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ANGELA BIRD'S |
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Northern France |
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WHAT’S NEW IN NORTHERN FRANCE |
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Shingle
at Le Hourdel; La Colline aux Animaux; Bourdon German cemetery; BalParc
amusement park; Esquelbecq’s Patate Feest; Leaning WW2 tower at Oye-Plage.
All © Angela Bird
Here are some updates to information already in the
guidebook,
plus extra places to visit that I was not able to include,
either because there was not enough room, or because they are new–or new to me–
since the book appeared in October 2007.
Area numbers relate to the section divisions in Angela Bird’s Northern France guidebook.
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AREA
1: DUNKERQUE, CASSEL & FRENCH FLANDERS |
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BAILLEUL area |
Musée
Communal Marguerite Yourcenar The
opening times of this museum, dedicated to the first woman member of France’s
elite Académie Française, have been extended, and a new phone number
installed. |
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BERGUES |
Ch’ti
Tours If you have seen the
delightful 2008 comedy by Dany Boon Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (right,
screened in the UK as “Welcome to the Sticks”), you will want to join this
walking tour around the picturesque walled town of Bergues to see the film’s
locations. (If you haven’t, then you
won’t be too interested!)
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CASSEL AREA |
Maison
de la Bataille A battle of which
we do not hear much in Britain is the Battle of Noordpeene, fought in 1677 in
the plain below the hilltop town of Cassel. It was instrumental in helping
French Flanders gain its independence from the Spanish Netherlands. This
small modern museum (right), next to Noordpeene’s Mairie, tells local
history, and also has a model of the battlefield. After a description of the
battle and events leading up to it from one of the staff, and the screening
of a 15-minute film showing the development of Europe during history, you set
off round a couple of rooms with modern panels telling you all about famous locals
such as a mayor, Joseph Duvet, who died at 103 and the itinerant salesman
nicknamed “Tisje Tasje”, renowned for his story-telling and now immortalised
as the village’s giant (who rests up in Hazebrouck museum between outings).
Tisje Tasje is buried in the churchyard adjacent to the museum. Audio guides
in English and Dutch as well as French. A small garden outside grows
old-fashioned strains of fruit, vegetables and flowers. You can also walk the
battlefield area from the neighbouring village of Zuytpeene. March to Dec.
Wed-Sun 10am-12.30pm & 2-6pm. 3€, children 2€, under-7s free. 200 Rue de
la Mairie, Noordpeene, about 5km W of Cassel (tel: 03 28 40 67 36). HHH |
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CASSEL AREA |
Le
Jardin des Recollets There’s
a lovely garden to visit on the slopes of the Mont des Rcollets, a few km
east of Cassel. You have to look carefully to spot it, off the Dxx, and there
is a place that you can pull off to park the car before walkign down the
drive. (But first you must take a
ticket at the estaminet Le Kasteelhof, on the top of Cassel hill.) You could spend a good hour admiring the
topiary, the rose garden, the colourful vegetables, and the views of the
Flanders hills and valleys – some artfully framed by holes cut in the hedges.
On east side of Cassel, on D948. |
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GODEWAERSVELDE
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Les Gigottos Automates The days for visiting Bruno Dehondt’s
wonderful life-sized animated figures (p53 of book), are now the 1st and 3rd
Wed of month, 2-6pm (rather than every Wed). |
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www.watten.fr.st / otwatten@aol.com Market: Fri. Brocante: Trouvailles Depot-Vente,
on west side of river, in commercial centre, nearNetto and BigMat. Approaching Watten
from the north, across the marshes, you feel you are driving towards a huge
cliff. It’s easy to imagine that this flat landscape would once have been
under the sea. Watten (pronounced “wat-enn”, but usually referred to by the
locals just as “wat”) is an attractive village at the junction of the broad
river Aa and the Canal de la Haute Colme, whose waters reflect its colourful
little houses. Lying 12km north-west of St-Omer, with one foot in Flanders
and the other in mainstream France, the village is a point of transit for
pleasure boats and laden barges travelling from the Channel and the North Sea
