COLUMN
Janine Marsh has the sun in her heart as she looks forward to a busy summer in Pas-de-Calais
Summer in my part of France – Pas-de-Calais, in the far north – is, to quote Forrest Gump, a bit like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get and it’s full of surprises.
In some years the summer weather is kind, and the days are full of sunshine. In other years, there’s a frustrating amount of rain. Because of this people often ask me why I don’t move south. There is a local saying that people here have the sun in their hearts because it’s not often on their heads, and while we do get a fair bit of rain (it’s not unlike Cornwall), there are a million reasons to love this rather overlooked corner of France, not least of all the best bakeries in the whole country (and I have tested this theory rather extensively on my travels) to the friendliest folk. And there is always a surprise in store.
In the summer there’s so much going on it’s hard to know which way to turn. Take the ‘Illuminations’, as they’re called here, promoted by glossy posters plastered in every village for miles around indicating a night of electrifying thrills. What you actually get are villages where Christmas tree lights make a midsummer appearance, strung over hedges and in trees, candles glowing in gardens and sometimes a farm lit up with a spotlight. Not exactly Blackpool Tower I’ll admit, but more than made up for by the pop-up bars and street food stalls serving moules-frites, burger-frites or pork-frites (they love their chips here), where neighbours and friends meet up and strangers are welcomed.
Then there’s the straw sculpture contest – a fiercely fought event among several villages, involving enormous things made almost solely from straw including life-sized elephants and steam trains. I once saw an interpreta
