Arras in December... by night (by Kerouac2)

[Deleted]

French Flanders is one of the most densely populated parts the country, so Arras is just one of many similar cities in the area and is part of what is known as the "Greater Metropolitan Area of Lille," a zone with a population of almost 4 million people. Arras itself just has 42,000 people or 125,000 if you count the immediate suburbs. However, it has two UNESCO world heritage sites, one of which is the central area of the city and its two amazing baroque squares and belfry. The other site is the citadel, but you can foget it for the moment because I did not get a chance to see it.

Anyway, Arras is only 50 minutes from Paris by train and there is a train every hour.



I arrived for just one night at 17:40 so I never saw the light of day. It was not raining, but any rain that falls just never dries this month.





It was a short walk from the station to the Ibis, but something had already caught my eye in the distance.





I dropped my bag at the hotel and went to investigate. The Grand'Place, which I would have liked to see empty, was a bit occupied.





I managed to see the Flemish architecture anyway.



The entire square had been covered by a red carpet for the Christmas market, obviously to protect people from slippery accidents.





Normally on a Sunday evening, towns like this are completely dead. This was not the case last night.



This place has just about any kind of fowl you might need, as long as they are not ducks or geese.









People seemed to be very hungry, for just about anything.





All through the market, there were little shelters for people to eat and drink. An absolutely excellent idea in this kind of climate!

[Deleted]

The Grand'Place would really be very photogenic without all of this Christmas clutter!







They had an authentic get-your-arse-icy-and-wet luge ride. None of that blanket-on-a-big-slide crap like in Paris.







The free skating rink was very popular.









creepy or lovable?





The far end of the Grand'Place actually had some unused space.







Naturally, even if the Grand'Place gives the impression of being very old, the current version is quite new or this car park would not be under it.

In fact, Arras was almost completely razed during World War I since the city was less than 10 kilometres from the front line. Most of it was pulverised between October 1914 and July 1915. Vimy Ridge and many other battlefields are very close to Arras, so there was just about nothing left by the end of the war. The city was rebuilt almost identical to how it was in the past by 1925.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the report, Kerouac. I knew nothing of Arras except for the famous Hamlet quote, "Be you and I behind an arras (tapestry) then". It's interesting that they recreated the Grand'Place precisely after the destruction of WW1, I wonder how much destruction there was from WW2?

I wish I could attend a Christmas market. There is one in Vancouver every year and I intend to go when I get back.

But now, all I can think of is, "What do they do with all of those guinea fowl testicles?".

[Deleted]

Yes, Arras was one of the principal Flemish draper cities and was so famous for its tapestries that the English did indeed name them 'arras.' It was part of the Spanish Netherlands for a couple of hundred years until the French captured it from the Habsburgs in 1640 although the treaty with Spain was not officialised until 1659.

Arras had more difficult times during the French revolution because Maximilien de Robespierre was from Arras and he took a particular interest in the city during the Reign of Terror. He had the cathedral demolished as well as the abbey of St. Vaast. Apparently, the city is still sort of proud of him because his house is a monument on the street bearing his name, and there is also a high school named after him.

I continued to admire the buildings on the Grand'Place.

I was pleased to see this building for a very odd reason. When I first got a bank loan to buy my apartment in the early 1990's, the interest rates were incredibly high (did I hear 12.5%?). 7 or 8 years later, they had gone down about 70% so I knew I absolutely had to refinance my loan. I went to a broker specialised in finding the lowest rates, and one month later I found myself repaying my loan to the Grand'Place agency of Crédit Agricole in Arras, where I had an account for the next 6 years without ever having set foot in Arras.

[mossie]

A nice little visit Kerouac, and a lovely market, to a place that is not very well known.
The towns and villages in the area known as Flanders, which covers parts of France and Belgium, suffered considerable destruction in WW1, but were very often rebuilt so as to be almost the same as before. I suppose it helped to heal peoples minds after the trauma they had suffered.

[Deleted]

I presume that the huge amount of war damages that Germany was forced to pay really helped a lot, even though resentment about this was one of the things that fuelled the desire for World War II.

