Another look at Calais by Kerouac2

[Deleted]

Calais is one of the least popular cities in France and has suffered even more during the last decade due to the "jungle" of refugees trying to cross the Channel to England. It lived mostly off British "shopping" tourism for most of the last 50 years, but even that has dried up with the irrational fear of the migrants and also the recent drop of the value of British currency. Nevertheless, 10 million people pass through Calais every year to take the ferries, which make 50 crossings a day to Dover. Another 10 million travel through the nearby Eurotunnel by train or by car shuttle, often without seeing Calais at all... or wanting to do so.

I have been through Calais lots of times in the past, because I have often driven along the lovely national highway that hugs the northern coast, but I have been rather guilty of never really stopping to see Calais either. I decided that it was time to investigate Calais for myself, so I took the train from Paris the other day. The trip was lovely and sunny with a brief stop in Lille.

The first thing that you see when exiting the Calais-Ville train station is the hôtel de ville, completed in 1925.







In front of the town hall is one of Auguste Rodin's most famous statues, the Burghers of Calais. We'll take a closer look at it later.



Various other war monuments dot this strangely empty zone. The hôtel de ville stands alone because it was built midway between the two cities that merged to form modern Calais in 1885.



Calais does not have a huge number of historic buildings because after escaping destruction in World War 1, it was not so lucky the next time and was 73% destroyed by 1945.



The 13th century Tour de Guet (watchtower) is one of the oldest vestiges in Calais. It was finally restored in 2015.



At the foot of the tower, Charles de Gaulle and Madame are having a stroll.

[Deleted]

As the years go by, the charmless postwar architecture is beginning to grow on me, even though it is less inspired than the reconstruction of Le Havre.



There's the ferry terminal.





Some of the postwar buildings have nevertheless benefited from a few of the local Flemish flourishes.





I wondered if this is the place to leave abandoned fishing nets or if they are perhaps not abandoned.







Calais is of course a city of squawking seagulls, but the sound of them here is appropriate, unlike the seagulls that live in Paris.





Several ferries move in and out of the port every hour. Most of them are loaded with huge lorries of merchandise besides the "civilians."





Watching big ships going in and out of port is a source of endless fascination to me. Sorry.















Going back to Poland... or Italy... or Bulgaria...?

[Deleted]

The lighthouse survived the war. I saw photos of Calais in ruins with the lighthouse sticking out unscathed.







There are still traces of British shopping obsessions.













Here's a bar I won't be visiting!





There are a number of very nice parks in the city.



Afghan refugees were playing cricket in this park. Did you know that cricket is the most popular sport in Afghanistan? True!





closed

[Deleted]

After sunset, I decided to walk out to the beach since it was a balmy evening.







There were huge crowds waiting for frites and kebabs at the snack bars.





There is a very long pier to walk out over the water.

























And then I succumbed to the call of the frites. Far too many of them. I fear that most of them ended up in the rubbish.



back to the hotel...

[bixaorellana]

Your pictures make it very hard to understand why Calais is not more popular. But the pictures of people lined up at the food places make it look quite popular. Were they all locals? Perhaps there are tourists there all year round.

I love all the dock and boat pictures, also the one of the church with Japanese magnolias in the foreground, and the blue hour ones are lovely. Speaking of the church, was it rebuilt? If not, the fact that it still has a steeple is amazing. The Tour de Guet is impressive and gives a nice feel of anchoring the city.

Can you say "Flemish flourishes" three times real fast?

[Deleted]

There were no tourists out by the pier that night (except for me) and a lot of the people were speaking ch'ti (the local dialect) among themselves. However, at my hotel there were a number of British and Dutch people.

Anyway, the next morning I was out early as is my wont.



I am always impressed by how they can get all of these flowering plants into the ground as early in the year as possible, even if they all come from greenhouses.





Along the sides of the park, there was still some older buildings that had escaped the war or at least been repaired in the original style.





The local aquarium club proudly displays some of their fish in this building, but of course not this early in the morning.







Whether in Calais or Paris, I have not seen all of the trees blooming so vigourously in quite a few years. It is spectacular everywhere.





The belfry is a whore for photo ops.



Interesting gardening concept albeit not completely successful.







The sad tale of the burghers of Calais, whose names were not Cheese Burgher, Bacon Burgher or Veggie Burgher.









There's that damned belfry photobombing the burghers.



a few details of the hôtel de ville

[Deleted]

Walking along the Canal of Calais (which leads inland to other cities), one of my quirks struck me -- my fascination with empty lots.



I always want to know what is coming next. In this case, here is the promise. Maybe if I return in two or three years I will see if the promise was fulfilled.





