France Guide
The north
When conjuring up exotic holiday locations, you're unlikely to light upon the north of France. Even among the French, the most enthusiastic tourists of their own country, it has few adherents. Largely flat Artois and Flanders include some of the most heavily industrialized parts of the country, still feeling the effects of post-industrial depression, while across the giant fields of sparsely populated Picardy and Champagne a few drops of rain are all that is required for total gloom to descend. Coming from Britain it's likely, however, that you'll arrive and leave France via this region, and there are good reasons to stop.
Northern France has been on the path of various invaders into the country, from northern Europe as well as from Britain, and the events that have taken place in Flanders, Artois and Picardy have shaped French and world history. The bloodiest battles were those of World War I, above all the Battle of the Somme, which took place north of Amiens, and Vimy Ridge, near Arras, where the trenches have been preserved in perpetuity; a visit to any of these is highly recommended to understand the sacrifice and futility of war.
Highlights
1 Marquenterre Bird Sanctuary From geese and godwits to storks and spoonbills, a huge variety of birds make their home amid briny meres and tamarisk-fringed dunes.
2 Son et lumière at Amiens Cathedral The biggest Gothic building in France, brought to life by sound and light on summer evenings, transporting you back to a truly medieval experience.
3 Lillois restaurants Eat anything from the ubiquitous moules-frites, washed down with micro-brewed beer, to fried escargots with onions roasted in lavender oil in the historic centre of Lille, the cultural capital of northern France.
4 World War I monuments in the Somme Moving memorials by Lutyens and others to the victims of the trenches.
5 The towers of Laon cathedral Weird stone carvings adorning one of the great wonders of French Gothic.
6 Champagne tasting at Reims Taste vintage bubbly in the atmospheric cellars of world-famous sparkling wine emporia.
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