Northern France

[Daily Express bot]

Le Touquet has that certain something you associate with France, but it is like a ghost town in winter.

Yes the Parisians lock up their second homes and go back to Paris but I find that part of the appeal to go from now to Springtime and it is easier to book things up like restaurants and golf times.

Nearby Etaples has the biggest cemetery of WWI on account of it being where the Field Hospital was.

Worth a visit if you are into being morbid and living your life in the past haunted by the ghosts of dead soldiers.

I have been to ‘Eat Apples’ (Etaples) as The Tommies called it. I like spending a weekend in ‘Wipers’ as the Tommies called Ypres. The Menin Gate is fascinating. Every evening since 2 July 1928 a Last Post Ceremony is conducted there at 8pm by the Last Post Association, , ( except for a few exceptions). Even during battle. There is lots to see in and around Ypres, some super bars and restaurants and the speciality in most are stewed eels ‘Belgium style’ which I find delicious and well worth the 30 plus Euro price a portion. There is a great museum in the square also.

It can be morbid and depressing seeing the amount of graves and the poignant inscriptions. Families were charged by the letter for stonework messages and some are very brief. I enjoy the trips there like going on my own or with a friend. I could not handle one of those mass coach trips the Club organises though.

[east saxon gas]

Wissant, bit further down the coast but not that far from Le Touquet either. Much nicer.

Wissant is lovely, but very small. Probably not good for a whole weekend. But do walk along the beach, which is between two points. If you do go there, drive to/from it along the coast road - it's windy and very pretty, particularly towards sunset (we used to take it on family holidays, especially when heading back for the ferry). It's also a good place for mussels, chips and Leffe

Boulogne is surprisingly nice in the very centre, with good restaurants

the natural park by Omer (a bit like the Norfolk Broads) is not bad - wetlands really. Chateau Tilques isn't as expensive as it sounds, and I think England squads have stayed there

Le Touquet is nice for golfers particularly - the advice on this thread is pretty good

Ypres is excellent. If you go, make sure to go to the British church before you head into town (it's a hundred metres or so from the centre) and if you do try telling me that either you're not in Britain or that the locals don't remember

Montreuil is said to be nice, though I haven't been

Lille is ideal for Brits for a weekend - it has been extensively re-done since industrial times, and is a Eurostar stop

[Top of the JES]

Wissant, bit further down the coast but not that far from Le Touquet either. Much nicer.

Wissant is lovely, but very small. Probably not good for a whole weekend. But do walk along the beach, which is between two points. If you do go there, drive to/from it along the coast road - it's windy and very pretty, particularly towards sunset (we used to take it on family holidays, especially when heading back for the ferry). It's also a good place for mussels, chips and Leffe

Boulogne is surprisingly nice in the very centre, with good restaurants

the natural park by Omer (a bit like the Norfolk Broads) is not bad - wetlands really. Chateau Tilques isn't as expensive as it sounds, and I think England squads have stayed there

Le Touquet is nice for golfers particularly - the advice on this thread is pretty good

Ypres is excellent. If you go, make sure to go to the British church before you head into town (it's a hundred metres or so from the centre) and if you do try telling me that either you're not in Britain or that the locals don't remember

Montreuil is said to be nice, though I haven't been

Lille is ideal for Brits for a weekend - it has been extensively re-done since industrial times, and is a Eurostar stop

Yep we spent a few days at Chateau Tilques it was a great base to tour the area and the restaurant there was very good, wasn't cheap but was stunning. There are two decent golf courses at St Omer a championship course which was difficult (and expensive) that has hosted the French Open a few times, there is also a lovely nine hole course shorter than the main course but which was really enjoyable and beautifully kept. Lille was good for shopping and places to eat but the traffic was ooo la la.

[Give it to Jabo]

Why are the French so much more stylish? Why is there food better-tasting, in the main? Why can I not buy French butter in my local supermarket any more? (Not the B word, surely?)

[Give it to Jabo]

If they had proper pubs, it would be an ideal place to live.

[Dunners]

If you compare a typical town in the UK (outside of the South East) with an equivalent in many other European counties, the ones in the UK always look more run-down, vacant and destitute. It's not just France that is better, it's almost everywhere else.

Some of the towns (and I'm not counting the tourist destinations either) I've visited in places like Slovenia, Poland and Hungary really show up what the UK has become. They always look cleaner, the shops are occupied by independent retailers, and not by fund-backed chains, charities or betting shops. They have nowhere near the level of vacant units that we seem to have. And you just feel safer walking around. They have plenty of pubs too.

This country looks and feels like it has just been run into the ground. There are still some nice bits, but they're becoming over-saturated as internal tourism and second-homers decimate them too.

[Long slender neck]

Also, going to France was cheaper, even factoring in the crossing.

[Top of the JES]

If you compare a typical town in the UK (outside of the South East) with an equivalent in many other European counties, the ones in the UK always look more run-down, vacant and destitute. It's not just France that is better, it's almost everywhere else.

Some of the towns (and I'm not counting the tourist destinations either) I've visited in places like Slovenia, Poland and Hungary really show up what the UK has become. They always look cleaner, the shops are occupied by independent retailers, and not by fund-backed chains, charities or betting shops. They have nowhere near the level of vacant units that we seem to have. And you just feel safer walking around. They have plenty of pubs too.

This country looks and feels like it has just been run into the ground. There are still some nice bits, but they're becoming over-saturated as internal tourism and second-homers decimate them too.

Slovenia is the favourite place I have been to, beautiful and easy to get around with lovely friendly people. We spent a day in the Slovine Alps and the scenery was absolutely amazing is you go I would recommend a visit to Lake Bled and a trip out to Bled Island on a Pletna (hand propelled water taxi). We visited an independent family owned supermarket just outside Bled to get some bottled water, the quality of the fresh produce compared with the crap offering over here was marked. the range and quality of fruit was fantastic.

[Long slender neck]

Havent any of you seen the film TAKEN or Hostel? Europe is all fun and games until you're kidnapped.

[Dunners]

Havent any of you seen the film TAKEN or Hostel? Europe is all fun and games until you're kidnapped.

Yeah, but I like the sound of their nee-naws more than the UK rozzers.

[Top of the JES]

Havent any of you seen the film TAKEN or Hostel? Europe is all fun and games until you're kidnapped.

And yet you still risked France?

[Long slender neck]

Its alright, I have a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like European baddies.

[Dunners]

Those generic Eastern European Baddies sure will rue the day they crossed my multi-quote boardin' technique.