The commune is situated on the D1015 road, some 25 miles (40 km) west of Abbeville, Mers-les-Bains faces the English Channel near the mouth of the river Bresle, on the border between Picardy and Normandy.

This ‘bathing station’ (seaside resort) has both pebbles and sand (at low tide) on the 1 kilometre (1 mi) beach and high chalk cliffs.

Once just a small fishing port, the seaside ‘bathing station’ grew partly because of the railway line that ran from Paris to Tréport.

Entire families could make the 3 hour journey from Paris to discover the benefits of bathing and breathe the fresh, iodized air.

This involves large rocks, transported on barges from Boulogne, being placed at the feet of the cliffs, to create a buffer and so preserve them and prevent further floods.