to destinations in Belgium and the rest of France. Following
the D213 along the reed-fringed river Aa towards St-Omer gives a chance to
admire the scenery of these fertile marshlands. Tiny farmhouses seem lost
under huge skies and little, green-painted lifting bridges recall paintings
by Van Gogh. Abbaye Ste-Marie-du-Mont Take the steep road to the top of the hill
above Watten to see the ruins of its once-great Augustinian abbey. Behind the
wall of brick and stone, only the tower and the former bishops’ house have
survived. Founded in 1072, the site has seen almost a thousand years of
religious and military history. In a strategic position dominating western
Flanders and St-Omer, the place was wrestled over by English, Spanish and
French armies; more peaceably, in 1606 English Jesuits set up a training
college here. After the Revolution the abbey was sold, and many of its stones
used to build the windmill opposite (see below). However, its majestic tower
was retained as a landmark for sailors. Exterior
only; no admission to site. Rue de la Montagne (D26), 1.5km SE of Watten. |
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Watten: Moulin de la Montagne © Angela Bird |
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AREA
2: CALAIS, BOULOGNE, ST-OMER &
WORLD WAR II |
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BOULOGNE
area |
Stèle
de la Légion d’Honneur A chunky obelisk marks the position of Napoleon’s
imperial throne during the first grand ceremony of the awarding of France’s highest
honour, on 16 August 1804. Two thousand people were invested, in front of
Napoleon and his entire army. Terlincthun,
nr Boulogne. Open at all times, admission free. |
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CALAIS |
Cité Internationale de la Mode et
de la Dentelle |
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Icéo New leisure centre, with indoor and outdoor
swimming pools and ice-skating rink. Located to the west of the dual
carriageway leading to the ferry port; leave this road at Junction 3, towards
the city centre. 1400 Rue Roger Martin du Gard, 62100 CALAIS (tel: 03 21
19 56 56). Opening
hours here. 4.90 euros for all day
(3.90 for half-day); children under 16, 4 euros (3 euros); under 3s free. |
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Sanghen A shrine to St Martin is hidden beneath a tunnel of hornbeam trees just inside the churchyard of a village near Licques. In the shadows, beneath a statue of the one-time Roman soldier cutting his cloak in half for a beggar, dozens of babies’ shoes and socks are hung above a holy spring. LLL Sanghen, 2km W of Licques. |
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ST-OMER
area |
Les Belles
Echappées In the rural marshland north of St-Omer you can rent an old-fashioned
2cv for a day to bounce around the lanes, or take a half-day ride on a tandem
bike, or on an electrically-powered Solex bike. And another
from The Guardian |
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ST-OMER
area |
La Coupole The impressive World War II bunker is undergoing a refit for early
2010. There is to be a new section devoted to resistance workers who were
shot by the Nazis. |
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Colline
aux Animaux |
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AREA
3: LE TOUQUET, MONTREUIL, HESDIN
& THE SEVEN VALLEYS |
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Sweet
smells at Berck |
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BERCK |
Musée Opale Sud Wouldn’t you know, as soon as you write up a place, it changes its name! Berck’s charming Musée Municipal – with its art and archaeology collections, displayed in an airy modern setting (see page 91 of book) - has just become Musée Opale Sud. Good English brochure given to English-speaking visitors. |
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BERCK-PLAGE |
Sylvia Plath wrote a long, mournful poem about Berck-Plage, depressed by the crippled patients that she saw there in 1961. In his essay on the poem, Jack Folsom of Montana University fills in the background. |
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BERCK-PLAGE |
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” The unbelievably moving book by Jean-Dominique Bauby (editor-in-chief of French Elle magazine) chronicles Bauby’s thoughts as he lies in bed, in one of Berck’s sanatoriums, unable to move after a massive stroke in 1995. Selecting letters by blinking his right eye (the only part of his body that he can move) he manages to dictate this book letter by letter. Bauby died a few days after the book was published. Beautifully translated into English by Jeremy Leggatt.
