Spirits lifted
- rnv178
- Jun 2, 2022
- 4 min read
What is it about France that lifts British spirits? Yet the country does that. Somehow being here, and France is where we are now, does something peculiar to a Brit. Despite us both being completely exhausted, we are more than content. We are struggling with schoolchild French and forgot about the time difference between France and UK, but such is the traveller’s way.
The day began in London, with an early start, as we weaved our way along largely empty roads, past Aldwych, the Tower of London, City Airport, and through the Blackwall Tunnel. What traffic we could see was coming in the opposite direction, as the rush hour slowly built. It did not take long for us to reach the M2 and M20 motorways, as we headed towards the coast and the Channel Tunnel. P&O were having troubles, as with so much of the travel sector post-pandemic, and Operation Stack was in progress. This essentially involves the southbound carriageway of the M20 being used as a huge lorry park, while the northbound carriageway becomes a contraflow. We had left early, so the disruption was not too bad, although our idea of having breakfast at the Maidstone Services fell flat, when we were diverted back towards London and away from the coast, straight after we had finished our meal. Driving back from where we had come for three miles with a tummy full of porridge and skinny latte doubtless made sense to someone.
The tunnel crossing only took 35 minutes, our car squashed between a pair of young lovers in an Audi Q2 to our front and a single guy failing to complete The Times crossword in a spotless Mini to our rear. The journey was a very professional arrangement, better than a ferry and much simpler than a flight. Air travel is mayhem right now, with flights being cancelled, postponed, and delayed, throughout the world. There are also huge waits for passengers at borders.
From our cross-channel railway carriage, we drove straight onto the French autoroute system. In no time we were headed south on largely empty motorways. The French have been trying hard with rewilding their verges, so we were surrounded by meadow flowers and grasses. There were even flowers growing onto the road from the central reservation, which was remarkable and oddly attractive.
Lunch was in the town of Béthune, which we must have driven past 20 times in earlier years but have never visited. We have now been there, and it is clear we have missed a trick. Béthune is scenic, with a rich, architectural heritage and a spacious, pedestrianised central square, the Grand Place. This square is surrounded by plenty of restaurants and cafés, while in its centre is the Beffroi de Béthune, a 47-metre-high tower with 133 steps leading to its top. It is said that from there it is possible to see the Belgian border.
Béthune has an impressive history and is also the site of Le Paradis massacre of 1940, when 97 British soldiers were shot after surrendering. The town may be beautiful, but it harbours some gloomy memories. Nearly 3000 British soldiers are buried in Béthune from the First World War, in a cemetery part-designed by the great Edwin Lutyens.
After pigging ourselves on salad, charcuteries, and a shared Dame Blanche, and realising there is no chance of weight loss on this journey, we headed towards our hotel. We have been there before, Le Domaine de la Chartreuse. It is a wonderful place – peaceful, off the main road and yet simple to access. I am writing these words while trying hard not to fall asleep on a long leather sofa while in the background is a half-bearded Frenchman cleaning glasses behind a bar. The room must be 20 metres long and eight metres wide with just the two of us in it.
I got carried away at dinner, which we ate at a restaurant attached to the hotel, Le Vasco. There were several other Brits there too, each studiously trying to ignore their fellow countrymen while still trying to find out who they were. The hotel is a truly astonishing place and was once both a hospital and a monastery. There is a small cemetery nearby that also holds 13 Commonwealth war graves. Of the 13 dead men, 11 died in three days towards the end of September 1915. They were all soldiers. The remaining two died in October 1917. Their memorial stones are, as ever, well-tended, but it is sad to see such things. My reading suggests they are there thanks to the third battle of Artois during the First World War. Oh dear.
Back in our room, with too much food and drink inside me, I managed to nearly destroy the hotel. As I plugged in my electricity adaptor, there was a loud “Bang!” that made my sozzle-soaked form jump, followed by the faint odour of burning. I had somehow managed to blow up my adaptor, which I now declare dead, but am pleased the building remains standing. I suppose an Englishman with an adaptor is no real threat to a former monastery that has stood in grand isolation since the 14th Century.
***
Stayed at:
Le Domaine de la Chartreuse
1 rue de Fouquières
62199 GOSNAY
Tel: +33(0)321628000
Email: www.ledomainedelachartreuse.com
Web: www.levalsaintesprit@lachartreuse.com
Lunch at:
La Halle
1 Grand Place, 62400 Béthune
Tel: 0321564489
Email: lahallebethune62@gmail.com
Dinner at:
Restaurant Brasserie Le Vasco
1 rue de Fouquières, 62199 GOSNAY
Tel: +33(0)321628000
Email: www.ledomainedelachartreuse.com
Web: www.levalsaintesprit@lachartreuse.com
Commenti