Pas-de-Calais: Channel Coast, Coal Country, and Louvre-Lens
Pas-de-Calais takes its name from the strait separating France from England. Calais, the most obvious town, is primarily a ferry port and the French terminus of the Channel Tunnel, which emerges at Coquelles. Arras, the prefecture, has two magnificent Flemish baroque squares and was heavily fought over in both world wars. The Vimy Ridge Canadian memorial and the Wellington Quarry tunnels (used in the 1917 Battle of Arras) are major sites.
The former coal basin stretching from Bethune through Lens to Henin-Beaumont has been transformed since the last mine closed in 1990. The Louvre-Lens museum, opened in 2012, brought a satellite of the Paris Louvre to the heart of former mining country. Boulogne-sur-Mer has France's largest fishing port and a significant aquarium (Nausicaa). The population exceeds 1.46 million, making it one of the most populated departments outside the Paris region.
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Pas-de-Calais takes its name from the strait separating France from England. Calais, the most obvious town, is primarily a ferry port and the French terminus of the Channel Tunnel, which emerges at Coquelles. Arras, the prefecture, has two magnificent Flemish baroque squares and was heavily fought over in both world wars. The Vimy Ridge Canadian memorial and the Wellington Quarry tunnels (used in the 1917 Battle of Arras) are major sites.
The former coal basin stretching from Bethune through Lens to Henin-Beaumont has been transformed since the last mine closed in 1990. The Louvre-Lens museum, opened in 2012, brought a satellite of the Paris Louvre to the heart of former mining country. Boulogne-sur-Mer has France's largest fishing port and a significant aquarium (Nausicaa). The population exceeds 1.46 million, making it one of the most populated departments outside the Paris region.
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