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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 |
Musée de Flandre Long-awaited
museum in the oldest building on Cassel’s cobbled main square. Its
wood-pannelled rooms contain a collection of paintings of Flanders, and
depictions of some of the many battles that have taken place around this
town, a strategically high-point Tues-Sat
10-12.30 & 2-6; Sun 10-6 (1 May-30 Sept, Sun 10-7). Closed 1 Jan,
Easter Mon, 1 May & 25 Dec. 26 Grand’Place, Cassel (tel: 03 59 73 45 60).
Admission 5 euros; children & seniors free. |
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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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GRAVELINES
area |
Musée des Jeux Traditionnels A former farm, now a
recreation area and park for the locals of Loon-Plage, offers a funny little
museum of traditional pub games.
The first-floor “museum” area under the eaves is not as child-friendly
as you might imagine, as all the
bagatelle, grenouille,
darts and other items are fragilised by age. However, down in a ground-floor room, you can have as many
goes as you like on a large collection of more robust games, including
various forms of billiards, bagatelle, table-skittles, etc. |
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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. |
A corner of the shop |
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ÉTAPLES |
Musée Quentovic opening hours. These have changed, and are now Mon, & Wed-Sat 2-5, Sun 2.30-5.30 (July & Aug, Mon, &
Wed-Sat-Sun 10-12 & 2-6, Sun 10-12 & 2.30-6.30). Admission 2.50
euros. NB The
museum is now closed on TUESDAYS, |
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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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BULLECOURT |
Musée Jean et Denise Letaille A
collection of WWI memorabilia, lovingly assembled over the years by a former
mayor of the village – who sadly died in 2012, a few weeks before his
museum’s official opening. In a renovated barn and adjacent room, it is
devoted to the role played by Australian forces in the area during the 1917
battles around Arras. One room features leftovers from the battlefield; the
other gives personal stories of some of those who died. LLL Tues-Sun 2-6pm.
1 Rue d’Arras, Bullecourt (tel: 03 21 55 33 20). 3€, children free. |
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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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Le 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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