turbulent past.