Pas De Calais is a department of Hauts de France a region in the North of France. It is bounded to the north by the Channel and to the south by Île de France.
Town property guides
Geography
Pas-de-Calais is in the current region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and is surrounded by the departments of Nord and Somme and the English Channel and the North Sea. It’s one of France’s least explorer departments.
It offers tranquillity, Gothic gems, 120 kilometres of fine sandy beaches, sand dunes and cliffs. Apart from coastal attractions it also offers beautiful rural landscapes, from meadows to marches.
The post popular or biggest towns are: Le Touquet, Boulogne, Calais, and Arras.
Towns
Le Touquet (Paris Plage) has been fashionable with the stylish British and French since the 1920’s, yet it retains it small town appeal through its boutiques, gastronomic restaurants and self presentation. It’s surrounded by immense pine forests and has all leisure pursuits as spas, golf and casino.
Boulogne is the most import fishing port in France with a huge fish market. It has a National Sea Centre which is the world-class sea-life centre and has been recognised as a “kid station” which a holiday resort is providing particularly good facilities for children.
The bourgeois towns of Bethune and Arras, steeped in Flemish and a little Spanish influences, mark out the limits of a vast territory which covers the Artois plains, the coal mining country and agricultural villages.
Culture
The calendar of cultural events and festivals is always full in this area.
Fete du Hareng (Herring) runs every year in Etaples where fishermen and cooks dressed in local costume serve smoked and grilled fish.
In Boulogne there is a festival of Sea Imagery, featuring five days of underwater documentaries, screenings, photo and painting exhibitions.
In March, the wine lovers should visit Calais for the Wine Growers Fair and one month later Foire de Calais, running for 5 days gathers over 25,000people.
Arras has the Parade of the Giants. As in other large towns in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, Arras welcomes its friendly giants to town on Bastille Day.
Le Touquet is known for its International Classical and Jazz Festival.
Activities
This area has an enormous number of activities to offer. The most popular ways of spending free time are: paragliding, jet ski, rowing, kayaking, rafting, sailing, speed sailing, kite surfing, hiking, cycling, horse riding and canoeing.
Pas de Calais can also satisfy the golf amateurs with its 5 golf courses and fishing enthusiasts with possibility of fishing in several rivers, lakes and the sea.
There is also a variety of theme parks such as Les Papus, Ch’ti Parc ou Le Parc Calonnix.
Gastronomy
Food in Pas de Calais demonstrates loving traditions of farming, fishing and generous country cooking. It relies on fresh ingredients, which are readily available locally
The coast is a fish-lover’s paradise and every village boasts a fish market with the freshest catch of turbot, scrod, sea bass, eel (often smoked), herring, mackerel, scallops and mussels. A standard item on local menus is a stew of mussels and leeks, tasty fish soup that also derives from Flemish cuisine.
The regional cheeses are: Le Vieux Boulogne, le Coeur d’Arras, le Rollot ou encore le Belval, le Sire de Crequy.
Useful information
Tourism office in Pas-De-Calais:
www.francetourism.com
Maps of Pas-De-Calais:
www.ign.fr
www.viamichelin.com
Travel from the UK
By Ferry: Ferries navigate to Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer.
By Rail : Eurostar go to Calais and Lille.
Our team of sale advisers at Sextant Properties will be happy to help you to find a property in Pas De Calais. We have a large network of estate agents in Pas De Calais. All of them are registered French real estate agents and speak both French and English. Whatever kind of property you are looking for: farmhouse, longere, barn, gite, B&B, country house, mill, castle or chateau, we will do our best to find a property in Pas De Calais matching your requirements.