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DESVRES |
Musée à
la Belle Epoque de la Faiënce de Desvres In May 2008 a new museum
opened in this well-known pottery town. Set within the last factory to remain
(which closed in 2006), it
contains 2,500 pieces of Desvres pottery and 10,000 of the moulds used
over centuries to make the output. The museum also features a shop for new
and second-hand Desvres items. The hour-long guided tour (in rapid-fire
French) is expensive if you are not already interested in pottery; but if you
are already a devotee then you will learn a lot from the guide who is
effectively showing off his own collection. They range from classic to kitsch,
painted tiles to near-life-sized Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 114 Rue
Jean-Jaurès, Desvres (tel: 03 21 32 76 30). Mon 2-6pm; Tues-Sun 9am-noon
& 2-6pm. Admission 8€, under-12s free. |
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FRUGES
area |
Centre Historique
Médiéval The Agincourt
battlefield visitor centre has recently received the loan of an extensive
collection of medieval armour and artefacts belonging to Monsieur Brice Hourmilougué. |
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AREA
4: AMIENS, CRÉCY AND THE WILDLIFE OF
THE SOMME BAY |
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ABBEVILLE |
Eglise St-Sépulcre This
15th-century church has colourful modern stained glass by 20th-century
painter Alfred Manessier. An 11-year project, it was finished in 1993, the
year of Manessier’s death. Subjects evoked by the swirling, leaf-like shapes
are the Passion and the Resurrection. 24 Rue Jean
Macé. Chalet de Blanquetaque A
strange brick house, built in the marshes in 1903 as a shooting-lodge, stands
near the site where Edward III’s troops finally managed to cross the river
Somme a few nights before the Battle of Crécy–though not without a fierce
struggle against French forces who were guarding the ford. Recently restored,
the house now holds a “Ramsar centre”, with information on the wetland flora,
fauna, landscape and management. The English troops had crossed the river
Somme by a ford at Blanquetaque,
downstream from Abbeville, and near present-day Port-le-Grand. Chapelle de Notre-Dame de Monflières The walls of this village chapel are
covered inside with plaques expressing gratitude for prayers granted over the
centuries. First built in 1160 after the Virgin appeared to a shepherd, it
has been enlarged three times since and has been a place of pilgrimage since
its earliest days. The chapel’s fame was such that Queen Marie-Antoinette
presented a miniature dress made of cloth of gold (on show each year during
the Heritage Weekend in mid September) to adorn the statue of the Virgin. A
grassy area to the side is reserved for large open-air services. Pilgrimages
take place on 25 March, Easter Monday, every Sunday in May, Ascension Day,
Whit Sunday and Monday, and on 15 August. 2 Impasse de
la Chapelle, Monflières (in NE corner of village), 4km E of Abbeville. L'Espace Médiéval If the
Battle of Crécy has put you in the mood, you can re-live those times among
the rather meagre ruins of the 15th-century fortress Château d'Eaucourt on
the river Somme. Medieval-style activities, with lots of audience
participation, include a warrior encampment, stone-sculpting and
stained-glass workshops, leather-work and a blacksmith’s shop. 1 July-31 Aug, Wed-Sun 3-7pm. Eaucourt-sur-Somme, 7km SE
of Abbeville (tel: 03 22 27 05 32). 5.50€, children 4€ (under-6s free).
www.espacemedieval.com/ E-mail : contact@espacemedieval.com |
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AMIENS |
Jardin Archéologique de St-Acheul A series of quarryings between 1850 and 1918 in a suburb of Amiens led to an important discovery about the evolution of prehistoric tools. The exposure of many distinct layers of soil allowed archaeologists to track climate change over many millennia and to date accurately the tools and bones found here. More than 20,000 “biface” tools were unearthed, varying in length from 30cm down to 5cm. The St-Acheul prehistoric finds are among the most famous in the world, and have become the industry of reference of one of the principle civilisations. Many of the items from here are displayed at the Musée de Picardie. The site lies today at the end
of a long path among scrubby parkland, on the edge of a rather bleak housing
estate, not a very prepossessing place for the “cradle of world
prehistory”. You can see clearly the
different layers in a high “cliff”; a tall, semi-vandalised panel, see right,
fixed to it indicates the different strata (the mass of tools were found in
layer 4, showing that the Somme river was flowing at level 3 at the time).
There’s a tower that you can go up (at weekends only) for a bird’s-eye view
of the site. Daily 9am-noon & 2-5pm.
Access to tower Sat, Sun 2.30-3.30pm. Rue de la Boutillerie, near Lidl store,
off Chaussée Jules-Ferry (N29) 3km SE of Amiens (tel: 03 22 47 82 57).