My reason for walking along the canal was to check out the Cité de la Dentelle, the lace museum, the pride and joy of Calais.



It is situated in a former lace factory to which a new façade has been added.



Too early to visit, but any hardy souls here will find a full report in Maritime Museum shortly. So I continued to wander...









The area is full of indications that it is the central zone of the lace industry.





This is one of the principal active lace factories. The work day had started and the machines rumbled through the walls as though the place was run by morlocks.

[Deleted]

I was very much intrigued by a message embedded in the footpath.



It commemorated someone who had walked the entire length of France from Narbonne to Calais. Bravo.





Signs of spring continued to be everywhere.









Most streets are totally matter of fact and not necessarily picturesque. Nothing wrong with that.



I found myself looking for lace curtains as I strolled through the city. I confess that I think there are many more lace curtains in southern France than in Calais.

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I enjoyed seeing how buildings have been transformed to more modern usages over the years.







This building lost its upper attic companion, maybe during the war.

[bixaorellana]

So I'm reading this thread, right, and everything is going really well. The images of Spring are dazzling and I love all your architectural shots -- great angle on the hôtel de ville! -- and the captures of street scenes. Then, then the blow fell. You went to the lace museum without me!!!
          

[Deleted]

There was another footpath with an embedded message. I wonder how many of these there are in Calais.





Dandelions are one of the plants that best know how to take advantage of the cracks in the pavement of a city.



After visiting the lace museum, I walked down one of the formerly extremely industrial streets which connect the canal to the official downtown section.







One of the biggest threats to this region and the rest of France is this person.





Here is the municipal theatre.





The shopping mall is in an excellent location, but it is not a hotbed of activity.











I am old enough to remember when nearly all postcards were in black and white.

[Deleted]

The neighbourhood beside the citadel seemed very appealing with its harmonious brick houses and apartment buildings.



The only problem with areas like this is that all of your local friends have exactly the same floor plan or else a mirror image of it.









Then it was time to take a look inside the citadel, which is really massive.















The citadel now provides a convenient home for a stadium and all sorts of sports grounds.





This pitch was labelled as being dedicated to hockey.







Today they were torturing children.



Considering all of the money spent here, they could have made more of an effort on the quality of the caretaker's residence just inside the gate.



These old ticket booths have not been in service for quite some time.











I thought it was interesting that the municipal trees are discreetly numbered. I'm sure it makes it easier to give instructions to the municipal gardeners and lumberjacks.

[Deleted]

Going back towards the harbour, I walked through a huge empty car park where driving lessons for truck drivers were taking place.







mooring for visitors of limited means?

















Everybody loves these signs, right?



Proof that the frites are freshly made and they are not serving the spoiled bits.

[Deleted]

Another dawn, another trip to the beach. This was only normal since the main reason I went to Calais was because I felt a need to see the ocean.



Merchants were just starting to set up the Saturday street market.





I decided to climb up on the old fort first, attracted by this delightful invitation.





The construction of a new park behind the fort is well underway.



Ferry traffic was already busy. For all I know, they probably run all night.



The new park is also going to have a place for outdoor spectacles.





low tide!













The beach is quite vast. I'm sure that it fills up on hot summer days, though.



The seagulls squawked their displeasure at my invasion of their privacy.

[lagatta]

Where are the cliffs?

[Deleted]

The cliffs are not in Calais -- which is why it is a port, I guess. But Cap Blanc Nez is only 10 kilometres from Calais. After Cap Blanc Nez, everything flattens out at you go east to Calais, on to Dunkerque and "le plat pays."

[lagatta]

Yes, it looks a lot like the Flemish coast, where I spent a week as a volunteer interpreter (my travel and stay were paid, so it was worth my while). Bleak in a way, but a table companion said, a "rather pleasant bleakness". Though of course we couldn't help thinking of the damage caused by the World Wars.

I did love the Kusttram there.

Is Calais directly opposite Dover, or is that Cap Blanc-Nez? They are similar cliffs.

[Deleted]

These guys seem to be on every beach in the western world.









The diggers fascinated me all the more because I didn't know what they were digging for. Mussels? Sea snails? There were quite a few mussel shells scattered in the sand.



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And what does one catch with these nets? Shrimp? Whitebait?















Oh my god! This is what they are digging for?? Horrible sea worms?

[lagatta]

Bait?

[Deleted]

Nobody needs that much bait. He probably eats them instead of spaghetti.

[Deleted]

Oh well, to each his own.







Saturday morning is definitely a very busy time for the ferries.











On my way back to the hotel to check out, it was impossible not to take a look at the market.









I must buy some artichokes imminently!



The lace museum is already advertising this upcoming exhibition.



The Calais-Ville train station is not an architectural masterpiece. Some Tajik youths were hanging out in front of the station. They had nothing better to do.



I waited a few minutes to take the 8-minute shuttle to the Calais-Frethun station where most of the trains to Paris can be found.





Calais-Frethun is very close to the Eurotunnel, so the area is full of grim fences, barb wire and video cameras.





And thus ended my short visit to Calais.

[Deleted]

[mickthecactus]

Excellent report as ever K2.

Actually the Afghan cricket team is quite decent.

[mossie]

Cap Griz Nez, or grey nose, and the white cliffs of Dover were once part of a continuous range of chalk hills. The English Channel was formed when the melting ice from the ice sheet which covered most of Britain formed the North Sea and then flooded over them to break through to the Atlantic.

I may not be 100 % correct, but that is roughly what happened.

[bixaorellana]

Sorry to see this report end! There is so much that's enjoyable in it and I love your comments throughout. The flower pictures are wonderful, as are the specifically seaside vegetation -- the moss revealed when the tide goes out and the brilliant captures of the seaweed and sand patterns. I really appreciate how much you show of people in Calais just going about their business, which is every bit as interesting as the historic sites. It looks like it was quite chilly in the early mornings there, although the people lined up at the nightly food stands aren't warmly dressed.

One of the things I appreciate most about this -- well, really, about all your reports -- is how much you appreciate everything there is to see. That comes across so well and I find it a good lesson in looking for interest in places that might initially disappoint. (That is certainly not to say that Calais is one of those places!)

Fascinating geological background, Mossie -- thanks!

[tod2]

Your report made me so happy Kerouac. I love it when you visit a place I have 'partly' been to! The 'partly' was getting off the P&O Ferry from Dover and trying to find how to get to Calais-Fethrun as that shuttle was not in operation. Eventually we managed to get a taxi.
Your report is just wonderful - full of flowers -WOW! and so many lovely buildings.

[Deleted]

Thanks to all for your various kind comments. Here is the link to my report about the excellent lace museum.

[patricklondon]

The English Channel was formed when the melting ice from the ice sheet which covered most of Britain formed the North Sea and then flooded over them to break through to the Atlantic.

By coincidence, my newspaper had a piece yesterday on howthe latest geological surveys are filling in the details of how the Channel broke through.

And quite irrelevantly, Calais Town Hall has another claim to fame as the first overseas landmark to appear on live TV in the UK, when the engineers managed to work out to connect and re-code the signals between French and British TV systems, way back in 1950.

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[kerouac2]

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the final dismantlement of the "jungle" in Calais, and it appears that they have succeeded this time. The number of migrants in the region trying to get to England has dropped 90%, and there are no longer any shanty camps along the coast.

Calais is now facing the challenge of luring back the British tourists who used to come for day trips (and binge drinking) or who would at least stop for the night when disembarking from the ferry or coming out of the tunnel. Baides the park that I saw under development during my trip this spring, there are some really big projects coming up next year.

Calais is obtaining a 52 tonne giant dragon from Les Machines de l'Ile in Nantes, the people who operate the giant elephant there. It will walk through the city and along the beach, mixing with the road traffic with passengers on board just like the elephant. More important, its "home" is going to be in a big glass-fronted hangar on the port, totally visible to all ferry passengers. Just imagine what families with children are in for when they see that. This will all begin in autumn 2018 when Calais will hold a big festive event for the inauguration.

The city will also be sprinkled with statues of monitor lizards (komodo dragons) and huge iguanas, some crawling up the walls of the churches or the town hall. A new campground is being developed and there are also plans to move the casino from its sad location downtown to the seafront. In the tacky department, there are plans for an amusement park called Heroic Land devoted to superheroes.

Wait and see...

[patricklondon]

Oct 23, 2017 6:04:47 GMT kerouac2 said:

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the final dismantlement of the "jungle" in Calais, and it appears that they have succeeded this time. The number of migrants in the region trying to get to England has dropped 90%, and there are no longer any shanty camps along the coast.

Erm...
www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/23/calais-refugees-year-after-razing-of-camp

Having finally steeled myself to watch the BBC's series Exodus, I'm confess I'm still no wiser as to how we can proceed with any prospect of meeting all needs. But that's another issue.

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[kerouac2]

The jungle housed up to 10,000 people at the beginning of 2016. The current count of migrants in Calais is now 500-800. There have been only 24 "motorway swarms" on the A16 this year compared to several thousand last year.