Luckily, Arras apparently did not suffer any war damage in WW2. It must have been really awful for the cities that were destroyed (or at least heavily damaged) twice.

[Deleted]

I looked at a few more things on the Grand'Place before continuing on.





You can recreate your own Grand'Place by purchasing enough of these items.



I was rather dubious about these chocolate-covered somethings.







I think the Christmas ferris wheel in Paris costs something like 10€ (okay, it's bigger) but I found this price much more reasonable.





I love the quirky names of streets in the smaller cities of France since they always make you want to look up the person in question.





Then it was time to walk just one or two blocks over to the other huge square comprising the World Heritage site.



I passed the friterie where I ultimately bought my dinner. Will I never learn to never ask for the "grande frite"? It could feed a family of 5 for 3.50€.



The condiment pumps fascinate me more than anything else, if only because of their size.



And so here is Place des Héros, the other major square, unencumbered by a Christmas market even if it is the location of the municipal Christmas tree.





It is rare to see one of these squares where parking is still allowed. Twice a week, this is the location of the central street market.





Here is the town hall and its belfry, totally rebuilt after being levelled in 1915.









This is how I had sort of hoped to see the Grand'Place except that nobody thought to tell me that it is December.

[Deleted]

Place des Héros seemed to have far more restaurants and bars than the Grand'Place.



I continued wandering around other streets of the centre.









This church is St. Jean Baptiste. It was destroyed in 1915 and rebuilt in the 1920's. It was the cathedral until 1833.



Sunday evening mass was in progress, but I sneaked one photo anyway.



The Flemish architecture was a bit more variable in some of the other streets.









I tend to notice little details like electronic parking machines that tell you clearly when you have to pay or if parking is authorised at a given time.









I still remember times when a Martian restaurant would have been just as likely in a town like this.







This woman was cleaning out her deep fryer before closing.











Rue Gambetta took me back to the train station area.







One last glance at the Grand'Place before going back to the hotel.



The full moon had managed to break through the clouds.

Next time I will try to see Arras in daylight.

[mossie]

Super night photography

[tod2]

You have intrigued me as to exactly where Arras is located on a map, so I will dig out my tatty old map of Europe and look it up.
I would like to know the room rate for that Ibis...I imagine around 69euro?

The red carpet everywhere must be made of some disposable substance - I can't see them cleaning it and rolling it up for next year after thousands of feet have trampled wet dirt into it

The wonderful lighting on the
Flemish (I call them Dutch) gables, is wonderful. I bet they don't look half as good in daylight. Did you jump out of bed and drive straight off the next morning?

[Deleted]

Actually I had an internet rate of 55 euros at the Ibis (+10 for breakfast).

Yes, obviously the carpet is thrown away after the Christmas season.

It was barely dawn when I left the city since dawn is so late at this time of year.

[tod2]

Thank you Kerouac - very good rate - I have to ask....do you always/sometimes/never have the breakfast at the additional 10euro??
We found the cost of 9,50euro EACH a bit steep for a bit of bread, an egg, cheese, yogurt, fruit and coffee at our Hotel Crimee. Especially if you are a person who can't eat your money's worth that soon after waking up The cafe` lighter fare is sufficient and cheaper.

[Deleted]

Actually, the Ibis breakfast buffet is a good deal for me, because I can eat heartily in the morning as long as it is past 7am, and I make sure that I get my money's worth -- meaning I eat more than I need, but then I skip lunch.

[JulieVikmanis]

Kerouac, Great pictures. Thanks. Funny, you went there during the Christmas markets and thought how pretty the square would be without all the "stuff" and we went there when there was no "stuff" and thought how pretty it would be when the christmas market is in progress. JulieVikmanis

[kerouac2]

The horrible event that occurred in Arras last Friday (teacher stabbed to death by a young radical Muslim Chechen of Russian nationality) could have happened anywhere, but what I find strange about the spotlight that it put on the city was all of the news sources saying "what a nice place!" when it has been ignored ever since all of the mines closed 30 or 40 years ago. Does it take a tragedy to discover a nice place?