Mers-les-Bains in Picardy by Kerouac2
Apr 14, 2014 13:50:32 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2014 13:50:32 GMT
Mers-les-Bains is part of a tri-city intercommunal zone, the other two towns being Le Crotoy and Eu. Each of these towns is only three kilometres from the others. I thought I had once made a report about Le Crotoy but apparently not -- I just always get it mixed up with Le Tréport, because those two towns look identical to me, both on the left hand side of an inlet with a long row of seafood restaurants dating from the 1950's, interspersed with seedy shops selling beach balls and pinwheels. Town hemmed in by chalk cliffs. So it's just as well that I did not visit Le Crotoy this time. Mers was my destination, and the first thing that you should know (non-local French people have to be told this as well) is the the "S" is pronounced, so you would say "Mairce" when talking about the town instead of "Mair."
The claim to fame of Mers-les-Bains is that it has the best preserved collection of Napoléon III, Art Nouveau and Art Déco architecture along the coast -- more than 600 buildings. Oh, don't think that it was spared by the war. It was just a bit less pulverized than the other towns. The Germans blew up some of them themselves when they were blocking the view, but they also pierced through the walls of the seafront buildings to make a continuous passage for soldiers through the houses. It was in pretty sad shape by 1945, but Mers has an extremely active homeowners association that was created in 1886, and it fought tooth-and-nail to get the town put back together instead of having new buildings replace the damaged ones. This was no easy task with so much devastation across the northern half of the country, and rich people's pretty houses were not at the top of the list of priorities. But they never gave up and obtained their share of the war damages funds, and Mers-les-Bains was restored to its full glory. The association also survived the assault of coastal real estate speculators in the 1960's and basically made only one regrettable mistake. The old casino along the seafront closed in the 1980's. It was demolished and a modern apartment block went up in its place in the 1990's. Nobody's perfect. Anyway, the homeowners association has its own blog and Facebook page. This year they were thrilled that there was a major television report showcasing the city, and although I didn't see that, I did see an article in the newspaper which made me want to see the place for myself. The blog says that they are hoping the media exposure will help them to get some of the shabbier buildings renovated soon.
The claim to fame of Mers-les-Bains is that it has the best preserved collection of Napoléon III, Art Nouveau and Art Déco architecture along the coast -- more than 600 buildings. Oh, don't think that it was spared by the war. It was just a bit less pulverized than the other towns. The Germans blew up some of them themselves when they were blocking the view, but they also pierced through the walls of the seafront buildings to make a continuous passage for soldiers through the houses. It was in pretty sad shape by 1945, but Mers has an extremely active homeowners association that was created in 1886, and it fought tooth-and-nail to get the town put back together instead of having new buildings replace the damaged ones. This was no easy task with so much devastation across the northern half of the country, and rich people's pretty houses were not at the top of the list of priorities. But they never gave up and obtained their share of the war damages funds, and Mers-les-Bains was restored to its full glory. The association also survived the assault of coastal real estate speculators in the 1960's and basically made only one regrettable mistake. The old casino along the seafront closed in the 1980's. It was demolished and a modern apartment block went up in its place in the 1990's. Nobody's perfect. Anyway, the homeowners association has its own blog and Facebook page. This year they were thrilled that there was a major television report showcasing the city, and although I didn't see that, I did see an article in the newspaper which made me want to see the place for myself. The blog says that they are hoping the media exposure will help them to get some of the shabbier buildings renovated soon.
So, I parked along the seafront, and the first thing I did was to glance at Le Crotoy across the inlet.
And then I began my architectural tour. This end of the houses starts out very skinny and widens as the town nestles against the opposite cliffs.
There does not appear to be a legally restrained palette of paint colours like in most of the rest of France. The bright colours suit this often dreary part of France perfectly.
The town is so preservationist that this place still displays the original prices. Don't you sometimes wish you could go back to those times with your 2014 budget? I do.
And then I began my architectural tour. This end of the houses starts out very skinny and widens as the town nestles against the opposite cliffs.
There does not appear to be a legally restrained palette of paint colours like in most of the rest of France. The bright colours suit this often dreary part of France perfectly.
The town is so preservationist that this place still displays the original prices. Don't you sometimes wish you could go back to those times with your 2014 budget? I do.
