The best traffic-free bike rides around Etang D'Ardres

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You only get these beautiful panoramas if you also conquer the slopes 😉

Balinghem is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in north-eastern France. The commune has 829 inhabitants (1999). The commune is part of the arrondissement of Calais. Monuments in this village are the church (Église de la Nativité-de-Notre-Dame) and the war memorial

It is a building (1885) made of local red bricks, the design is cruciform, a fairly large nave, two aisles and a choir with a bell tower on top. The interior of the building has a very rich appearance. The centerpiece of the furniture is undoubtedly the altar and the accompanying altarpiece, completely carved in wood and from a recent period (1925). On either side of the nave there are two altars on which rest Saint Mary (left) and Saint Joseph (right). On the floor are placed two other altarpieces, in which two statues are embedded (Saint Therese and Saint Martin) The baptismal font, the marble font, an 18th century pulpit with its openwork staircase and its four carved wooden bas-reliefs representing Gospel scenes, old paintings, the confessional, the bell "Georgina Irma", baptized in August 1901, make up the wealth of this church. The special thing about our village church is the veneration of the Notre Dame des Larmes, a semi-natural statue from the 15th century (presumably) remarkable French work of art. This virgin was previously invoked for the healing of eye ailments, but is in reality the virgin of sorrows who stands at the foot of the cross. Another statue of the Notre Dame from a more recent period, a crowned work, adorns our church.

The artist was inspired by the famous phrase of the supreme and truly Cornelian call: "Arise, the dead!" ". This call is proclaimed by a grenadier with a greatcoat half torn by the explosions; he steps over a gabion and prepares to launch the deadly projectile towards the enemy: the poilu is alive and the stone seems alive. Despite the difficulties in the execution, the artist fortunately managed to avoid any heaviness, he was able to give the stone all the desired and possible flexibility. Ardres was kind enough, in keeping with the erection of this magnificent monument, to honour the memory of the 82 heroes and their children who died gloriously during the Great War.

Ardres is an agricultural market on the border of the coastal plain and the hills of Artois. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the city was fought over by the English and the Spanish. Francis I stayed there during the negotiations of the Camp du drap d'Or.

The Église Notre-Dame de Graces is a church in Ardres, France. It was founded in the 11th century and is dedicated to Saint-Omer and Notre-Dame de Grâce. The building is in flamboyant style and is made of limestone on a cruciform plan. The tower rising from the crossing of the transept is topped with a slate spire. The interior of the church contains an exceptional series of stained glass windows from the 19th century, as well as a statue of Notre-Dame des Grâces from the 13th century and a statue of Sainte Apolline from the 17th century. The address of the church is 56 Rue de l'Arsenal, 62610 Ardres, France.

Le Grand Hebdomadaire, n°44, Sunday October 30, 1921, p. 370.: Ardres has also just erected a war memorial, the work of the sculptor Greber. The artist was inspired by the famous phrase of the supreme and truly Cornelian call: “Arise, the dead!” ". This call is proclaimed by a grenadier with a greatcoat half torn by the explosions; he steps over a gabion and prepares to launch the deadly projectile facing the enemy: the poilu is alive and the stone seems animated. Despite the difficulties of execution, the artist fortunately managed to avoid any heaviness, he was able to give the stone all the desired and possible flexibility. Ardres was kind enough to honor, as appropriate by the erection of this beautiful monument, the memory of the 82 heroes, its children, who fell gloriously during the great war.