Calais
Calais divides in two with Calais-Nord, the old town rebuilt after the war with the drab place d'Armes and rue Royale as its focus, separated by canals from the sprawling "new town" or Calais-Sud, centred around the Hôtel de Ville and the main shopping streets, boulevards Lafayette and Jacquard – the latter named after the inventor of looms, who mechanized Calais' lacemaking industry.
Calais-Nord's charms, such as they are, soon wear thin. The Tour du Guet, on place d'Armes, is the only medieval building in the quarter to have survived wartime bombardment. From the Tour, rue de la Paix leads to the church of Notre-Dame, where Charles de Gaulle married local girl Yvonne Vendroux in 1921. Rather spuriously dubbed the only English Perpendicular church on the continent, it's not a particularly good example of the style, especially in its present state of dereliction. There is an unusual lacemaking exhibition, along with a small but interesting collection of sixteenth- to twentieth-century art, including paintings by Picasso and Dubuffet, and a Rodin sculpture, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle on rue Richelieu, which runs alongside the Parc Richelieu, at the other end of rue Royale from the place d'Armes. Continue in the other direction on rue Royale and you'll come to the city's beach, where the waters are chilly but swimmable, and from which on a fine day the English shore is visible; or take rue des Thermes to visit the 51-metre lighthouse at place Henri-Barbusse, with 271 steps to a panoramic view.
Calais-Sud is scarcely more exciting. Just over the canal bridge, the town's landmark, the Hôtel de Ville, raises its belfry over 60m into the sky; this Flemish extravaganza was finished in 1926, and miraculously survived World War II. Somewhat dwarfed by the building, Rodin's famous bronze, the Burghers of Calais, records for ever the self-sacrifice of local dignitaries, who offered their lives to assuage the blood lust of the victor at Crécy, Edward III – only to be spared at the last minute by the intervention of Queen Philippa, Edward's wife. For a record of Calais' wartime travails you can consult the fascinating Musée de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale, installed in a former German Blockhaus in the Parc St-Pierre across the street, with exhibits of uniforms, weapons and models from World War II and a small section devoted to World War I.
Shopping in Calais
For truly epic cross-the-border shopping it's best to head to the hypermarkets, or grandes surfaces, a few kilometres out of town. The best of these is the Auchan complex on the Boulogne road, the N1; this is closely followed by Carrefour/Mi-Voix, on the east side of town, on avenue Georges-Guynemer. Cité Europe, a vast shopping complex by the Channel Tunnel terminal and just off the A16 in the direction of Boulogne, offers you another large Carrefour as well as high-street clothes shops and food shops, all under one roof.
In Calais-Nord, place d'Armes and rue Royale are the main shopping arteries with a string of boutiques selling mainly clothes and chocolate; try La Maison du Fromage et des Vins for a good selection of cheeses and wine. Generally, however, the streets of Calais-Sud – particularly boulevards Jacquard and Lafayette – are a better bet. A new shopping mall or centre commercial, Les 4 Boulevards, has recently opened on boulevard Jacquard and houses some thirty boutiques, many of them selling designer clothing. More colourful still are the markets around place d'Armes and boulevard Lafayette.
Discover more to see and do in Calais at www.roughguides.co.uk
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