Hi all..

Anyone in France around the Calais area that knows of a few good places near by to visit?

I'm heading over there tomorrow morning with a friend but only for the day (taking the motor with me, so will have transport). I think the trip back is ~22:00 but as I've only ever been to France once on a school skiing trip 17 years ago, I have little knowledge of the place.

Obviously time is of the essence so a run to the likes of Paris and back is pretty much out of the question, but if anyone has any recommendations of places to visit around Calais(ish).. I'd be grateful in hearing of them


TIA.



Regards,

Ian

Depends how far you want to travel Ian...go along the A26 towards Lille for about 35-40 klicks and there is a big Military Cemetary.. a bit further (another 50 odd K) you have Lille itself, not bad for sightseeing..but as for Calais...to put it bluntly..F**k all
Or...shoot up the motorway into Belgium (about 40K) and at the first turn off in Belgium you can stock up on cheap baccy and fags

You could kill a few hours at the Cite d'Europe if you feel that way inclined, or head off to Boulogne as it's nicer than Calais (which is a bit of a dump TBH).

Not a lot close by, but if you can travel a little, places like Le Touquet are nice, and the Côte d'Opale is good for walking / sightseeing.

http://www.enhancefrance.com/b ... e%20places%20to%20go.html

edit : the Cathedral at St Omer is a great example of gothic french architecture if you like that sort of thing.

Quote from Bladerunner :

in Belgium you can stock up on cheap baccy and fags

:nut: Only an English man could say this about the fags in Belgium...They've gotten pretty expensive nowadays! They can go up to 50 Euros per hour!
j/k

If you feel like it just visit Normandy's coast, although it's a bit far. Lots of great places if you're a WWII nut like me!

Rules about surviving in Calais

• At a junction, remember to drive on the right when you pull away
  
• The little rental boats you can potter about in have a plug, do not remove, it really is a plug
  
• Try not to sniff too deep, the place has a distinct odur some days
  
• The out of town super markets are cheaper for booze than places near the port
  
• Speak slowly and loudly in English and everyone will understand you
  

Thanks Dan & B.. I'll check out some more info about some of the places you mention.. much appreciated



Regards,

Ian

Go to Wissant?

Quie a nice town only a 15 minute drive along the coast from Calais, in the direction of Bolougne.

Has a very nice beach and various shops and restraunts, can be a little cold on a windy day though!

Point and laugh at all the immagrants trying to catch a truck ride to London???

Decide you want to go to germany and enjoy the ring and the autobahns.

Caution: Use Aston Martin DB9 for best results.

Hmmm things to do in Calais ?

If there's a big boat in the harbour, get on it. Don't matter where it's headed, anywhere's better than that dump...

Having said that, if you fancy a bit of a long-ish drive, head off to Bayeux, the tapestry is well worth a look (you'll be surprised how small it is, and how long it is too)
Or, if you fancy an even longer drive, go visit Mont Saint Michel It's quite a magical place, especially at night.
The D-Day landing sites are well worth a visit, as are all the War cemeteries (sounds morbid, but trust me, it'll move you like nothing else can, especially when you see how many headstones there are, and how young the soldiers were). But again, it's quite a trek from Calais.

Just depends how much time you've got, and how many roads the French farmers have blocked or completely covered in cow shit, in protest of some utterly mundane and futile EU directive.


[edit] ahhhh, just read your post in full Mr Ian. Seems like you're only there for the day. Scrub everything i've said then. That'll teach me for this skim reading nonsense i find myself doing on this interweb gubbins thing..

Decided to stop off in Wissant on the way to Boulogne. Quite nice to drop down onto the beach for a while.

That said, if I ever have to go back to that stinking hell hole of a country again, I'll top myself first. _Everything_ they do, be it "think", walk, drive.... is done at half the pace of the rest of the world and what an arrogant bunch of fsckwits the drivers are.. they just seem to assume that you'll give way, be it right or wrong.

All in all, it was a nice day (other than that I left my license and log book rather than paying a fine).. but a day there is waaaaaaay more than what's necessary.



Regards,

Ian

It's a different country, what would you expect? LOL.

In my experiance, and I have worked in France before (Dieppe, just round the corner from the Alpine factory ), most French men come across as arrogant, but it's just their "way" and they don't really mean anything by it, but the women......love em

As for the driving, I didn't really find it much different from here really, Italy is about 1000 times worse, best driving I have found is German, most roadworks are in Holland!!!.

Normally for me, northern France and Belgium are just obstacles to overcome when I need to get somewhere else!!!!

What an interesting thread filled with clichés .
I would have recommended Wimille or Wimereux too .

The few fellas I spoke to Dan actually didn't seem too arrogant at all (mainly barmen).. didn't speak much (if any) English, but they tried and we all seemed to get it all sorted eventually (I can't speak a word of French myself)

2 things that stood out about their lack of HTF to drive, was some old doddery retard pulls out of a space on the side of the road about 10' in front of me (seeing as he's in a left-hooker, there should be no excuse not to see a car coming down the road).. yet even after I gave a short blast of the horn and had to swerve.. he _still_ proceeded to pull out like everyone else was invisible!

The other was on a country lane going down to Wissant. Stupid fscker pulls out from a side road in a land rover at all of about 5mph.. I'm moving at about 50-60... headlights go on full beam, horn in use.. yet he _still_ continues to pull out. I had to dive round the back of it (as it was in the middle of the friggin road) to avoid the cúnt. I looked in the mirror afterwards and he slowly disappeared.. must have continued on with his fsckin 5mph crusade.

I won't start on the absolute appalling condition of the roads.

I don't think I could even use France as a stepping stone to somewhere decent. A nuclear bomb, however.................................

I guess to sum France up as a place.... it's an 'experience'.



Regards,

Ian