The Bay of Somme: Where River Meets Sea

The Baie de Somme presents a different face of the northern coast. Here, the landscape softens into vast tidal flats, salt marshes, and sand dunes. This is one of Europe's great estuaries, where the Somme River finally meets the sea after its long journey from the Aisne. Twice daily, the tide transforms this landscape, covering vast mudflats with water, then retreating to reveal a gleaming expanse that attracts hundreds of thousands of migratory birds.

The bay is home to France's largest colony of harbor seals, some 500 individuals who haul out on sandbanks at low tide. Their presence speaks to improving water quality and successful conservation efforts, a bright spot in the often-grim narrative of marine environmental decline. Local guides lead walking tours across the bay at low tide, teaching visitors to read the landscape like a book: here the spiral tracks of periwinkles, there the breathing holes of razor clams, everywhere the delicate footprints of birds following the tide's retreat.

The human settlements around the bay reflect this tidal rhythm. Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, perched on the bay's northern edge, preserves its medieval character with narrow streets climbing from the harbor to the old city. Its fishing fleet specializes in small, sweet shrimp and the local delicacy of salicornia, or sea asparagus, harvested from the salt marshes. Le Crotoy, on the southern shore, offers a gentler aspect, its long beach attracting Parisian families who've summered here for generations.