Brighton-lès-Pins [Brighton near the pines]; Brighton Plage; Cayeux-sur-mer-Brighton – call it what you will, there is a development called Brighton in the north-west of France.
Where in the north-west of France? Find St Valéry at the mouth of the River Somme. Follow the coastline round to the south and there it is, just two kilometres north of Cayeux-sur-mer. Continue reading
In 1836, the Revue Anglo-Française was quite astonished to reveal this riveting fact:
Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF
Apparently, according to the Review, England was importing, via the ports of London and Brighton, no less than sixty-two million eggs annually. France was providing not less than fifty-five million of these eggs. The Review goes on rapidly to tot up how much revenue France was gleaning from England. At 42 centimes per dozen, that added up to 1,925,000 francs a year.
You can almost hear the author rubbing his hands in glee. Would he have wanted “England” to leave “Europe”?
Source: Musée Carnavalet
In 1821 Charles Nodier, poet, novelist and librarian, was 41 years old and happily married. He set off to travel from his home in Paris to make the long journey to Scotland.
The journey from Dieppe to Brighton was so rough that the sailboat ferry was blown off course. Nodier and his fellow passengers endured a crossing of thirty-two hours. It should have taken a mere ten. Continue reading
Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF
In 1862, Ernest Sazerac de Limagne published a collection of short stories called “Le Touriste au salon”. Some were fictional accounts of “getting away from it all” in France. Others were set in more exotic locations such as Switzerland, Scotland … and Brighton.
Source gallica.bnf.fr/BnF
The name BRIGHTON seems to hold an enduring fascination for French artists in all disciplines. Here is a first example.
In 1891 Leopold Wenzel, the Italian-born Musical Director of the Empire Theatre in London, wrote the music for a ballet called “By the Sea”. This is the poster for that very same ballet when it transferred to the Olympia in Paris.
The new name did not seem to convince even the French critics that there was much of Brighton in this sparkling ballet … apart, perhaps, from the sparkle. Continue reading
Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF
1884
Dear Monsieur Henry,
Whilst strolling in Paris last week, I noticed this advertisement for your excellent establishment. However, I would wish to draw your attention to the fact that, if you do indeed have a factory in Brighton as you state, you do not know our town well as you are clearly unable to spell its name correctly.
Yours faithfully
A concerned Brightonian 
Source The British Newspaper Archive
Morning Chronicle 29 October 1817 (and widely syndicated in other newspapers).
Prince Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord stayed at 9 Old Stein in 1831. True. But for how long? Was this information any more than a piece of nineteenth century PR by a lodging-house keeper? Continue reading
Reproduced from pamphlet by Rev. H. Migot 1928
1860. The Prince Consort was alive and well. Crinolines were all the fashion. Brighton was attracting many continental visitors. Not only the rich. Governesses, hotel staff and servants helped fill the pews in Brighton churches. And frivolity was not all the rage in mid-Victorian Brighton. Continue reading
French Brighton 