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Whilst living in the UK we used to pop over to France virtually every other weekend. It was close enough to drive roughly a two hour car trip and 15 minutes sitting in the car on the train and you were in France.I wasn't a fan of the day trip but more a weekend break. It was cheaper than travelling around England and there was plenty to see and do.
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For those of you who have no idea where it is.
Boulogne is about a 20 minute drive from the town of Calais and my first impression wasn't great. It was too English with the usual all day breakfast signs and Ye Olde Irish pub. I wouldn't recommend a visit there unless you are going to the Nausicaa Aquarium. This is a must if you are close by and if not a day trip for some lucky ones .I would recommend it to our Dutch friends as it is not that far for them either.
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This one was built in recognition of Jacques Cousteau's work and is his legacy.For those of you who don't know who he was he was the one person who bought the ocean into your living room filming the underwater world for the first time.He was the pioneer of underwater exploration and was a household name around the world many years ago.
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Tomorrow is the grand opening after a massive refurbishment making it the largest aquarium in Europe and one of the biggest in the world. It is literally half in the sea and half on land with all the exhibits having sea water running through them from the sea itself. The water is treated to make it as healthy as possible for the exhibits ,making sure the tanks stay clean.I was impressed with how it was done before and I am looking forward to returning at some point soon.
Here are some facts from the press release to get an idea of the scale of this project.
Key figures
100 m2 - is the total area of the viewing panel –
It took 6 weeks to fill the main tank with water
10,000 m3 - Is the volume of water in the big tank.
58,000 – Number of creatures
1,200 - Number of unusual species
15,000 m2 - Main exhibition area
7 km – Length of the water treatment pipes
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When we visited this place they had a viewing tunnel but not this big and the seals used to swim around it making you dizzy.This has been expanded from what was there before and it should make it more realistic experiencing underwater life. I have done some diving before and really enjoy the beauty of the ocean.The colors of everything are vibrant and the amount of life that is going on in another world of it's own.
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This is different to other aquariums as they have split it into two sections. The first being the "High Seas" and the second part "Mankind and Shores". The second one is very important as it tells the real story of the human impact on the ocean.They have added a reality type set of real footage from the bridge of their exploration vessel the Thalassa. It teaches how destructive man is and the damage that is being done to the oceans. They also highlight positives that are happening to change what damage has been done.
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