Admission free; tower 1€. |
St
Acheul site |
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AMIENS |
Le Clos Alexandre It’s
surprising to find, in an unremarkable southern suburb of Amiens, this
charming romantic garden laid out around a former hunting lodge. Behind its high
walls, it is divided into “rooms”, with vegetable, rose, woodland, formal and
orchard sections, interspersed with box hedges, espaliered fruit trees and
witty sculptures. Mid Apr-30
Sept, Fri-Sun & public holidays 10am-noon & 2-6.30pm. 229 Rue des Quatre
Lemaire, 3km SW of town centre via N1 Route de Paris, then D8 Rue St-Honoré
(tel: 03 22 95 19 71). 5€, children under 12 free. |
Le
Clos Alexandre |
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Flixécourt If you pass
through this large village on the N1, 8.5km north-west of La Chaussée, you
may wonder why it has such a semi-abandoned air, with empty houses and
disintegrating factories. Like many along the banks of the Somme and its
tributaries, it was once a flourishing part of the area’s textile industry,
employing 70,000 people. They mostly worked for the Saint-Frères company,
processing flax, hemp and jute that was grown nearby, or imported from India,
turning it into sacks, ropes and string. The local saying was that you were
born, educated, worked and died “Saint-Frères”, since the company effectively
built and owned the whole place–from maternity hospital to graveyard. Picquigny With its cobbled main square and twisting streets, Picquigny, 1km south-west of La Chaussée, on the opposite bank of the Somme, has an ancient feel to it. Pleasure boats assemble to pass through its lock gates, and ramblers pass through on the long-distance GR123. Above the village, the imposing ruins of a proud fortress that once protected this important crossing-point stand alongside the collegial church of St Martin. An inscribed stone in the churchyard commemorates the Paix de Picquigny, a treaty signed here on 29 August 1475 by the English king Edward IV and Louis XI of France. After having invaded France, from Calais, Edward was persuaded to leave the country with the offer of 75,000 gold crowns, plus an annual payment of 50,000 gold crowns. (Edward used much of this windfall to finance the 15th-century redevelopment of St George’s Chapel, at Windsor). He also undertook to have no further alliances with his brother-in-law, the Duke of Burgundy. Head north-west on the D3 to glimpse the ancient Cistercian abbey of Gard, currently undergoing restoration, and the viewpoint across the river from a hill beyond Hangest-sur-Somme. Tourist office, Place du General de Gaulle, Picquigny, 1km SW of La Chaussé (tel: 03 22 51 46 85). |
German
WWII cemetery |
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Crécy
forest |
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Cadets’
monument |
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Rue
market, |
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Shingle
at Le Hourdel |
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AREA
5: ARRAS, ALBERT & THE SOMME
BATTLEFIELDS |
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ARRAS |
Le City
Pass If you are intending to visit
every possible tourist and cultural site in Arras, it is worth buying the
town’s “City Pass” (2008 price: 15€, children 8.50€). It covers admission to
the belfry, the Historama slide show and the tour of the “boves” – all
within the town hall – plus the Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts) museum and the “Cité
Nature” centre (p134 of book), which explains (in French only) the history of
food. Paid for individually, these would come to more than 20€. (But note that the “City Pass” does not
include admission to the new Carrières Wellington site, above.) Buy from
Arras tourist office. |
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AUCHONVILLERS |
WWI
Museum at “Ocean
Villas” tearoom |
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DOULLENS |
Musée
Lombart At last the art collection
amassed by 19th-century chocoate magnate Jules Lombart has reopened to the
public after many years of weatherproofing and building improvements. A
purpose-built brick pavillion standing in a formal garden near the church
contains an amazing collection of paintings (17th, 18th and 19th centuries),
ceramics, and Egyptian curiosities. LLL Tues-Fri 2-6pm; Sat 10am-noon
& 2-5pm. 7 Rue du Musée, Doullens (tel: 03 22 32 54 52). 2€, children
free. |
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AREA
6: LENS, BÉTHUNE, BATTLES OF THE
ARTOIS, & THE MINING BASIN |
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New CWGC
cemetery to be constructed at Fromelles
Following
the discovery in early 2008 of the remains of 470 British and Australian
soldiers in a mass grave, the decision has been taken to exhume the bodies
and to reinter each one in an individual grave. Land
has been given by the French authorities close to Fromelles church for the
estimated 170 Australian and 300 British soldiers, who fell in the battle of
July 1916. It is hoped that the bodies will be DNA tested so that attempts
can be made for a full identification of each. Here is a website on which the
descendants of the Fromelles dead can follow the plans and contribute
information on their fallen ancestors. Off Rue de la Basse Ville,
Fromelles. Joseph
Andrzejewski Collection Inside the entrance-hall of
Neuve-Chapelle’s Mairie (town hall) is a small display cabinet full of war
relics that have been discovered in the commune. There are no signs; just
walk in during opening hours and you are welcome to look at it. Among
poignant items of everyday kit are military buckles and insignia, coins (in
this sector, essentially German, Portuguese and Indian), helmets, English
cutlery, clay pipes, buttons from German and British uniforms, decorated
shell-cases, shrapnel, a Mills grenade, part of a Lee Enfield rifle, and the
uniform-protectors for use when cleaning buttons. Notice, too, the glass
trench-bottles, their pointed ends enabling them to be stood upright in the
mud – conditions in which a normal flat-bottomed bottle would fall over. All
year. Mon-Wed 9am-noon, Thurs
2-5pm, Fri 3-6.30pm. Mairie, Rue du Bois, Neuve-Chapelle, 4km SW of Aubers
(tel: 03 21 26 08 84). Admission free.
