Nord-Pas de Calais

Substantial Flemish Specialties.

Initially the territory of the Belgae, a Celto-Germanic tribe, Northern France was subsequently conquered by the Romans. In 55 BC, Julius Caesar set sail to conquer England from Cap Blanc-Nez, a chalk and clay cliff that plunges 440 feet into the waves south of Calais. After the 5th-century defeat of the Romans, the region was incorporated into Neustria, one of the three territories that then made up France.

Slightly smaller than Connecticut (the region covers 4,800 square miles), Nord-Pas de Calais is bounded on the west by 85 miles of coastline that serve as a gateway to the U.K. and the North Sea.

Slightly smaller than Connecticut (the region covers 4,800 square miles), Nord-Pas de Calais is bounded on the west by 85 miles of coastline that serve as a gateway to the U.K. and the North Sea. To the north lies Belgium, to the south the Picardy region and to the east the Ardenne plateau. Home to 3.97 million people, it takes its name from the two départements that define its territory: Nord and Pas de Calais.