Nord-Pas-de-Calais - Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Nord-Pas-de-Calais is a former region in the north Of France, on the border to Belgium. She was with the region in 2016 Picardy to the new greater region Hauts-de-France united.

Departments

• North
• Pas-de-Calais

places

• Lille - the largest city in the region and its transport hub; mainly industrial, but there is also an old town and various museums that earned Lille the title of European Capital of Culture in 2004

• Arras (Atrecht) is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department; Interesting cultural city with Les Boves, Maison Robespierre, Musée des Beaux Arts.
• Calais
• Roubaix

• Armentières
• Bergues
• Bethune
• Boulogne-sur-Mer has the largest fishing port in France. Sights: Château Musée, Crypte et Trésor de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Boulogne, Maisonde la Beurière, Musée du Liberador San Martin, Nausicaà.
• Cambrai
• Douai
• Dunkerque (Dunkirk)
• Gravelines
• Lens
• Tourcoing

Other goals

background

The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region as described in this travel guide was only created in 1972 for administrative purposes. However, there are cultural and historical similarities that go back much further. The largest part of the region belonged to the southern or Spanish Netherlands, i.e. today's Belgium, until the 18th century. It was not until 1713 that they were annexed by France at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession and then referred to as the "French Netherlands". As a result, a certain Dutch or Flemish influence can be seen in the regional culture and traditions to this day.

Since the 19th century, the region was heavily influenced by heavy industry (coal mining and steel processing) and was the most important industrial region in France (apart from the Paris area) - roughly comparable to that Ruhr area in Germany. Like this, the north of France was also a stronghold of the labor movement. Since the crisis in coal and steel production in Western Europe in the 1970s, northern France has also undergone profound structural change, which is becoming quite problematic. Many places in the region are characterized by high unemployment and migration. The right-wing extremist Front National achieved its best election results here.

The outer north of France had a bad reputation within the country for a long time. Due to the northern climate, the influence of mining and heavy industry, many French clung to the stereotype that it is always cold, gray and dreary here, and the dialect (the so-called Ch’ti) difficult to understand. The region's image changed in 2008 with the comedy "Willkommen bei den Sch’tis" (Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis) by and with Dany Boon for box office record results. In it, a postman from the south of France follows to his great horror Bergues Transferred to punishment, but gradually becomes friends with the lovable northern French and ultimately doesn't want to go back to the south.

The administrative region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais was awarded the Picardy to the new greater region Hauts-de-France merged. For the sake of clarity, this travel guide continues to use the old regions.

language

Mainly French. There are also around 10,000 Flemish speakers, mainly in the Dunkirk area.

getting there

By plane

• Airport Lille with some connections on medium-haul routes (Europe, North Africa), but no direct connections from German-speaking countries
• Next major airport is Brussels-Zaventem (1:10 hours by train to Lille)
• From Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) there are direct TGVs to Arras and Lille (50 minutes)

By train

The most important rail hub is Lille. High-speed trains (TGV, Thalys, Eurostar) from Brussels (35 minutes), Paris (one hour), London (1½ hours), Strasbourg (2:50 hours), Lyon (3 hours), Amsterdam (3½ hours) stop here .). If you are coming from a German-speaking area, you change trains in Brussels, Strasbourg or Paris. So one is z. E.g. from Cologne a good three hours, from Basel 4:15 hours, from Frankfurt 4½ hours, from Munich a good seven hours (fastest connection in each case).

Other TGV stops are Arras, Douai, Velenciennes, Calais (Ville and Fréthun), Boulogne and Dunkerque. The Eurostar also stops in Calais-Fréthun. Other places can be reached by regional express trains (TER), usually from Lille.

In the street

The region is criss-crossed by a dense road network. Coming from northern and central Germany, you drive through Belgium and - depending on your specific destination - on the E 40 / A 16 past Ghent and Bruges to the French North Sea coast (Dunkirk, Calais) or on the A 14 / A 22 inland ( Lille, Arras). From the south of Germany, the journey depends even more on the destination: if you want to go to the coast, the route through Belgium is recommended, but for the interior, the route via Metz and Reims (A 4 / A 26) can be shorter. Coming from Switzerland, you definitely drive through the east of France.

Coming from England, cars can either be loaded onto the Eurotunnel Shuttle (car train) to Calais in Folkestone or onto the ferry to Calais or Dunkirk in Dover.

By boat

Ferry connections from the English county Kent exist between Dover on the one hand and Dunkerque or Calais on the other. The Dover – Dunkerque ferry only takes passengers with vehicles, non-motorized passengers can only go to Calais.

mobility

Tourist Attractions

• Belfries (French beffrois; medieval watchtowers and bell towers, which are mostly located next to the town hall and serve as a symbol of representation for the citizenry, city archives, treasury and z. T. prison) are a typical architectural tradition in Belgium and northern France. 17 historical belfries in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region - together with comparable buildings in Flanders, Wallonia and Picardy - were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the cross-border entry "Belfries in Belgium and France".

• The baroque one Arras Citadel also belongs to the world cultural heritage, as part of the entrag "Fortifications of Vauban"

• The northern French coal mining area Bassin Minier west of Valenciennes and south of Lille with its mining and industrial facilities is part of the world heritage. You can visit closed mines with winding towers, freight yards, workers' settlements, etc.

• Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille, in Lille. last change: not specified

activities

• Traditional processions of giant figures on the occasion of various festivals throughout the region

kitchen

nightlife

security

climate

trips

literature

Web links