Calais pides in two: Calais-Nord , the old
town rebuilt after the war, with the drab place d'Armes and rue Royale
as its focus, is separated by canals from sprawling 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.
Although Calais-Nord is nominally the old town, its charms soon wear thin. The medieval Tour du Guet
, on place d'Armes, is the only 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. Frill-fanciers can
enjoy the unusual lacemaking exhibition, along with a small collection
of nineteenth-century sculptures, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle
on rue Richelieu (Mon & Wed-Fri 10am-noon & 2-5.30pm, Sat
10am-noon & 2-6.30pm, Sun 2-6.30pm; €2.29), which runs alongside
the Parc Richelieu, at the other end of rue Royale from the place
d'Armes.
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 Guerre (April-Sept daily 10am-6pm; Oct-Nov & Feb-March daily except Tues 11am-5pm; €2.29), 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.
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