Let’s be honest, Calais doesn’t have the best reputation. The small boat problem has taken care of that, but in reality, the city has gotten smart and a couple of Frenchmen in their twenties, who run a shop in the city center that sells skate clothing, even call it ‘CalaisFornia’.
Of course, before Brexit, Calais was a handy destination for a ‘booze cruise’, where you could load up the car with practically as much cheap beer and wine as you wanted.
Nowadays, however, there are duty-free shops, which means you can still buy a good amount of wine, beer and spirits. What’s more, it’s even cheaper than before when you reclaim VAT.
With this in mind (and needing to stock up for Christmas and New Year’s), my thirty-something son Nick and I hop on Le Shuttle and get to work at Calais Vins, a wine hypermarket just a few steps away. minutes drive from the tunnel.
The duty-free allowances in the UK are 42 liters of beer and 24 bottles of still (non-sparkling) wine, as well as 12 bottles of sparkling or fortified wine, which can be substituted for five or six bottles of spirits.
I buy a couple of six-bottle cases of Charles Pelletier Brut Blanc de Blanc, a good substitute for champagne, for the equivalent of £44.64 a case, that’s £7.44 a bottle.
At home, it would cost me £16.88 a bottle. I then get to work on the reds and purchase six bottles of Pinot Noir 2023 Maison Ropiteau for £31.24 (compared to £102.30 in the UK).
For good measure, I’m throwing in a case of Belgian craft beer, Anosteke Saison, for £3.91 for a 75cl bottle, less than half the price in the UK even if you could find it at home.
Jeff and Nick Mills Stock Up on Duty-Free Christmas Wine
Calais Wine Superstore is just one of many places to stock up in the French port city
How it works is that you provide your passport details and, as long as you spend at least €100, a system allows you to claim back French VAT (around 20 per cent). Simply scan the barcode on your receipt at a machine at Le Shuttle or the ferry terminal on the way home.
After our shopping, we headed into town, where there are two Christmas markets, both open between November 30th and January 5th.
We checked into the Ibis Styles hotel, it’s not fancy but it does the job and it’s a short drive to the seafood restaurant, Oh! Mouette (Oh! Seagull), which is sensational. If you look out the window, you can see the ship that landed on your seafood plateau.
The next morning, we tour the entire Calais area from the clock tower of the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), where by elevator to the bell tower you can stop at many Flemish Renaissance style rooms, including the one where General De Gaulle was married . .
Outside, there is a sculpture of de Gaulle and Winston Churchill looking friendly.
There will also be offers when we return to the Le Shuttle terminal, including a free case of six bottles of wine if you spend €200 on duty-free products. We resist this one. What we have in the trunk of the car is more than enough for now.
TRAVEL DATA
Calais by Eurotunnel Le Shuttle from £59 each way for one vehicle and up to nine passengers (www.eurotunnel.com). Double rooms at Ibis Styles hotel from £77 b&b (h7209@accor.com).