Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Engraved Upon My Heart

Mary I's sentiment that when she died they would find Calais engraved upon her heart is not likely to be shared by many current Britons for whom the town is either a gateway to the pretty bits of France or a source of large quantities of cheap booze. But as Colin Dutton's pictures show, there is much to be explored and celebrated in the region from the stark memorials to the fallen of World War I to the somewhat more playful reminders of Agincourt. For too long one of Europe's battlefields, Nord-Pas-de-Calais has regained its self confidence and can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other more celebrated regions of France. Not bad for somewhere that was owned by England for 200 years.