CALAIS.
II. Route. 57
was laid under water to a depth of 4ft., and remained so for three years.
Twelve Dutch gunboats cruised over the fields and canals, cutting off aft
communication with the city in this direction. The rise and fall of the
tide covered a vast area with sand; and the once productive soil, becom¬
ing saturated with salt-water, was converted into a dreary waste. Those
parts from which the water was not thoroughiy drained became un¬
healthy swamps, a disastrous result of the war felt most keenly in the
environs of the cily, where iand was of great vatue. Enormous sums
were expended on the work of restoration; the repair of the embank¬
ment alone cost 2 million francs. Almost every trace of the calamity is
now happily obliterated.
31 M. Antwerp, see p. 123.
11. From London to Brussels via Calais.
Via Dover and Calais Brussels is reached in 9 hrs.; sea-passage
l'|2-2 hrs. (fares 21. lis. and 11. 18s.). Luggage registered at London is not
examined till the traveller arrives at Brussels. — [From London to Brus¬
sels via, Dover and Ostend 11. 19s. 6rf. and \l. 9s. — Comp. RR. 1, 3. —
Brussels may also be reached from London via Antwerp by the Gen. Steam
"Nav. Co.'s steamers twice or thrice weekly, direct from London to Ant¬
werp; or by the Great Eastern Rail. Co.'s steamers six times weekly
from Harwich.)
Calais (Hotel Meurice, Sauvage, Rue de Guise; Dessin, Rue
Neuve; du Commerce, Rue Royale 51; de Londres, Rue de la
Cloche; two English Churches, one at Calais itself, the other in the
Basse Ville), a fortified town with 13,530 inhab., is an unattrac¬
tive place, where few travellers will make a voluntary stay. The N.
side is bounded by the Bassin d Flot, the Fort de I'Echouage, and
the Bassin du Paradis. To the right of the latter is situated the
suburb of Courgain, inhabited exclusively by a fishing and sea-far¬
ing community. The Quai de Maree affords a pleasant walk. The
white cliffs of the English coast are visible in clear weather. The
English residents at Calais still number nearly 2000, although they
have comparatively deserted the town since the days of railways.
Many of them are merchants and lace-manufacturers.
St. Omer (Hotel de la Porte d'Or et d'Angleterre), the first im¬
portant station, is an uninteresting fortified town with 21,556 in¬
hab. ; environs flat and marshy, but not considered#unhealthy. The
Cathedral is a fine structure in the transitional style. The English
Roman Catholic Seminary here, at which O'Connell was educated,
is now almost deserted. A number of English families reside at St.
Omer for purposes of retrenchment and education. Fmglish Church
and resident chaplain. — Stat. Hazebrouck is the junction of this line
with the railways N. to Dunkirk, N.W. to Ypres (p. 26), and S. to
Amiens and Paris.
LiUe. __ Hotels. Hotel de l'Europe, Rue Basse 30-32; Hotel de
France Rue Esquermoise 77; Hotel de Flandre et d'Angleterre, Place
de la Gare; Grand Hotel de Lion, Grand Hotel de Lille, both in the
Rue de la Gare; Singe d'Or, Place du The'atre 36-38. Rooms may afso be
obtained at the station (dependance of the Hotel de TEurope).
Restaurants. Grand Cafe, Rue de la Gare 2; Disiri, to the right of
the theatre, opposite the Rue de la Gare, first floor.
Cafes. Grand Cafi, see above; Richard, in the H6tei de Lyon, see
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