Hamilton Holiday Houses

Things to do around Delettes and St Omer

Everyone comments on how peaceful and relaxing the house and surrounding courtyard and garden can be, but if you are feeling energetic there is no shortage of things to in the house and garden or in the surrounding area, whatever the time of year.

At home – inside

The games room has a full-sized table tennis table, table football and darts. There is a music centre and a TV with video and DVD player and a large collection of videos for all ages and tastes. There are lots of books, including a library of the military history of the area, particularly the First and Second World Wars. In the sitting room there is a music centre with a wide range of records, CDs and tapes. There are jigsaws and board games, including Pas de Calais Monopoly, and numerous packs of cards. You can even revisit your childhood with a game of tiddlywinks or marbles.

At home - outside

The main barn at one end of the courtyard has a full size trampoline and swing set on a bark base, and with 5-aside sized football nets, a marked out badminton court and ride-on toys for use by smaller children. Once the big gates from the road into the courtyard are closed (they can be locked on the inside) the courtyard and garden provide an enormous secure play area for children

In the barn between the courtyard and the garden you will find garden badminton sets, boules sets, footballs, cricket bats and stumps, hockey sticks, tennis raquets etc. There is also a barbecue.

The garden is big enough for a good game of cricket or even 5-aside football, and there are goal posts which can be used in the garden in the summer and in the main barn in winter.

The swimming pool is fully enclosed by a wall and screen and has a locked gate. The heated pool is 10 x 5.2 metres and is kept clean by an electrolysis system rather than chlorine. There is a shower and ample seating area with the enclosed area which is a sheltered sun trap. The pool is normally available May through September.

In Delettes

The village tennis court (open in the summer only) and petanque court are opposite the house by the river. The local country roads and tracks across the fields are excellent for walking or cycling (if you take your own bicycles). The surrounding countryside is lovely, with a rolling landscape and a seemingly endless sky. There are sweeping views from the top of the hills across valleys. If anyone ever told you that Pas de Calais is flat and boring you will soon discover how wrong they were as you toil your way up the hill out of the village! The local tourist board has developed a network of marked paths and circular routes walking and cycling at all levels of ability. There are guidebooks for these in the farmhouse.

Our local church, rebuilt in 1646, has recently been restored and is well worth a visit. Services are irregular, as Delettes shares a priest with other villages, so check with our housekeeper, Anne-Marie Bruge, if you would like to worship there.

There are two bars in the village, both of which welcome our visitors. The one nearer the house, which is also a tabac, usually has a poster showing upcoming events in the area.

Local Towns

St Omer is the local cathedral city. This small city has a wealth of 18th and 19th century buildings in winding streets, small squares and alleyways, and a wonderful roof-scape. The Sandelin regional museum is well worth a visit, as is the cathedral. Look out for the altar to St Erkembode (the patron saint of feet), the astrological clock and the bas-relief of Mary feeding Jesus with a cat sitting at her feet, which is not only very pretty but a very early example of the genre. There is an excellent market on Saturday morning in the main square with local producers selling various types of food and prepared dishes and all sorts of other things.

In summer there are boat trips on the waterways of Clairmarais, a kind of agricultural Venice, which wind between market gardens and little houses which can only be reached by boat. There is also a restored railway line which runs through the countryside.

Aire sur la Lys has some fine mediaeval buildings and a Friday market. Lille is about 1 hour away and well worth a visit.

The walled town of Montrieul-sur-Mer (of “Les Miserables” fame) is on the way to Le Touquet and the walled and moated town at Bergues is north of St Omer as is the fortress at Gravelines on the coast. The marine life centre at Nausica in Boulogne is great for children and adults alike and brilliantly presented. Boulogne also has an old walled town to explore.

To the north is the hill town of Cassel, where the grand old Duke of York of nursery rhyme fame marched his troops up and down again. It has magnificent views in all directions.

Things to do in the surrounding area

Some people never venture away from the house, preferring to stay put and chill in the house, courtyard or garden. Nevertheless, if you want a change from its delights there is an extensive range of guidebooks for the region in the games room and a House Book (which is actually a lever arch file) bulging with ideas for things to do and places to visit.

