WHEN THE CASINOS WERE SUPRISING AND REFINED PLACES

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Boulogne was in the XIXth century one of the first French tourist and seaside resorts: the proximity of England, the new vogue of sea bathing, etc. have during the summer season sometimes retain longer thousands of foreign or national guests . Boulogne enjoyed a sort of tourism monopoly on the future Opal Coast for around fifty years. Boulogne was fortunate to have an aristocratic and bourgeois high society and an active middle class capable of welcoming many visitors and offering them a pleasant environment.
The proximity of England and the amenity of the site made it a "semi-English" city
In summer, the season when visitors and swimmers joined the residents, thousands of British subjects stayed in Boulogne. Many Englishmen had settled there permanently The accommodation of these thousands of visitors posed problems and the tourist guides soon had a section: where to stay in Boulogne? Hotels, boarding houses, villas, apartments were trying to meet demand. In 1858 there were 70 hotels.
From “ Le Petit guide officiel de l´etranger � Boulogne-sur-mer ( 1865)

THE BATH ESTABLISHMENT- magnificent edifice BRILIANTLY INAUGURATED in 1863. The city, of which it is the property, has endowed it with all the resources which must make the addition pleasant, and especially the bathing improvements so sought after by families today. who demand seawater for its effective action. The establishment has two beautiful galleries of hot baths, with showers, and a well-exposed therapy room.
..
The establishment of Boulogne gives, during the season, big festivals, concerts, to which the artists in vogue are called. At the same time, the city, with its horse breeds and its annual regattas, attracts, at the best time of the season, a large and distinguished crowd

“CERCLE - GAMBLING ROOM. The game room is only open to subscribers, who must be introduced by two famous people. A special entry card is issued by the establishment management.
Authorized games:le whist, le boston, le reversi, l´imperiale, le piqurt, l´écarté, le bésigue”

From “ Revue Illustrée, 1rst August 1890”

“Besides the charm of its picturesque aspect and its particular character, Boulogne-sur-Mer, brings together all the advantages of the city and the life of the big centers, thanks to the most complete and most intelligent meeting of distractions, sports , mindsets, in an artistic environment which is the CASINO.
The multiple installations due to this inventive and always awakening impresario called Hirschler distinguish the Boulogne season from so many others, where it is necessary, on the pretext of hygiene and rest, to break with life, in Boulogne sur Mer , on the contrary, each hour of the day offers without fatigue a new stimulant, to the great advantage of health which always goes hand in hand with a mind kept in a state of gaiety and not condemned to relegation, to purgatory.
Boulogne sees an increase in the number of its admirers every year; its bathing season, from May 15 to October 15, is also more lively.
A society where the aristocracy, mainly French and English, dominates, finds a meeting place at will for its large and small meetings in the rooms of its magnificent CASINO and its café-restaurant, crystal palace open to the wind and from where you can see the cliffs, the piers. Takes it to the high seas.
This remarkable establishment offers its visitors a variety of pleasures and distractions that a direction full of artistic sense and always in search of novelty can constantly renew.
Also in Boulogne the sea bathing season is a complement to the mundane seasons of Paris and London.
In the theater and in the concert hall of the Casino, to which are attached an orchestra of 60 musicians and troupes of comic opera and operetta of the highest order, we find the artists aplauded on our Parisian stages, serious or light. There were heard the masters of singing and comedy, Maurel, etc. the elite of the artists of our national theaters and our genre theaters.
In the vast gardens of the Casino, so picturesque, there are day and night parties, Venetian parties which end with brilliant fireworks.
The Casino rooms are beautifully furnished for conversation, reading, correspondence and all the accupations and social gatherings, as well as for meetings by invitation, family balls, children's balls and all such distractions. that each day and each evening bring back to this charming place of relaxation
At the Casino is also installed the CERCLE PRIVÉ (PRIVATE CIRCLE -gambling) which have the luxury and comfort equal to those of the most beautiful circles of Paris, and which contains shooting and expression rooms, dance and gymnastics
Regattas, pigeon shooting and horse racing, the prizes are contested by the most qualified sportsmen of the international rowling clubs, by the first fencers and the owners of the most famous racing stalls in Europe.”

From “Le Temps, 31 July 1892”

From “LeTemps 16.6.1894”

From “ANNUAIRE DE LA PRESSE FRANÇAISE 1885”

“The Casino de Boulogne is one of the types of these superior establishments where nothing is lacking, where comfort is found, whatever one is left at home, where the most varied distractions make hours of long days go by. summer, and where each day brings a new distraction.
Its daily concerts, from 4 to 5 in the evening, with its orchestra of 40 musicians, its great seasonal concerts, with the assistance of celebrities from Paris, its grand balls and its dancing evenings where all the elegance shines, and where you can find living Paris; the CARD GAMES ROOM, and the race horses (Note: games of the PETITS CHEVAUX), its reading rooms in which we find all the important publications, and with that, its situation in an admirable site, on one of the most beautiful Known beaches make it a resting stay that leaves nothing to be desired.
The establishment, OPENED in 1863, is equipped with all the conveniences of life, the layout of its hytherapic service so well organized, its swimming school, unique of its kind on the coast, and its skating for roller skating. , make it a model establishment; so every year he sees his clientele increase and his former clients return to him; the 5,000 subscribers to the Casino, the 50,000 sea baths taken on the beach, the 20,000 baths at the swimming school, and the 6,000 hot baths and showers, say enough that it is one of the most frequented establishments on the shores of the Channel, not only by the Parisians, but also by a large number of distinguished foreigners.

From “ Boulogne –sur-Mer, A.Lormier, circa 1900”