The Good Life France Magazine




The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...


Published by the award winning team at The Good Life France

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Spring 2022

Discover Paris in the spring, Caen in Normandy and its marvellous markets plus Yvoire, a picturesque village on the edge of Lake Geneva in Haute-Savoie. Explore Saint-Omer, a historic city in the far north that's full of secrets and treasures, and Evian, where Frankenstein's monster stayed! Head with us to Metz in Lorraine to find out about its incredible past, La Couvertoirade, one of the prettiest villages in France, and the UNESCO heritage of Avignon. Guides, gorgeous photos, what's new in France, the best tours and delicious recipes from the legendary Le Nôtre bakery in Paris - and more.

Laurent Delafosse Abbaye

Laurent Delafosse Abbaye de Clairmarais brewery and now just ruins remain. There was a brewery on the grounds until 1790 and it’s here that Laurent Delafosse now brews his fabulous beers. abbayedeclairmarais.fr True beer lovers shouldn’t miss a visit to the Brasserie Goudale in nearby Arques, a branch of the Brasserie de Saint-Omer company, a hugely successful brewery started by the legendary André Pecque AKA the ‘King of Beer’. Some of his best known brews include La Goudale (Old English for good ale), Saint-Omer and Le Panaché. Brasserie-goudale.com Rando Rail: Pedal a 4-person kart on an old railway line through leafy woods and across fields on a 10km ride. www.rando-rail.com Close by La Coupole is an unmissable visit just 7km from Saint-Omer. Beneath a 72 metres wide, five-and-a-half metres thick, 55,000 tonne concrete dome, Hitler had a secret V2 rocket base built. A strike to the entrance put paid to its aim to churn out bomb-carrying Clairmarais 34 | The Good Life France

ockets. Today it is a fascinating and haunting historical and scientific museum. You get goosebumps when you walk into the chilly and chilling 20 metre high tunnels where the V2 rockets were prepared for launch. This former bunker is also the home of the most advanced planetarium in the world. With a unique 15m wide screen with 10K resolution, the seats are interactive with audience response technology and the 3D films (D-Day Normandy, 1944; Explore and Voyager which make you feel as if you’re in space with astronauts) are nothing short of utterly incredible. I promise you I gasped out loud and ducked when rocks from Mars came hurtling towards my head! lacouple-france.com Vintage train ride: in nearby Arques, hop on a steam train or vintage train and explore the gorgeous countryside in style on the Aa Valley tourist railway. cftva62.com Day at the seaside: Saint-Omer is around one hour from the glorious beaches of the Opal Coast including Wimereux with its Belle Epoque villas, Audresselles an authentic little fishing village and historic Boulogne-sur-Mer. Where to eat Traditional: La Baguernette on the edge of the marshes, and next to the embarkation point for a boat trip. Their speciality is suckling pig cooked in milk for eight hours in a woodfired oven. They also serve local favourite beer tart, utterly irresistible. labaguernette.fr/en Upmarket: La Bacôve, opened by Top Chef winner Camille Delcroix. Refined, innovative and seriously scrumptious food in a beautiful setting. You can expect something with cauliflower on the menu soon as the chef will in 2022 be inducted into the Saint-Omer Confrérie du Chou Fleur (Brotherhood of Cauliflower). restaurant-bacove.com Tourist office: tourisme-saintomer.com The Good Life France | 35