Nord Pas de Calais is a
forested region with a huge coastline. The Channel Ports of
Callais and Boulogne are in this area which is the closest part of
France to England. The waterways feed into marshlands and there is much
meadowland and hilly areas. In May 1994 the long planned and worked on
Channel Tunnel opened in the Calais area linking France with Dover in
England.
Departments and Main Towns

Nord (59) Capital: Lille,
Pas-de-Calais (62) Capital :Arras
Lille is a bustling and
commercial city of contrasts. The older part of the city has
many beautiful old houses with intricately carved facades. Vauban
designed the citadel in the eighteenth century and this is worth
visiting. In the modern part of the city there are many new
buildings which are of modern architectural interest.
Cheese
Belval
Boulette d'Avesnes
Boulette fraîche de Cambrai
Carré du vinage
Cœur d'Arras
Crayeux de Roncq
Dauphin
Fromage de Bergues
Fromage fort de Béthune
Fromage sans nom
Hesdin
Mimolette extra vieille (affinage)
Monts des Cats
Pas
de l'Ayau
Saint-Winoc
Vieux
gris de Lille
Vieux Boulogne
Vieux Samer
Specialities
Beetroot sugared
which is a type of sweet
Coquille
de Noël, bread with a buttery taste
Craquelins aux raisins - flour based crisp type pastry/bread
Craquelin de Boulogne - is a special Christmas pasty usually eaten after
midnight mass
Crêpes à la bière - pancakes made with beer
Faluche
- breakfast dish
Galopins
- thinly sliced brioche filled eaten with milk with the addition of a
beaten egg.

Gauffre - a sweet, soft biscuit with a "lattice work" effect on which
fillings such as fruit, creams or ice-creams are place
Galette
flamande a
type of brioche with
nuts - hazelnuts, almonds, egg whites and chopped orange rind.
Germinal
- a combination of chicory and bitter chocolate used to flavour this
dessert which is a type of mousse
Nieulles
- from the town of Armentières - which are little dry cakes.
Pain
boulot otherwise known as “quignon” which is a speciality bread
Pains
briochés du Nord -a sweet tasting type of bread
Passe-pierre, seaweed which has been made into a condiment
Tarte
à gros bords du Boulonnais which is also known as tarte au papin which
is a type of flan
Transport
Channel Tunnel links England and France and the TGV runs from Paris
to Lille.