![]() The speciality is suckling pig cooked in milk for eight hours in a wood-fired oven. There’s an excellent restaurant called La Baguernette just by the embarkation point for a spot of lunch. We took an hour-long trip into this peaceful waterworld, boarding at Clairmarais, in a traditional bacove boat. Started by monks in the year 638 who diverted the River Aa, the land is divided into plots and today 50 farmers grow crops. This 15 square mile network of canals and farmland is the only one in France and recognised by Unesco. Audomarois Marshesīut after a few kangaroo hops we’re soon cruising down the road to the famous Audomarois marshes. It’s as far removed from the luxury of a modern motor as you can get. If you have never driven a 2CV it is an experience in itself. You can hire a 2CV or a VW camper van and even electric bikes for a day, half-day or weekend and just head off and explore. ![]() This classic French auto, supplied courtesy of Les Belles Echappées, or Great Escapes, is our transport for the day. Next morning we wake early to find a shiny blue Citroen 2CV sitting on the sweeping driveway. foie gras in raspberry jelly, roasted prawns with ratatouille vinaigrette and white asparagus, mains of chicken stuffed with mushrooms and apricots, roasted sea bream, saddle of lamb with roasted fennel and cote de boeuf. Stephane has arranged to show us some of Saint-Omer’s attractions, which my wife Marilyn and I discuss with him over dinner. There’s an excellent restaurant, indoor pool, tennis courts and grounds around a lake. The Flemish-style chateau built in 1891 has 52 bedrooms ranging from charme rooms to junior suites, all immaculately and individually decorated and furnished in classical French style. Stepping up: Saint Omer from the roof of Notre Dame We are staying just outside the town of Saint-Omer – a 35-minute drive south of Calais – at Chateau Tilques where our friend Stephane Joly is manager. Yet this land of waterways, forests, history, art and, of course, great food and drink has so much to offer.Īnd there are so many links with Britain from ancient times to today. More than 17 million Brits visit France every year, but so many turn right at Calais for the Brittany beaches or motor on south with barely a sideways glance at Saint-Omer. ironically using the same technology and scientists who developed the killer V2s. Today it is a fascinating historical and scientific museum and one of France’s biggest tourist attractions.ĭiscover what life was like under the German occupation, walk the chillingly cold 20 metre high tunnels where the V2 rockets were prepared for launch, then visit the planetarium for a 3D experience of how man’s dream of flying came true and how we went on to conquer space. ![]() It could have changed the course of the war and the history of Europe.īut the British blew up the entrance to the launch site, the Allies landed on D-Day, and the war ended before Hitler’s manic plan could be put into action. to pound Britain into submission with wave after wave of jet-propelled explosive rockets. La Coupole was built in 1944 with one objective. Out there somewhere, far beyond the rolling green fields of northern France, lies England.Īnd beneath my feet, beneath this 72 metres wide, five-and-a-half metres thick, 55,000 tonne armoured slab, is Hitler’s secret V2 rocket base. I am standing on top of a huge concrete dome.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |