GREAT DESTINATIONS ❘ HAUTS-DE-FRANCE


leisurely ramble through field and forest. Either way, you will be rewarded with breathtaking scenery and tranquillity.


Clockwise from top:


From Tardinghenon on Cap Gris-Nez, you can see the white cliffs of Dover in England; the battlefield at Azincourt, as seen from the viewing tower; the Azincourt1415 museum; Hesdin’s Town Hall


The historic market town of Hesdin is worth a stop too, built as a strategic fortified town in the 16th century. You can’t miss the grand galleried porch on the Town Hall, but not all Hesdin’s treasures are obvious, so call first at the Tourist Office for the town guide. And if you can’t resist a floral display, stop off at nearby Boubers-sur- Canche where the whole community pulls together with public plantings and private gardens that provide colour, shape and interest throughout the year.


With time for just one more visit before my return trip on Le Shuttle from Calais, I choose Azincourt – or Agincourt, thanks to a mispronunciation by one of Henry V’s English knights. The splendid village museum was recently revamped as Azincourt1415 and the story of the epic battle is graphically told through


“SIX CENTURIES MAY HAVE ERASED THE TRACES OF MEDIEVAL WARFARE, BUT IT IS EASY TO IMAGINE THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF THE BATTLE”


interactive exhibits and videos. But most impressive for me is the battlefield itself, still an open field more than 600 years after Henry’s small English army devastated the cream of French nobility in the October mud. Walk, drive or cycle the perimeter, and do stop at the viewing tower. Six centuries of agriculture may have erased the traces of medieval warfare, but it is easy to imagine the sights and sounds of the battle in this unspoilt rural setting. I just can’t help wondering what Viollet-le-Duc would have made of it all. FT


102 ❘ FRANCE TODAY Jun/Jul 2023


IMAGES © GILLIAN THORNTON


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