Cap Blanc-Nez is a cape on the Côte d'Opale, in the Pas-de-Calais département, in northern France.
The rocky Cap Blanc-Nez is the northernmost part of France's coastline, with its chalky cliffs and hills reaching heights of up to 433 ft.
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| Cap Blanc-Nez |
The stony soil at the top of these cliffs supports grassy moorland terrain formed by the salty spray deposited by winds blowing in from the north and west.
As the only sea-facing chalk hillside in the Nord Pas-de-Calais region, Cap Blanc-Nez offers an impressive variety of halophytes that thrive with the salt present in the water, for example sea cabbage (an ancestor of the garden vegetable).
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| Cap Blanc-Nez |
Few plant species are able to take root in the strong winds at the top of the cliffs, except a few elders and hawthorns nestling in the shelter of old bomb craters.
From May to September, the plant-life of Cap Blanc-Nez blooms into a full spectrum of colours and scents including oregano, thyme, yellow-wort, eyebright, milkwort, rock roses, orchids and scabious.
This impressive floral display coincides with the arrival of birds like the Northern Fulmar and Black-legged Kittiwake, who come to nest on the cliffs, unlike Passerines like the stonechat who prefer the grassland.