Les Planches

The boardwalk along Trouville's beach is the symbolic centre of the town. A line of wooden planks runs for nearly two kilometres above the sand, fronted by a row of small painted bathing huts that families rent for the summer. Belle Époque villas, the casino, and the Cures Marines spa form a backdrop on the inland side.

The promenade is busiest in late afternoon and early evening, when families fill the cafes that line it. Walk the full length, then sit at a beach cafe with a glass of cider and watch the tide come in.

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A story
The seafront promenade — les planches — was first laid in 1867, when the fashion for sea bathing brought wealthy Parisians by the thousands. The wooden boards saved their leather shoes from sand; the line of bathing huts behind dates to roughly the same period and is still in use.

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