NORD PAS DE CALAIS REGIONAL GUIDE

Nord Pas de Calais is a peaceful rural region bordering on Belgium, with a distinctly Flemish flavour reflected in its cuisine and architecture. Once part of the Southern Netherlands, it became part of France in 1713.

 

Lush countryside, enchanting forests and river valleys make up the gentle landscape of this region and its unspoilt coastline is impressive too, with white cliffs and miles of sandy beaches with chic resorts such as Le Touquet..

 

Nord Pas de Calais is rich in history and culture from its Second World War visits to its colourful ‘geants.’. Visit the old city of Lille to enjoy its museums, shops and markets or explore the region by boat or bike using its extensive network of inland waterways or ever expanding selection or safe cycle routes.

 

Lille

Although Lille is an industrial city, it also includes an old town with cobbled streets, a lively centre for futuristic shopping and leisure district. Lille is the regional capital and was European City of Culture in 2004. It also has a large university. The city boasts one of France’s most prestigious art museums featuring work by, amongst others, Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh. Visit the splendid Gothic church and seventeenth century stock exchange. Find bargains from fresh fruit to underwear at Marche de Wazemmes - a large open market held on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. A major festival - the ‘Grande Braderie’ - takes place during the first weekend in September with street parades and  party atmosphere. Some of the region’s best beers are brewed in Lille.

 

Le Touquet

A stylish resort on the Canche Estuary with 12km of beautiful clean white sandy beaches, many surrounded by pine forests. King Edward VIII, when he was Prince of Wales, entertained here and made Paris-Plage (Le Touqet’s nickname) fashionable. Full of art deco and art nouveau buildings, with 2 casinos, horse racing, golf, thalassotherapy seawater treatments centre, lively nightlife and Paris boutiques, Le Touquet is a very sophisticated resort.

 

Its superb beaches have a variety of water and sand sports and seafront swimming complex. There is a full programme of summertime activities including the annual sand sculpture festival, each year featuring a different theme.. For a wilder landscape, try the stunning North Beach. ‘Bagatelle’ at nearby Merlimont is a great children’s amusement park.

 

Cambrai

An ancient town of cobbled squares and gabled houses. The main square, place Aristid-Briand, is dominated by an impressive town hall which hints at the town’s former wealth based on agriculture and textiles. Art lovers should be sure to visit the church of St-Gery with a painting by Rubens and the Musee Municipal which houses works by Velasquez, Utrillo and Matisse along with several Flemish masters. Cambrai was the site of the first full-scale tank battle in 1917 when British troops advanced over the Hindenburg Line. The tanks, although new, were anything but modern and most broke down and had to be abandoned.

 

Boulogne

On chalk cliffs facing the English Channel, Boulogne has been a cross channel port since before Emperor Claudius set sail from here to conquer Britain. The town owes its importance to fishing. It is one of the largest fishest ports in France. and you’ll discover lots of tempting fish restaurants. Discover the attractive medieval quarter - ‘ville haute’ - walk its old town walls and visit the cathedral of Notre Dame with the biggest dome in Europe. In the crypt are cannon balls dating back to Henry VIII’s capture of Boulogne in 1544. The ‘ville basse’ has plenty of good shopping including some great patisseries and charcuteries. Boulogne is also an attractive seaside resort and many visitors head to the Nausicaa sea-life centre.

 

Crecy and Agincourt

The sites of 2 of the fiercest Anglo-French battles of the Middle Ages are located near the town of Hesdin on the River Canche. The site of Crecy - southwest of Hesdin - only has a watchtower, Moulin Eduard III, to mark Edward III’s defeat of the French in 1346 using the new English longbow and gunpowder for the first time. The battle was the beginning of the Anglo-French Hundred Years War. In 1415, Henry V routed a larger but less mobile army to the north east at Agincourt, close to the present day Azincourt. Discover more about the famous battle including a film at the museum in the village - open daily. Notices on the battle-site give strategic information.

 

Arras

One of the prettiest towns in northern France renowned for its tapestries in the Middle Ages, which were sold to decorate the homes of the wealthy throughout France. The museum houses a beautiful tapestry fragment depicting St Vaast taming a wild bear. Almost destroyed during WWI, the town was stylishly reconstructed. Visit the caves dug more than 1,000 years ago which have sheltered refugees from various conflicts including WWI. An important stop on any battlefield tour is the war cemetery, and the memorial outside the town designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens is a moving commemoration to missing soldiers.

 

Audomarois Marshes

Originally a saltwater estuary of the River Aa near St Omer, the marshes were first reclaimed by seventh century monks and later by Dutch engineers who dug drainage ditches and used windmills to drive drainage pumps.

 

Take a ‘bateau promenade’ boat trip from St Omer for a guided tour of the marshes (check if the commentary will be in English) pointing out the fauna and flora, or hire rowing boats in nearby Clairmarais. The fertile marshes produce high quality market garden crops such as cauliflowers and chicory. Produce is transported in distinctive flat-bottomed boats.

 

In 2000, the park merged with the Boulonnais Regional Park to create the Parc Naturel Regional des Caps et Marais. The marshes are a bird-watching paradise – you may be fortunate enough to see marsh harriers, hen harriers, great white egrets, bluethroats, Egyptian geese, bitterns or golden orioles. Plus the marshes are home to salamanders, water voles, musk rats, wild boar and a great variety of butterflies, including the beautiful swallowtail.

