Les Planches, Deauville's famous boardwalk

Les Planches in Deauville is a long promenade where you can admire the beach, the bright colours of the famous parasols and the changing colours of the sea and sky. It’s also a must-see stop on the Flowered Coast. Who knows, you might even catch a glimpse of the celebrities?

Once a high-society beach

In the 19th century, people came to the coast to bathe, but also to breathe the fresh seaside air while walking elegantly dressed along the specially laid out promenades. Deauville knew how to carve out a place for itself in the sun and it was fashionable for members of European high society to own a villa and spend the summer there.

The Pompeian Baths

In 1921 it was decided to replace the existing beach huts and wooden walkway with a modern, elegant swimming complex. Architect Charles Adda was chosen. In 1923, he had an Art Deco complex built with 250 comfortable cabins arranged around atriums, colonnades and mosaic pools. A sober concrete architecture with simple lines. Adda was also responsible for ‘les Planches’ (the planks of wood) installed alongside the cabins overlooking the sea, a kind of transition between concrete and sand.

Bains pompéiens Bains pompéiens de Deauville, © M-A Thierry

Deauville’s seafront is punctuated by a succession of cabin doors separated by small openwork concrete lice. Les Planches, on the other hand, forms a multitude of lines that lead the eye off into the distance. Originally 444 metres long, the promenade is now 643 metres long. The long planks are no longer the original ones, but are still made of azobé, a durable grey wood from the tropics. And in the summer months, the beach is covered with the famous colourful parasols (with their Deauville knot).

Les Planches Les Planches à Deauville, © R. Merizak – Adobestock

Les Planches and the big screen

At the inauguration of the Pompeian Baths in 1924, a young actress, Denise Grey, played ‘Ondine’ in one of the pleasure pools, not knowing that she would return to Deauville much later to play the role of Vic’s (Sophie Marceau) mischievous grandmother in La Boum. Since then, other actors have come to the Deauville stage: Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée in Claude Lelouch’s Un Homme et une Femme (A Man and a Woman), a world-famous film and musical. Since 2006, the director has had a square named after him near Les Planches.

The famous beach huts in Deauville The famous beach huts in Deauville, © M-A Thierry

Every September since 1975, the seaside resort has hosted the American Film Festival. Clint Eastwood, George Clooney, Sharon Stone, Nicole Kidman and many others have been welcomed here. Actresses and actors come to Deauville to inaugurate their names, painted in black letters on the lice that separate the beach huts. It’s a kind of Hollywood Boulevard ‘à la française’ with a sober touch.