Battlefields For those interested in history or with children studying the First World War, the Western Front is about 75 minutes away. The Flanders Fields museum in the Cloth Hall at Ypres and the Last Post ceremony at 8pm every night at the Menin Gate are not to be missed. Arras and Vimy Ridge, with their tunnels, and the Somme are about the same distance with an excellent museum at Peronne.

The Hundred Years War There is a small museum at Agincourt (now Azincourt) about 30 minutes from the house and Crécy about an hour away. Henry VIII fought “The Battle of the Spurs” just up the road from the house (immortalised by the painting in Hampton Court Palace), and then unsuccessfully besieged what was then the local city of Thérouanne. Thérouanne has a town museum and the old city, finally destroyed after the siege of 1553, is an archaeological site which can be visited.

The Second World War There are several museums in the area including the spectacular rocket museum La Coupole at Wizernes, the V2 base at Eperlecques, the V3 super-gun memorial museum at Mimoyecques as well as the Atlantic Wall Museum near Cap Gris Nez.

Beaches The Opal coast between Calais and Boulogne is renowned for its beautiful light with pretty beaches and coves and its miles of sandy beaches. Le Touquet is the best known resort, with magnificent white sand beaches and a lively esplanade. There is also Wimereux, where Mr. Hulot surely must have taken his holiday, and the northern resort of Wissant, where you can sit on the beach and watch the boats dodge each other in the English Channel. Wimerieux, quaint and genteel, is next to Ambelteuse where you can walk on the beach from where Julius Ceasar launched the first invasion of Britain! From the top of Cap Gris Nez you can see the English coast. To the south is St Valery sur Somme from where William the Conqueror set sail to England. Across the estuary is Le Crotoy with its large bird sanctuary and nature reserve.

Walking & cycling Between the farmhouse and the coast there are over 40 marked walking and cycle paths. These vary in length from a few kilometres in length to longer ones. All are circular and are listed in the various walking guides in the farmhouse. The countryside between us and the coast is series of hills, ridges and valleys.

Eating There are endless possibilities for good eating. Please see the   eating out page   for a few suggestions, but half the thrill is to find somewhere new!

Go-karting For older children, and their parents, who need some action there is a new indoor grand prix Go Kart track on the other side of St Omer at St Martin-au-Laert, which has a great circuit and a bar/café area from where you can see the whole circuit from behind a glass panel. There is also a bowling alley there as well. It is really good value with special offers midweek.

Golf While serious golfers will know that there are several golf courses on the coast at Le Touquet and Hardelot, there are also a number inland from the coast, and a local one at St Omer. There is a golf course guide in the House Book. Only a few are heavily used and all welcome visitors.

Riding There are riding schools and stables in the area.

Shopping Local shopping is 5 minutes away by car in Thérouanne which has a bank with ATM, butchers, bakers and a small but well-stocked supermarket open every day. There is a wonderful market in St. Omer on Saturday morning and a smaller one on Friday morning at Aire sur la Lys. The clothes and shoe shops in St. Omer are worth a visit. The Auchan hypermarket, with a wide stock of wine and food, particularly seafood and cheeses, is 15 minutes away and there is a Decathlon sports store in the same complex.

Swimming pools There are indoor and outdoor pools in St. Omer, and another indoor pool at Lumbres. There are two indoor water parks within 45 minutes of the farmhouse: Aqualud Centre at Le Touquet, which also has an outdoor section open in summer and Agora at Berck sur Mer is a smaller indoor waterpark.

Tennis If the village tennis court is not open, or not up to your standard, there are good public tennis courts at Aire sur la Lys and indoor courts at St. Omer.

Theme parks For younger children there is a small theme park at Dennebroucq, Parc Dennlys, which is 10 minutes from the house. There are several theme parks in the region: Bagatelle at Stella Plage is less than an hour away and Parc Asterix, a real favourite with our children, is about 90 minutes away towards Paris. Disneyland Europe is about two hours away.

For more information:   www.informationfrance.com