The abandoned Nazi Bunkers of Dunkirk

Emily,

After our stay in Brussels we were on our way to Calais. The next morning we were getting the ferry back to England and sadly completing the last leg of our trip. We had an amazing time but the next trip will definitely be longer and further!

On the way to Calais, we stopped to see the abandoned bunkers of Dunkirk. Last used in the second world war, the bunkers have now fallen victim to coastal erosion, graphiti artists and small mirrors.

Seeing as the bunkers date all the way back to the 1800s, it’s no surprise they’re a bit wonky. Having only a bit of a rebuild after the first World War, they are in pretty good shape though!

This was very hard to climb, especially when you’re in your bike gear

The coastline of Dunkirk is stunning and we had a beautiful, clear day for our visit. As beautiful as the beach was though, there was an unsettling chilling feeling of being there, knowing the history and sadly the amount of lives lost.

We needed to waste some time before checking into our Air bnb, as our host had messaged us saying someone had smoked a cigar in the cabin so it would take longer to clean it… Who smokes a cigar when there’s a no smoking rule? The stinkiest of all smoke and they smoked a cigar! (when we got there it still smelt a bit). Anyway, we stopped at a bakery for lunch and coffee. I think I could eat French pastries every day, if only they were 0 calories and 0 sugar.

Probably the most overrated coffee ever. Sorry Starbucks.

The Air Bnb was a little hard to find but then again we get that with most Air Bnbs… However Google maps was trying to tell us it was in the middle of a cetemetry… Now that would of been an interesting stay but I was very certain that wasn’t where we’d booked. After a quick phone call we got the right address and finally, after a long day we had a place to relax for the night.

We kept it simple and got some pizzas from Aldi and had an early night. The next day we were back to the UK home by 4:00pm. The trip was short and sweet and has definitely given us a drive to explore more of Europe by bike. We’ll just have to see what happens when brexit eventually happens, that is if it doesn’t get delayed… again!

Home is where your favourite mug is.

Published by Emily

A strong love and passion for travel, dogs, coffee, dogs and motorbikes. Yes, I did say dogs twice.

12 Comments

  1. Wow! That’s a really neat trip. I have seen the movie, but didn’t really think about the present day of it. Really cool to see, but I’m sure also sad and difficult to grasp the loss of life.

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  2. Nice one, those bunkers are interesting to look around aren’t they? So much history remains right along the French coastline. Have to agree too that Starbucks coffee isn’t great. In fact I generally go without rather than buy anything from Starbucks.

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  3. So much of history (Europe’s included) is shaped by war, it’s hard not to come across sad moments when visiting such places. It usually leaves me a bit more humble and grateful. Starbucks is an acquired taste. We enjoyed Nero’s while in Westminster.

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  5. Hi Emily,

    Love the adventures on the coast. We have that in Southern California as well. One of these days I am going to see Europe. Thanks for sharing. Just for fun our school hiking club was inspired to do a little photo travel blog called, The Road Over There on Word Press. Maybe you can be in of our first followers and we can share our California adventures with you.

    Thanks,

    Gary

    On Sun, Oct 6, 2019 at 10:33 AM The Blog of Travel wrote:

    > Emily posted: “After our stay in Brussels we were heading off early to > Calais. The next morning we were getting the ferry back to England and > sadly completing the last leg of our trip. We had an amazing time but the > next trip will definitely be longer and further! ” >

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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