The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-08-24
A FRENCH COMFY ISLAND.
At Berck No One Wears Shoes and Ever,
h,lv Rides DnnLav

At Berck No One Wears Shoes and Every
body Rides a Donkey.
II you prefer any quantity of sand to
Single At the seaside take a trip to Berck.
with its quantity picturesque fishermen and
women. Sand in front of you, sand to the
right of YOU. sand to the lett OF you, sand in
the streets, all around the houses, encircling
pools of sea water through which any num-
Der of happy children wade aukle-deep as
across alevel plane. Berck is a great health
resort, situated at few miles from B0u-
logne and not more than nalf an hours
drive from that interesting old fortified
town Montreuilsur-Me Going from Bou-
longe to Berck you change at Verton, and
thence proceed, via Montreuil, bv the new
railway TO Berck, which WAS opened ut the
beginning of this month. You will meet no
society beauties at Berck, no elegant mon
DANES In their fashionable, close-ftting
b0dices, no fastidiCus danGies, but hOmely
agsiomeratiOn Of men, women and children
mixing with the resident population, the
men dressed in somewhat Opera-comic FASH
ion, and the women like Little Red Riding
Hoods stepping out Of picture.
In the streets, or, To speak correctly in
the warm and soft sand thorOughfares,
which answer the purpose of streets at
Berck, two categoreS of people shoulder
each other-the native fishermen and fisher
women and the visitors. The fishermen,
whenever they are not out at sea with their
smackS, seem to live on the sands, chatting
with yolubility first with one and then with
another smart fiSherg!rl. dressed in her
bright red skirt and wearing the rosettes to
protect her ankles from the chatting of
the salt water, into which she has to
wade foot deep when she assists the
men TO unload their boats. The fiottans,
or adjacent population of men, wear
quantity fashioned smocks or blouses made
of blue or brown coarse linen, frequently
embellished with embroidered initials on
the left breast, their headgear being the no.
ticeable red, white or blue worsted beret
Then the women-the hottantes-aso wear
the same kind of headgear, and Spanish
looking kind of cape. which is the usual
mantle worn by them in that part Of the
country. Ii is made of different sorts of
materials, in either red, brown, blue, black
or white.
sands with naked feet On arriving there
boots and shoes are laid aside, only to be
put on again when one leaves the place
Boot and shoemakers have bad time of it
at Berck when they attempt to establish a
trade there The truth is every one lives on
the sand. The sea begins where it ends. 1t is
sand and sea and sea and sand. Nowhere
else Is there to be seen such Enthusiastically
attred crowd, such queer antquated
vehicles, such cOntented-looking, easily
managed donkeys, on whose backs children
ride miles out on the sands, and who really
appear to live as much in the pools as they
do on land.
There is absolutely no rule of order OBJ
served in the style OF building, the brick
houses and the wooden huts multiplying
year by year close to the beach, which ex-
tends beyond the downs with their long
stretches of greensward. There is no regu-
lar streets, but simply openings between the
blocks or chalets called BerckvilIe, which
are let furnished by the week or month, and
are at a distance of about mile from Berck
PLACE; few shops other than those for
supplying the actual neceSsares of life and
no brilliant casino.
1t may be asked: Do people enjoy them
selves at Berck? The answer must be yes
and no. There is not much amusement OBJ
tainable there when the wind is high and
when it rains, but for those who like home
ly, uneeremonious life at the seaside, and
love to see children run about and play on
the sands, there will be in a fortnight or
three weeks sojourn there pleasing rel ef
from the trials and turmoil of busy life.-
London Giobe