Photo : JackyM59 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Fort d'Ambleteuse
Vauban designed the Fort Vauban at Ambleteuse... It is the only remnant of the great works undertaken to re-establish a military port facing England...
Strategically set between Wimereux and Cap Gris-Nez, sheltered in this wide bay, Ambleteuse had been a flourishing fortified town in the Middle Ages, but wars and silting reduced it to a tiny village... Louis XIV found the spot ideal and had the old foundations sought out to build his new installations.
Work began on the fort, the dykes and jetties and the basins for the port. But the insufficient flow of the River Slack could not flush the harbour enough to prevent silting... Everything remained unfinished except Fort Vauban, which Napoleon used as a base when he planned to invade England. From military port, Ambleteuse has become a charming family seaside resort, and the fort a museum thanks to the association that took charge of its restoration.
