Amy McPherson
London-based BA writer Amy McPherson hops over the channel to spend a week cycling Northern France.
Many could agree, cycling along the French coastline would be a pretty epic journey that stretches all the way from the border of Belgium to the tip of Spain.
The thing is, the weather along the French Coast, especially up north near the Belgian border, acts like an unruly teenager.
On a good day, it can behave with bright sapphire sky and a brilliant sun, paired with the sounds of the crashing sea that makes up a perfect backdrop for a ride.
Today, is not a good day. Impenetrable dark grey clouds are chucking rain down in a temper tantrum, howling winds of unreasonable protests and it simply is just being impossible.
La Vélomaritime
The original plan was to cycle from the city of Calais to Boulogne-sur-Mer in the region of Pas-de-Calais, a 50km coastal ride that forms part of the ‘La Vélomaritime’ cycle route, which begins from the border of Belgium to the start of the Bordeaux coast. We decided to drive instead.
Starting from Calais, a large port city with a military function that is better known today as the passage way to England by sea and a seaside resort with wide sandy beach and promenade usually busy with sunseekers.
We followed the La Vélomaritime route in an attempt to visualise what it would have been like to cycle. From Calais, the route takes riders towards the viewpoint of Cap Blanc Nez and the Bay of Wissant. It is supposed to be breathtaking, as I strain my eyes into the white mist towards the imaginary horizon. This northern stretch of the French coast is known as the Opal Coast and is laced with one sandy beach after another, which I would expect to look inviting when it is not bucketing down with rain.
The cycle route winds southwards, through the town of Audinghen, then Wimereux, known for a cluster of colourful Anglo-Norman style villas. If you continued southwards, you would eventually come to the D-Day beaches in Normandy, where the largest seaborne invasion in history 80 years ago marked the beginning of the end of World War II.
We see reminiscences of the wars scattered throughout the journey of La Vélomaritime, behind the lighthouses, ancient churches, chateaux and the dramatic cliffs that dive into the English Channel are war bunkers, batteries and memorials from both the first and second world wars, which makes this itinerary a bit more than just your regular coastal ride. For some, it can serve as a pilgrimage to the past.
Salute to the past
I have never appreciated waking up to sunlight as much as I had the next day, when a slit of ray stabbed into the hotel room as I opened the curtains to a lovely pale blue sky.
We stayed the night in the inland city of Arras, where the medieval centre was rebuilt as close to the original blueprint as possible after the wars. The main square was full of activity of the morning. The Belfry of the 16th Century Town Hall chimed its tune to declare the hours and the silhouette of the houses reflected off the glistening cobble stones still damp from the rain. We could linger, but that would be wasting previous sunshine, so a few cheery Bonjours and a quick breakfast later, we saddled up for a day of exploring.
“Honestly, this part of France is probably not very attractive for cycling,” Arras local cyclist Pierre Desbonnet informed me. “It’s just flat and not very interesting I think”.
In some ways, Pierre is not wrong. There aren’t any official cycling routes around the inlands of Pas-de-Calais, where the landscape is a patchwork of farms and industry with no mountains in sight. It is also not well known in the tourist circles.
“Oh but if you want history, there’s plenty of history here.”
Like the coast, these parts of northern France were not spared the horror of war, in particular World War I. Outside Gallipoli, ANZAC losses here around the region were not insignificant, with the Battle of Arras one of the most remembered for the Australian battalions. We rolled into the town of Bullecourt and stopped by the Australian war memorial site marked by a bronze statue of a Digger. We paused for a few moments to survey the surrounds.
“From this line behind the statue, you’ll see this farmland that goes all the way to the edge of the wind turbine, this was the battlefield”, Alexandre Blondel from the town’s 1917 Bullecourt Museum swept his hands across the horizon. “Imagine, farmers across the region are still finding shells, tank fragments and sometimes bodies as they worked their farm, that was the amount of destruction there was.”
The several surrounding Commonwealth graves and memorial sites became the focus of our itineraries. It was a sombre place to ride, but a ride that showed me so much of the wars that we had learned from textbooks. Knowledge did not prepare me for the tears I shed at the Wellington Quarry, where Kiwi miners were drafted into the war to dig tunnels in the hopes to be able to launch surprise attacks to the other side.
I found my sentiment matched by the Ring of Remembrance, an international war memorial etched with the names of the 600,000 soldiers lost from both sides of war, listed in alphabetical order without reference of nationality – a place to remember, a place to think.
Heavy heart brought on heavy legs as we tackled the only climb of the region up the hill to Vimy Ridge, the Canadian War Memorial. The surrounding scenery forms the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, a UNESCO listed landscape for the coal mining heritage of this part of France. Slag heaps that rise and fall make up the only curves of this flat land and many have been turned into recreational grounds for hiking, biking and even ‘skiing’.
This novel heritage does not take away the solemn atmosphere that has began to form within me. Much of the world is still at war, and cycling around Pas-de-Calais is a reminder of the sacrifices we continue to make for the sake of politics and power.
Lille: Paris-Roubaix and the beers
To clear the mood, we head north the next day to the city of Lille, known for the yearly Paris-Roubaix cobbled classic as well as being France’s beer capital. Coincidence? Perhaps. But we all know cycling and beer goes hand in hand and Lille is perfect for those looking to unload the sadness with a few rounds of the excellent regional beers.
The distance between Arras and Lille is roughly 60 kilometres through secondary roads, but the areas between the two cities are quite industrial, so we took the train. Bikes travel free on regional trains in France, so after a stroll through the sculptures and paintings, we ride over to the Lens train station, its steam engine shaped building is an artwork in itself, and loaded the bikes onto a regional train onto Lille.
Just as well we skipped the effort, for the cobbles of Roubaix awaited us. Images of mud and dirt covered riders of Paris-Roubaix comes to mind when the wheels bounced along the edges of the cobble stones, and a quick trial on these legendary roads proved that it is no mean feat.
Back in Lille for one last night, we head into the centre and found the beer heaven of France. For a country that is more known for its wines than beers, inheriting from its Flemish roots, Lille’s craft brewery scene is possibly the best in Europe, and arguably, the best place to unwind from riding the roads of northern France. 
Northern France Facts
For itinerary suggestions and additional information on La Velomaritime www.lavelomaritime.com
Pas-de-Calais Tourism Official website contains information on the different war memorial routes and other activities to do in the region www.visitpasdecalais.com
France cycling tourism has a network of cyclist friendly services and hotels that can be found on en.francevelotourisme.com
For cycling and beer information around Lille, visit hellolille.eu
