CAP GRIS-NEZ
It will come as no surprise to you , that every member of the insideKENT team is indeed a foodie . And boy do we love breakfast . I , the croissant connoisseur ( whether in France or not ), am delighted to have my first flaky pastry delight of the day here , as well as cereal , orange juice and a hot cappuccino , the ultimate travel-breakfast trio in my opinion . My colleagues stock up on fresh fruit , sandwiches , crisps , soft drinks , chocolate brownies and more , brilliant snacks for our journey through the Côte d ’ Opale that lies ahead . Keeping an eye on our shuttle via Flexiplus information boards , despite there being extremely helpful stewards on hand , it was soon time to get back on board the bus and make our way under the water and to French shores . The journey itself is unbelievably smooth . Not only did it feel like it took no time at all ( an incredible 34 minutes ), Le Shuttle ' s helpful and friendly staff were there to advise and guide all travellers every step of the way . With doors closed , cars , buses and lorries boarded , it was a smooth journey through the tunnel and we soon glided into Calais with ease .
Leaving the port on the French side was just as easy as going through on the British , and soon we found ourselves meandering through sweet French villages , complete with boulangeries , cheerful looking école primaires , as well as churches and houses built with architecture unfamiliar to my eye . I found myself thinking how incredible it was that despite being so close in terms of distance , our architecture , language , culture and so much more , are completely unique to one another . It seems astonishing that the simple fact of Britain being an island nation has made this neighbour , one so physically close , seem so unfamiliar and distant to me . But with the ease of Eurotunnel ’ s Le Shuttle , this is a concept I hope to change .
Our first stop is a quintessentially French one : a cheesemakers . Laiterie Fromagerie Artisanale by Les Frères Bernard in Sainte Godeleine is the stuff of dreams . Seemingly perfect , this cheesemakers is pretty and pristine from the outside : a sculpture of a cow grazing happily on the green grass at the front of the building and the moos of real cows coming from the rural pastureland in the distance . We head inside and find ourselves standing in a gorgeous deli , packed with all sorts of mouthwatering goodies . Not only is it a cheese-lovers heaven , but this deli has everything one could wish to go alongside the cheese as well - from crackers and chutneys to juices and more . A flurry of customers come in and out , stocking up on their weekly supplies of whatever cheese takes their fancy . Upon the counter top , a cheese selection awaits customers who are yet to make up their minds , or like us , try something new . We dig in . The cheeses are no less than divine . Bries with a core of wild garlic , smoked cheeses with a hit of chilli and other fantastical fromages delight our senses .
We are soon met by the geniuses behind the cheese : Les Frères Bernard , two brothers who have gone from strength to strength when it comes to cheese from the Côte d ’ Opale . Antoine , the eldest brother , began making cheese here in 1984 after returning
to his own family farm , enlightened from a French tour . His goal was to turn their milk-producing land into a ‘ land of cheese ’. His head was full of exciting plans to create cheeses with new shapes , flavours and textures and so decided to open the Sainte Godeleine dairy in 1990 . Joachim Bernard joined his brother at the helm of the Sainte Godeleine dairy in 2001 , and their strong brotherly alliance enabled the dairy to grow to become a thriving regional business . Their passion scintillates around the factory as they tell us their story with the help of a delightful young colleague who translates for us as we are taken around . She explains : “ Our machines are designed to reduce repetitive gestures and avoid waste . Some of our cheeses are still moulded traditionally with a ladle and spoon . Every one of our authentic cheese recipes has stood the test of time since 1990 . Even when we modernised our premises in 2018 , authenticity was our priority .”
Today , visitors can attest this for themselves as guided tours and tastings just like ours are available . On these , cheese lovers can discover exactly what goes on behind the scenes in production at a family run French cheese factory and buy their favourite at the shop afterwards to take home . Délicieux !
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