Le Touquet

Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, commonly referred to as Le Touquet, is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It has a permanent population of 4,224 (2023) but it welcomes up to 250,000 people during the summer, so the population at any given time during high season in summer swells to about 30,000. Located on the Opal Coast of the English Channel at the estuary of the river Canche, the commune is one of the most renowned seaside resorts in France, with a wide range of sports and leisure activities. The name "Le Touquet" is attested in the mid-18th century to designate the cape next to which the town was built. Alphonse Daloz, a notary in Paris, bought the land on the cape, planted a forest and built a small palace there, and in 1882 founded the seaside resort as Paris-Plage. John Whitley, an English businessman, saw a lucrative opportunity to build a resort for (mostly) English and French elites, so he became the owner of most of the town's lands. The construction boom that followed his acquisition led to the government recognising Paris-Plage as a separate commune in 1912. Numerous prestigious hotels were built, and at its peak of prosperity in the Roaring Twenties, the resort boasted the biggest casino in France by revenue, ultra-luxury hotels and an upscale clientele.