TOPS-DE-FRANCE

Located in the north of France, the Hauts-de-France region has

5 departments. Its capital is Lille.

The French administrative region brings together the former Nord-pas-de-Calais and Picardie regions.

The distance between Paris and Lille is : 221 km

 

Close to Paris, the region is famous in particular for its large and prestigious equestrian estates of Chantilly, with in another register the Parc Astérix.

Less than 2 hours from Paris, the region with a cultural theme, with Laon its medieval town and with Amiens & its cathedral, offers stopovers within ranches, magnificent guest rooms… offering sports stays in the Bay of Somme .

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The Hauts de France, near London and Brussels, notably includes Lille, capital of Flanders and also Le Touquet seaside resort, flagship of the Côte d'Opale, which constitute the main major axes of this sporting region, with many tourist attractions.

 

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MAIN TOWNS

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• Amiens (Sum)

• Laon (Aisne)

• Beauvais (Oise)

• Chantilly (canton of Oise)

• Lille (North)

• Dunkirk (North)

• Cambrai (North)

• Arras (Pas-de-Calais)

• Calais (Pas de Calais)

• Dunkirk (Pas de Calais)

• Boulogne sur Mer (Opale Coast)

 

 

CURIOSITIES & ESSENTIALS

 

• Boat trip along the road to Genévrière (eau de vie) with discovery of artisanal distilleries

• Shopping at the Maison du Terroir de Lille (regional products and objects)

• Discovery of Lille from the top of the Belfry of the town hall (104 m high)

• Visit of the Nausicaa, National Sea Center (15,000 m2 of exhibition space and 5,000 fish)

• Visit of the Gravelines nuclear power plant

• Discovery of the rocket launch base at the fortress of Mimoyecques

• Visit of the production workshops of the world's leading table glassware company, Cristallerie d'Arques, in Saint Omer

• Gourmet walk in the Touquettois hinterland, visit of the chocolate factory

• Bee Museum and mead cellars

• Maison de Perlé in Loison-sur-Créquoise (aperitif made with currants or raspberries) Discovery of the Baie de Somme

• Traditional boat trip, the “cornet boat” of the Hortillonnages d'Amiens (floating gardens cut by canals)

• Demonstration of traditional Picardy games (real palm game, long palm, ball in fist)

• Playful day at Parc d'Astérix

• Discovery of the park of Chantilly with the French garden of Le Nôtre, the English garden, the small park and the hamlet

• Horse Museum in the Grandes Ecuries de Chantilly (equestrian shows and themed rooms)

• Condé Museum in the Château de Chantilly (paintings by Raphaël, Watteau, Ingres, Delacroix, etc.)

 

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CULINARY SPECIALTIES

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• Seafood

• Fried mussels

• Fresh herring  

• Smoked eel

• Amiens duck pâté

• Andouillettes, andouilles, sausages and blood sausages

• Waterzoï (bouillabaisse made with fish)

• Flamique (leek tart)

• Ficelle picarde (crepe topped with ham, mushrooms, stuffing and béchamel)

• Caghuse (pork with onions)

• Hochepot (pot on fire)

• Pre-salted lamb

• Rabbit with prunes

• Beer Coq

• Smoked beef tongue

• polish sauerkraut

• Saur   

• Soles

• Macaroons from Amiens

• Cheeses (Fontenelle dumplings, mimolette, Lille gray, maroilles…)

• Cider, mead, red fruit aperitifs

• Beers (best fruity beers in France: the Angelus, the sans-culotte, the beer of the ch'ti, the beer of the demon, the cuvée of the daffodils ...)

 

 

ACTIVITIES

 

• Introduction to the track or introduction to sports driving on the Folembray circuit

• Hot air balloon flight over the medieval city of Laon or balloon flight over the forest and the castle of Chantilly

• sea kayaking

• Speed-sail and catamaran in Fort-Mahon 

• Horseback riding and mountain biking in the Chantilly forest and in the dunes

• Hang gliding and paragliding from the top of the slag heap in Nœux-les-Mines

• Speed sail (windsurfing on wheels on the beaches of Le Touquet)

• Sand yachting on the boards of Le Touquet, Hardelot and Berck-sur-Mer

• Funboard on the Wissant spot

• Canoeing on the Canche near Le Touquet

• Traditional fishing

• 4X4 or Quad in the dunes of Le Touquet

• Horseback riding with discovery of the fauna & flora around the capes Gris-Nez and Blanc Nez

• Boat trip or bacôve (flat-bottomed boat) on the Audomarois marsh (Saint Omer)

• Thalassotherapy in Le Touquet

• 18 to 36-hole golf course, Le Touquet golf course (on several sites: forest, dunes, marshes, etc.)

 

 

REGIONAL PRODUCTS

 

• Picard foie gras

• Chocolates from Beussent

• Confectionery (Cambrai nonsense, confectionery from Méert, etc.)

• Macaroons from Amiens

• Bottles of Perlé (aperitif made with currants or raspberries)

• Bottles of juniper (regional brandy)

• Bottles of Poiret (pear ciders)

• Beer bottles

• carnival items

• Valenciennes lace doily

• Biographies of Jules Verne and Jean de la Fontaine

• Objects in Arras porcelain and Arques crystal or Desvres earthenware

• Miniature reproduction of a flobart (small fishing boat typical of the Opal Coast)

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EVENTS CALENDAR - ANNUAL

 

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