 

Parc Naturel des Caps et Marais d’Opale

The Park is a great place for those who love the outdoors with a wide variety of nature trails to explore on foot, by bike or on horseback. Take the ‘Sentier de Ballon’ 3km walk through the Guines Forest or cycle 9km from Audrehem along the ‘Sentier de la Ligne d’Anvin’. Horse riding trails start at Ardres, Wissant and Audruicq and there are also guided walks.

 

The park covers a varied landscape from the Audomarois marshes, forests and chalk downs around the densely populated area of St Omer to the cliffs between Calais and Boulogne which border one of the busiest stretches of water in the world - the English Channel. Find more information at the park information centres including hire of bikes, boats and horses.

 

Since 1997, there have been links with the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to learn from each other about conservation, and at present the 2 organisations are working together on the Transmanche Integrated Protected Landscape Management Project. 

 

 

Enjoy hearty Flemish food, such as winter beef and fish stews. The forests of the Ardennes provide deer and venison. Try ‘carbonnade’ (charcoal grilled beef cooked in local beer with onions and spices), ‘hochepot’ (stew of meat and vegetables) or venison braised with dried apricots, prunes and raisins not forgetting ‘andouillettes’ - local spicy sausages. Other dishes are made from marvellous locally grown vegetables such as ‘flamiche aux poireaux’ (leek pie).

 

Well known cheeses are Maroilles (first produced in the twelfth century and made in squares) and Abbaye de Mont des Cats. And for desserts there’s ‘beaten cake’ made with Picardy butter and macaroons, ‘gouffres a la citrouille’ pumpkin waffles and ‘tarte a gros bords’ a sweet custard tart cooked in a wood-fired oven.

 

Beers rather than wines (the region grows grain not vines) are produced in Nord Pas de Calais ranging from light lagers to strong ales. There are large breweries in Lille and St Omer, and smaller artisan breweries throughout the region. The regional spirit is Genievre, a gin flavoured with juniper berries. Visit the Persyn distillery in Houlle for a tour of their distillery established since 1812 - includes film and tasting, phone for appointment Monday to Saturday.

 

 

Visit WW1 Battlefields

To the south of the region, WWI battles such as the Somme, were fought in this now peaceful countryside – 58,000 soldiers were killed on the first day alone (1July 1916) and more than 150,000 in all. Over 90 years late,r many of the amazingly well preserved original trenches can still be seen. Memorials and monuments mark the battlefield sites and you can visit museums specifically dedicated to WWI. For more information go to, www.greatwar.co.uk

 

Visit Coupole and Eperlecques Bunker, Watten

The large concrete bunker, the ‘Blockhaus’, built by slave labour for the Germans to manufacture liquid oxygen rocket fuel and assemble and launch V2 rockets against London in WWII is hidden deep in the Eperlecques Forest. Luckily Allied bombing in September 1943 prevented its use. Nowadays, it is open for the public to view and you can take a guided tour to gain an insight into its history. La Coupole was Hitler’s second attempt at a bunker, and the ‘bomb proof’ concrete dome has tunnels which you can visit, stretching far underground. There are audio visual displays about the weapons which would have been used and about life in France during the period - including the work of the Resistance and the liberation. Open every day of the year except Christmas Day and the first 2 weeks of January.

 

Take ‘Picasso’ 1950’s Train Ride

Restored 1950s diesel trains travel from Arques to Lumbres through the Audomarois Nature Park with guides giving a commentary along the way. Tourist trains run each summer at weekends and holidays, Easter and May to September. Bikes are carried free. See the old canal boat lift next to Arques station. Lumbres is an excellent starting point for walks and cycle rides.

 

Sand-yachting, Surfing, Kite-surfing

The Nord Pas de Calais coast stretches for some 140 km and includes vast dunes, sandy and shingle beaches popular for a range of sand sports. Wimereux and Boulogne beaches offer sand yachting and it is almost an obsession all along the Opal coast. Wissart beach is the place for surfing and there are kite surfing contests at Le Touquet.

 

The Giants

With origins in the sixteenth century, the Nord Pas de Calais ‘geants’ were first carried in religious processions. Many of the figures were destroyed in the Revolution. Although Napoleon allowed a few geants to remain, the tradition was not revived until after his abdication in 1814. New geants were then developed and carried in each town’s carnival processions. In Dunkerque, there is a giant procession each weekend from late January to early March.

 

Historic Forts Open Day, April

Historic monuments throughout the region are opened to the public. These include Boulogne’s thirteenth century castle, the WWI trenches at St Omer and the forts in Arras.

 

Le Touquet, Fireworks Festival, June

International fireworks competition at Le Touquet’s Hippodrome.

 

Arras, Parade of Giants, July

On Bastille Day, 14 July, Arras’s giants Colas, Jacqueline and Dede are paraded through the streets and the event is rounded off with evening fireworks. The giants are brought out again in late August as part of the festivities celebrating the end of Spanish occupation in the seventeenth century. Between festivals, you can view the giants in the townhall.

 

Le Touquet, Sand Sculpture Festival, May to September

Annual sand sculpture event, where you can view creations made from sand, each year based on a different theme.

 

Le Touquet, Car Events

Sports car rally, and classic car exhibition at the Racecourse on 9 September.

 

Nord Pas de Calais Tourist Board

6 place Mendes France

BP99

59028 Lille cedex

 

Tel: (00 33) 320 14 57 57

 

Please check precise details and dates with event organisers before making your holiday and travel arrangements.

 

Copyright: Holiday France Direct 2008