This is a sequel to my visit to the beautiful villages in Northern France.
(Review) Beautiful villages in Northern France and their sources of information
This year’s GW, which is shorter than usual, saw me visit a newly added village in Northern France.
We found this Facebook page.
It doesn’t seem to belong to the so-called World’s Most Beautiful Villages Association. The most beautiful villages in France were founded in the southern part of France, and the number of villages selected tends to be high in the south and low in the north, so I didn’t have many opportunities to visit this area. As for the trend of highs and lows in the south, historically speaking, the area was the site of two world wars in the 19th and 20th centuries, which may have had a large impact on the destruction of many historical buildings.
But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t many charming villages and towns in this region. Now that I’ve finished visiting the most beautiful villages in France, I think I’m ready to take my time to explore the North of France (although it was actually quite hectic lol).
The location of the village we visited is shown in the following map.
Ambleteuse ★★★☆☆☆
Location: Hauts-de-France region, Pas-de-Calais department
It was rather an impressive village with an open sea to the west. It seems that there are many tourists from England around here, because the Dover Strait is right in front of the village. As a proof of this, I often saw a sign on the road saying « Keep Right » in English.
I read carefully below that this old fort was a Vauban fortress.
Wissant ★★☆☆☆
Location: Hauts-de-France region, Pas-de-Calais department
A seaside resort. It was a summer day, probably over 25 degrees, and the seaside was crowded with many tourists because it was Saturday. I wonder what this marine sport is.
Cassel ★★★★★
Location: Haute-de-France region, Nord department
A quiet and peaceful town with a Flemish atmosphere.
The Flemish cobblestone pavement « Pavé » is a must if you like bicycle road racing. It’s quite tough and rattles quite a bit when driving a car.
I think it was somewhat similar to the atmosphere of the beautiful village of Walloon. It’s close by. There was a Michelin star restaurant in the village.
Haut Bonheur de la Table – Cassel | MICHELIN Restaurants
I would love to stay there and use it. The restaurants and accommodations seemed to be fine.
Lucheux ★★★★★
Location: Haute-de-France region, Somme department
It features brick houses typical of the old Picardy region.
The gate at the entrance of the village seems to be registered as a World Heritage Site, Jeanne d’Arc passed through this gate in 1430.
Most of the villages we visited were in Somme province, a fierce battleground of World War I. We visited the American and Canadian monuments in 2014.
In fact, as we were moving further along, we also happened to find a German monument. I wish I had time to stop by. In addition, when I was driving and turning a certain road, I found a monument of the Franco-Prussian War at the corner of the road. Was this a battlefield in this war? I was so surprised when I was driving.
（北フランスの美しい村巡り、終わり）
