Site design and construction by bravo websites
™
10 great things about Montreuil - (restaurants and history apart)
If you know Pas de Calais well, you'll probably have been to Montreuil sur Mer and
know that it has a Michelin-
Behind the scenes there are (at least) 10 other
great things about Montreuil, that may take a bit of digging around before you'll
come across them, but they are delightful when you do. In no particular order try:
1.
2. Saturday
Auctions. The furniture auction rooms are more or less opposite Le Patio hotel/restaurant
(great food and a pretty courtyard for summer dining) on the main cobbled street
that winds through Montreuil. You don't have to attend the whole auction; check
out the reserve price of what you want, leave your bid and go back later to see if
you bid successfully for that pretty 18th century boat bed.
3. Malins Plaisirs. Sometimes
10 days, sometimes 2 weeks depending on each year's state subsidy, the festival of
Malins Plaisirs (Wicked Pleasures) takes place in August. There are opera and theatre
performances, concerts and talks, visits to surrounding historic villages, wine and
food tastings, all of them very professionally performed by artistes who use Mailns
Plaisirs as a glorious dress reherasal for winter in Paris theatres. Good humour,
surprise and aplomb are the order of the day. In particular the Last Night is unmissable;
about 30 plays, recitals, concerts take place in coutyards, in the streets, on balconies,
in churches, or even in front rooms of Montreuil houses with a grand finale of fireworks
at around midnight. Don't let the fact that it's all in French deter you; you can
usually get the gist of it and there is a terrific carnival atmosphere.
7. The Musee Rodiere is in an old "maison particulier" and is run by the indefatigable
Bruno Blanc. Montreuil is run by a historian mafia and Benoit is its public face. Until
November 2009 there is an exhibition about General Haig who had his GHQ in Montreuil
in World War 1. The exhibition is very professional. It's in French and English
and tells a fascinating story.
8. The July 14th Brocante. Not the kind of sad French
brocante you often come across, with broken liquidisers, car tyres and single shoes
for sale. The Montreuil brocante takes over the whole town, so its enormous, entertaining,
varied and not just a brocante but also a market for respectable antiques, restored
furniture and local produce with even a few plants stalls.
9. The "Maisons Particuliers". In
the 18th century, Montreuil was fashionable for the winter season. Local landowners
bought up the original cottages, demolished them and built large gracious houses
with beautiful proportions and stucco decorations. There are apparently about 80
of them, some split up into flats, one or two derelict but many intact and usually
without the rash of nasty extensions and uPVC windows (that history mafia again)
that spoil similar houses elsewhere.
10. Painters in the Street. This is on Assumption
every year (15th August) which is a Bank Holiday. About 80 artists descend on Montreuil
and put their easels up all over town. The best bit is that if you like someone's
work (keep looking, you should eventually find someone) they'll have a portfolio
of their work for sale. At the end of the afternoon there's a prize giving introduced
by the Maire, M. Bethouart who, you'll be pleased to hear goes in for short entertaining
speeches rather than boring interminable ones. There is masses for sale and a very
friendly atmosphere.
What never ceases to amaze me about Montreuil is how a town with
a population of less than 2500 people can support the cultural activities it puts
on. Not to mention how a town that size supports 3 poodle parlours, around 10 hairdressers,
about the same number of estate agents, 3 specialist wine shops, a shop that only
sells soap and an architectural salvage business. Not to mention the Michelin star
restaurant and the 15 others. How do they do it?
4. Chocolaterie de Beussent. The chocolates are made about 10 miles from Montreuil
and are wonderful. The shop is in the Place Darnetal. Best not to eat the runny
sweet-
5.
6. The River Canche. Montreuil used to be the high tide point of
a large estuary (hence the "sur Mer") but medieval agricultural practices and the
enormous dune on which Le Touquet sits which is trying to close the mouth of the
Canche by drifting northwards contributed to the silting-
A street in Montreuil
Part of the Montreuil ramparts
Canoe down the Canche to Montreuil
Or sit in a street cafe in Montreuil