A FESTIVE WEEKEND WITH THE CH'TIS IN THE NORD!

With Jean-Jacques, Marco, Sylvie and the rest we never miss an opportunity for a bit of festive spirit. With the Dunkerque Carnival looming, we jumped on a Gîtes de France du Nord offer and booked a group gîte for the lot of us. It was all a bit like a holiday camp in our accommodation. Full of excitement we put on our fancy-dress costumes and our make-up because we could already hear the din created by the first revellers. As the popular Flemish carnival song says, we "put on our best gear" and went down the street in multi-coloured costumes to be welcomed with open arms by the local Ch'tis  who invited us to join their gang of revellers. We all sang away at the tops of our voices behind the big bass drum played by a guy in Napoleonic uniform.
While we were dancing everyone sang the Visschersbende, the traditional song of the fishermen's gang. There were thousand of us dressed in Scottish kilts, as nuns, as well as men dressed as women. We had a whale of a time, we laughed a lot and, I admit, drank a bit of Flemish beer, but sensibly and in moderation. The crowd made a great din and we had a wonderful time. We made out we were locals and got invited to a festive meal of potschevleesh. And like every visitor we were amazed at the parade of the Carnival Giants, Reuze in Dunkerque and Gayant in Douai. We'll always remember carnival in Flanders and its three days of non-stop festivities! Fortunately we had a comfortable gîte so we could get some rest.
We'll be back soon, for the next round of dances, village fêtes and other fairs.

Pierric, one of the revellers in fancy-dress at carnival time.

A WEEK'S HOLIDAY IN THE LAND OF THE CH'TIS!

We wanted to show our grandchildren the Nord region of France.
For the holidays, we rented a country gîte in the Avesnois, an area with a real cultural identity all of its own. Right from the start we surrounded them with all the ambience of the local countryside by taking them to the old tithe barn in Maroilles, the Grange Dîmière,  a showpiece of all that is authentic in the Nord
Over the course of the holiday we varied their activities between visits to the Avesnois Regional Nature Park and time spent exploring the local cultural heritage.  We went for a walk in the Mormal forest, the largest area of forest in the Nord. In the oak forest we saw several stags, an unforgettable experience for our young town-dwellers, whom we later took to the Bocage Visitor Centre to see the farm animals. 
But what would the Nord be without a convivial village fête or "ducasse", with large crowds of people thronging the village square? We went to the Fête du Lait or Milk Fair organised by the Avesnois Regional Nature Park, a chance to meet local producers and artisans and learn about their traditional skills.
We sampled the local country produce in an inn: carbonade flamande, ficelles picardes, potjevleesch, fricadelle, andouillette de Cambrai, tarte au sucre and local "Ch'ti" beer, a convivial experience which we continued with the rest of the family by taking them Ch'ti specialities such as Crottins d'Avesnois, local charcuterie and of course the famous Chiques de Bavay, traditional caramel sweets with a minty flavour.

Martine, delighted to have been able to show her grandchildren the Nord.