Tutorial Transcript

Hello and welcome to the France Show 2018. Today, I am with Antoine. Hello Antoine. Hello. So Antoine, what are you doing here, at the France Show? Well, I came to promote the Boulonnais, on the Côte d'Opale, Boulogne-sur-Mer and the area around. We came here because it is a local fair. We think that here in London, we are in a local fair since the British and London clientele, Greater London, these are people who know the Boulonnais very well already. These are people who often come, either by ferry or via the tunnel with Eurotunnel. We are really very close to the Eurotunnel terminal. We are a small half-hour, 25 minutes away. And also, our area really appeals to the British people. OK. So, Boulogne-sur-Mer, for the sake of precision, is located in the north of France. Yes, it is located in the, in what we now call “les Hauts-de-France”, in the Pas-de-Calais department. Pas-de-Calais, that’s it, number 59. 62. 62. OK. So tell me, you are promoting, so, the area. Do you work for the town? So me, I work for the Boulonnais-Côte d'Opale tourist office, which is a community tourist office. So we represent 22 communes. So, Boulogne-sur-Mer is the main town, but we also include towns such as Hardelot, Wimereux, which are very pretty seaside resorts. Do you know them? Wissant? Wissant, it is not our territory. But we are… Wissant, it is part of the “Site des Caps”, and Boulogne et Wimereux are the entry door to the “Site des Caps”. So, it is really 30 minutes, half an hour by car from Boulogne. So many beautiful seaside resorts, small fishing villages such as Le Portel, Équihen-Plage, which are very pretty. OK. Cap Blanc-Nez, Cap Gris-Nez, is this part of your areas? All this, it is near us. It is not part of our area, but, we are… when someone, when someone visits the Cap Gris-Nez, Cap Blanc-Nez, he or she is bound to end up in the Boulonnais. We are very close, so there is no rivalry, we are close friends. OK, close friends. Sorry, sorry. So, one last brief question. If I come for a day in the area of Boulogne-sur-Mer, what do you recommend I do, Antoine? There are lots of things. You can, from the 19th of May, visit Nausicaa, which will be the biggest aquarium in Europe, from the 19th of May​. Nausicaa, it is an aquarium which has been in existence for 26 years already and which has been extended. It is now what we call the “Big Nausicaa”, the areas opened to visitors have doubled. And well, you can for a start spend half-day in Nausicaa, and then take advantage of either the fortified town of Boulogne – we have fortifications, a castle, a cathedral – or go, leave for Hardelot, which is a pretty… With a beautiful castle too, a marshland. So, it is a combination of nature, history, architecture and gastronomy too. That’s it, sold. I am going, tomorrow, no the 19th of May, 19th of May. Yeah, you can come tomorrow also, but it will be more spectacular from the 19th of May. Ah, no, no, but we are going to go, absolutely. One last brief question Antoine: school trips. If we wanted to do a school trip in the Boulogne area. It is very appropriate as we, we offer, we welcome a lot of groups. We work with well-known agencies dealing with school trips. We welcome many groups of British schoolchildren and we offer them guided tours, in English with a little bit of French, of the fortified town of Boulogne, of the fishing port of Boulogne which is the main fishing port in France. And they can do some sport activities such as sand yachting, horse riding or even golf. So, it is a first class and local destination for a school trip. And eclectic, one can do a little bit of everything. Yeah, there are lots… it is varied… and one eats well too. Super, thank you very very much Antoine. And I am going. We are going to Boulogne-sur-Mer. Goodbye, see you soon, kiss kiss. Goodbye.

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