BOULOGNE is quite different from Dunkerque
and Calais - recommendation in itself. It has long been an important
harbour and claims to be the largest fishing base in Europe. Rising
above the port is an attractive medieval quarter, the ville haute , contained within the old town walls and dominated by a grand, domed cathedral. Below, amid the newer shopping streets of the
ville basse
, are some of the best charcuteries and pâtisseries in the north, along
with an impressive array of fish restaurants. Alone among the northeast
Channel ports, this is a place that might actually tempt you to stay.
The quiet cobbled streets of the ville haute make a pleasant respite from the noise and congestion of the ville basse . Within the walls, the Basilique Notre-Dame (closed for 2hr around
noon,
except during July & Aug) is an odd building - raised in the
nineteenth century by the town's vicar, without any architectural
knowledge or advice - yet it seems to work. In the vast and
labyrinthine crypt (Tues-Sun 2-5pm;
€1.22) you can see frescoed remains of the Romanesque building and
relics of a Roman temple to Diana. In the main part of the church sits
a bizarre white statue of the Virgin and Child on a boat-chariot, drawn
here on its own wheels from Lourdes over the course of six years during a pilgrimage in the 1940s.
Nearby, the Château Musée (Mon & Wed-Sat
10am-12.30pm & 2-5pm, Sun 10am-12.30pm & 2.30-5.30pm;
€3.05) has Egyptian funerary objects donated by a local-born
Egyptologist and a good collection of Greek pots. Alternatively, you
can climb up the most ancient monument in the old town, the
twelfth-century belfry (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat 8am-noon; free;
access via the Hôtel de Ville), attached to the Hôtel de Ville, at the
other end of rue de Lille from the Basilique, or stroll round along the
medieval walls , decked out with rosebeds, gravel paths and benches for picnicking, with impressive views over the town and port.
Outside the ville haute the place to head for is the town's smart new aquarium at the Centre National de la Mer, or Nausicaá
, on boulevard Sainte-Beuve (daily: July & Aug 9.30am-8pm; rest of
year 9.30am-6.30pm; closed 3 weeks in Jan; €10.37). Ultraviolet
lighting and New Age music create a suitably weird ambience, while
hammerhead sharks circle overhead and giant conger eels conceal
themselves in rusty pipes - definitely not for piscophobes. There's
plenty of educational stuff, too (in French and English throughout),
and a half-hour film show, though only a passing nod towards
environmental issues.
Three kilometres north of Boulogne on the N1 stands the Colonne de la Grande Armée , where, in 1803, Napoléon is said to have changed his mind about invading
Britain and turned his troops east towards Austria.
The column was originally topped by a bronze figure of Napoléon
symbolically clad in Roman garb - though his head, equally
symbolically, was shot off by the British navy during World War II. It
is now displayed in the Château Musée.
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