From Lille to Arras

Is Arras a place you must see? Not really!

But let's take it step by step.

After the miles on the bike, the road to Arras is surprisingly uneventful at first: flat. Really flat. The only elevations: spoil heaps. Still in the Sh'ti region!

And there are special traffic measures: At some critical crossings, life-sized Playmobil figures stand to alert about crossing children. I think that's great!

Arras has a tumultuous past. At times, the area belonged to Flanders, at others to the Netherlands, and you can see that in the city: The architecture still resembles Tournai and Lille!

Additionally, it comes with a full medieval program: Inquisition, witch burnings, and everything you'd imagine from a medieval city history.

Of course, a citadel must not be missed. After all, back in the day, practically every somewhat significant city had to have one. You never knew.

Finally, the city center: the bell tower – and right next to it, two huge typically Flemish squares.

That has its charm.

The houses around the squares are splendid and give Arras a pretty impressive cityscape. However, along with the beautiful backdrop comes quite a significant downside:

In World War I, the city was practically completely destroyed. And yes – it was the Germans. And the military cemeteries that begin here are our heritage!

What looks so historical today is largely not as old as it seems. In the 1950s, the city was rebuilt according to the old models.

So historically, in a way – and at the same time, quite new. Cozy yes, authentic: no

Even regarding marriage, it seems there are no half measures here.

The city apparently even has its own parking space for that.

And then I stumble upon the question of whether it's actually a good idea to advertise with the gender pay gap.

I’ll just leave the question hanging there.