Northern France has been a favorite holiday destination for a number of years. With a distance of such a tight 400 kilometer, it is perfectly within the day travel distance of most classics. And you can also make nice parts of the ride 'inside'.
On the way to the south
Northern France is the piece of land that every holidaymaker rushes through with his ears in his neck, on his way to The Sunny South. Normandy and Brittany have since been discovered by British (second) home owners. But if the Brexit continues, the entire real estate market will collapse there and house prices will return to Standard North French Level.
In northern France, in the French Ardennes, it is full of villages where a quarter to half of the houses (for years) are for sale. They have almost become ghost villages. In Rumigny (about 300 residents), the local baker hung his baguette last year.
Almost deserted
To do the shopping, the residents must drive at least eight kilometers. The two only places in Rumigny where anything else happens? That is the local garage (closed in August - and perhaps a part of September -) and the mini camping "Une Chance de la France" where the owners speak Dutch.
Many houses
People who immediately want to buy a house in the French Ardennes can best use the help of a local - sometimes even Flemish or Dutch speaking - real estate agent. And they must realize that they are buying their dream home as it is during the viewing. Including filled wardrobes, uncovered kitchen counters, net curtains, bulging mailboxes and possibly complete with a colony of bats. The house near that campsite that we just mentioned has apparently been empty for five years because of the owner's alcohol consumption. It is for sale. And convincingly polluted. We did not dare to enter.
The roads in the French Ardennes vary from Divine to rolling.
The curves are human-friendly. There are no gorges. And that sometimes there are some stupid pieces in between? Well, then you take it easy.
Good news for our partners
Because our partners usually have a wider interest, we wait a little longer with the classics. For our partners it is nice to know that in Northern France there are plenty of flea markets and thrift stores. The supply to that type of festivities is guaranteed for the time being due to the aging population and deflation.
Classic cars in the north of France
They no longer stand along the secondary roads. You can still find them behind village garages. And behind on farm yards. All forgotten stuff 'with work'. Mostly French stuff. Don't think about TAs or 2 CVs anymore. They were all brought here ten to twenty years ago. Also don't think about Jaguars, Matras or Delahayes. Because the region has never been that rich. But tired R21s, C15s, BXs, early Laguna's and such stuff? You will find that with a little driving around the nicest roads really.
Speaking French helps
In places where a village pub is still open, you can start nice conversations there. The locals find it quite interesting to talk to foreigners. They have not been spoiled by tourism. It is important to speak at least reasonable French in the region. But when we started talking in a pub in a town near Rumigny, we knew when we said goodbye that there were six reasonably salvageable classics within a radius of two kilometers.
Learning French?
De Alliance Française is a kind of missionary post from which France tries to spread French culture about us. The culture junk shop also includes a package of French language lessons from 'for beginners' to advanced students. Because the Alliance has no profit motive, the costs for those language lessons are not high. The course season starts again soon. The Alliance Française has branches throughout the country.