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Trou Aid Post |
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AUCHEL |
Musée de la Mine Jacques Déramaux
Now open Tues morning as well as Thurs,
9am-noon. But as tours are two hours
long (see p157 of book) it is vital to
arrive at 9am to allow time for it. Best to call in advance, though to check
on timings. Tel: 03 21 52 66 10. Admission charge raised to 5€, children
3€. |
Musée
de la Mine Jacques Déramaux |
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Labeuvrière If you drive
through this village on the D181E just south of the A26, you will be amazed
to pass long brick wall decorated with ancient-looking pinnacles. Enclosed
within are the grassy grounds of a one-time bishop’s palace; there’s a small
romanesque church and an old house – once the episcopal residence – with 1589
carved above the door. All year. Rue
Jules-Guesde (D181E)/Rue de l’Église, Labeuvrière, 8km N of Bruay.
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Labeuvrière |
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ti (May to Sept) Mont St-Éloi (tel: 03 21
15 16 84) Drive
up the hill from the D341 at Écoivres, into the village 10km north-west of
Arras that contains the abbey ruins (see below), which exert such an
emotional pull when seen from afar in silhouette across the rolling
landscape. There is a lovely grassy square near the abbey, with picnic tables
and room to play; it’s also a start point for a 14km signposted walk.A nearby
monument to a “dragon” is nothing
to do with dragons! It refers to a French company of dragoons who had a
terrible battle here with the Germans in May 1940; more than 50 of them are
commemorated in the village cemetery. Abbaye de Mont
St-Éloi
More than 50 metres high, circled by cawing crows, two jagged towers are
all that remain of an abbey founded in the 7th century and destroyed and
rebuilt many times since. St Éloi (c590-659), known in English as St Eligius,
became chief counsellor to the French king Dagobert and later a bishop. He is
credited with creating a hermitage on this high spot, the nucleus of a
powerful abbey that developed later and held sway over the Artois region
until the Revolution. Its last abbot met his death at the guillotine in 1791,
and the building was slowly demolished. Eventually the State bought the
still-intact towers, in 1836. During World War I their prominent hilltop
position made them an ideal lookout place and thus a target of heavy
bombardment; afterwards it was decided to leave the towers in this ruined
state as a poignant, highly-visible reminder of the devastation of war. |
Abbaye
du Mont St-Eloi |
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Circuit
Automobile de Croix-en-Ternois Up on
the gentle rolling plateau above St-Pol is a motor-racing circuit that offers
regular Formula 3, dragster and motorcycle events. The track is laid out so
the spectators get a good view. You can also do karting and have race-driving
lessons. 1 Mar-30 Nov. Usually
weekends. Croix-en-Ternois, on N39, 3km W of St-Pol (tel : 03 21 03 30
13). Admission charges vary. www.circuitdecroix.com/ Oratoire de St
Benoît Labre Up the hill behind the Abbaye de Belval
convent, a ruined chapel among the trees is now a place of pilgrimage for
those who revere St Benoît Labre - the convent’s patron saint. Park near the
shop and walk the last few hundred yards up the steep road, then follow a
path in among trees and wild flowers towards the precariously crumbling walls
of an abandoned church, bound together with thick branches of ivy. Below it,
a tiny chapel dedicated to St Benoît has been created in the bottom part with
an altar and half a dozen pews. Belval,
5km N of St-Pol. |
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NORTHERN FRANCE
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