Hertfordshire & North Middlesex Area of the Ramblers' Association

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Rand'Opale 2008
Charlie Leadbetter

This was my third experience of walking in the Parc Des Caps, an appealing area of France between Calais and Boulogne. The event offers five different lengths of walk from 8-40km with checkpoints along the way for refreshments and toilets. Each route is marked with a coloured tape, so no need for maps. There was a new starting point for everyone this year: Wissant, an attractive village on the Cote D'Opale.

Sadly, as I was unable to book one night in Wissant over a weekend, which was understandable, I chose a cheap hotel just off the motorway outside Boulogne . Once I'd found it, I found not only was it handy for the motorway, it was also very handy for the industrial estate it was situated in. The room had been designed with the most efficient use of space; what I thought was the wardrobe proved to be the en-suite; and the third bed, a bunk bed, was just above and across the head of the bed. You had not to sit up too quickly. I sought an early start for the walk. Just after I'd turned in, I heard a great clamour as a group of schoolchildren arrived and began to explore each other's rooms. Once they realised they were all identical, and they'd run out steam, it did quieten down.

An early start to Wissant where Justin, Jackie and I quickly met up and agreed we would do the 20 miles (32km) together. We were all swiftly signed in, €2 each, and soon settled with croissants and chocolate; this is supplied as part of the registration fee, along with the snacks at all the checkpoints, very good value.

We were on our way a little after 8 am and with the route this year split, so the 32 and 40km headed south, whilst all other routes headed north, we did not meet up with quite so many other walkers as in past years. We were joined by two other UK walkers whose names escape me for now - my apologies for this lapse; I'll have to confess to a grey moment.

Our first check point was Tardinghen, a small farm and three miles in, here we collected our Elephant stamp on our cards and a handful of raisins. Our two fellow walkers said they would take a 10 minute break at each check point, so waved us on. At Audinghen, our second checkpoint, a small private garage, at 8 miles, we sat by the roadside munching raisins and chocolate. At this point the warmth of the sun began to get through to us and with a crocodile on our cards we headed off to Audresselles and a lunch stop. At the start we'd been issued a card to collect stamps at all the checkpoints and a plan of all the routes, on which is marked the distance completed and whether you have a Friterie, a Brasserie or Non - Non indicating we must take an extra handful of nuts and raisins. As we passed over a ridge, Audresselles and lunch appeared in the distant against an azure sea; it looked very small and white and did not appear to get any larger for quite a while. This was also our 12 mile check point and situated in a bar, or just outside to be correct, sadly only selling beer.

We decided food was needed and joined the many French families sitting in the sunshine at one of the many restaurants. These just materialize out of someone's living room, spread across the pavement and into the road. We settled on frites and omelette, with Justin choosing the wine; he settled for a local beer, one he'd tasted the previous evening whilst waiting for dinner. At the same time as enjoying the sunshine and our meal, our two fellow walkers we'd left miles behind, stopped by and commented with a laugh "lunch is for wimps". To which our only reply was "cheers".

Suitably refreshed we set off for our last checkpoint, Framzelle, at 16 miles. The route took us past Cap Gris Nez and with views of the sea to our left, we walked through woodland and across open grassland. At Framzelle, a charming little village by the sea, there was not only our checkpoint but also an ice cream kiosk. This was very welcome as the day had turned out to be very hot. This last section of the route took us along the cliffs for a short distance; we were blessed with a breeze off the sea and could see Wissant in the distance. The path presently had us leaving the cliffs and descending amongst the sand dunes. This section was the hardest to walk, very hot, no breeze and no view. Presently the path took us down to the beach; this was much easier walking and cooler but Wissant did not seem too be getting any closer. The last section again took us back into the dunes and finally out on to the Wissant sea front and the purple markers we had been following all day disappeared.

We were left wandering the streets searching for our goal. We were then spotted by Tony, our Group chairman, who had ensconced himself outside a bar enjoying the sun with the rest of the Finchley and Hornsey Rand'Opalers. They'd taken a more leisurely breakfast and shorter route. They pointed us in the direction of the finish and we replied "we'll be back". We clocked at 4 pm , giving us a respectable 20 miles in eight hours, averaging 2.5 mph. You do set your own pace.

Rand'Opale