Friday 4 April 2014

"Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis" and another Vauban site to add to my list


This film was released in the UK about four years ago. I missed it at the cinema; it was released on DVD shortly after and I have been waiting for  the price to fall, without success; I had to pay full price.

The plot is a simple one - a Southern French Post Officer manager wants to transfer to the Cote d'Azur, he cheats on his application form and is transferred to Bergues, close to Dunkirk, as a punishment. The local dialect is ch'timi. At first, he is depressed by the posting but quickly settles in.

This film is funny, I laughed out loud, very enjoyable but I wont keep it, it will be on EBay very soon. However, during the film there are some helicopter shots of Bergues and I was looking at the buildings thinking "That looks like a Vauban pattern guardhouse and that looks like a Vauban barracks block" so I had to check. Sure enough, Bergues was in the first line of the Pré Carré and there is a lot of his works in situ, GoogleMaps show these very clearly, plus on the few miles of road between Bergues and Dunkirk there are two star forts and a 1900 fort. So - another Vauban visit to add to the list.

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