Tailor-made tour in North of France

Bloody battles raged in North of France during both World Wars.

To this day, the scarred region bears witness to the furies of war…

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Highlights of North of France at a glance

Do you feel the need to reach back to those roots? Feel a call to go honor the fallen in those desperate times? Interested in learning more about that world-shaping moment that took place 100 years ago?
Perhaps you’d also like to rejoice in the resilience and warmth of the welcoming inhabitants of the North of France. Not to mention the hearty, binding culinary heritage that endures to this day!
With Finding France, you’ll travel as a small, intimate group to experience the region. Moreover, tailor-made events and opportunities will make the 1 to 8- day stay a unique and memorable lifetime experience.

Let’s design with you and for you an authentic and bespoke private tour in North of France.

Our recommended 3-day itinerary in North of France

DAY 1: Cathedral of Amiens and Vimy Memorial

• Enter a local market and meet local producers (cheesemakers, vegetable growers, livestock breeders…)

• In Amiens, visit the largest cathedral of France – twice as large as the famed Notre-Dame in Paris.

• In Vimy, honor the Canadian soldiers who fell in battle in France during World War I. Join in on a guided tour of the memorial and bunker down in the trenches.

• Meet a local cow cheese maker and visit both farm and processing facilities. He’ll explain how milk is turned into creamy cheese and butter.

Available options:

• Ride a small skiff in the “hortillonnages” in Amiens. These are a patchwork of bayous where owners have been tending fully organic vegetable patches since the Middle Ages.

• Learn to craft your very own chocolates with Luc, chef in a local chocolate Delicatessen shop. Nibble a few of the original Amiens macaroons, made popular by Catherine de Médicis in the XVIth century.

• Tour a snail farm.

DAY 2 : Ypres – Passchendaelle WWI Battlefields/ Lille

• Discover historical downtown Ypres, in Belgium, with its cathedral, historical cloth warehouses, and its XIVth century belfry.

• Honor the deceased heroes of World War I battlefields, many of them Canadian, including Essex farm cemetery, St Julian Memorial, Tyne Cot cemetery.

• Experience the life of Canadian WWI soldiers in the Passchendaele museum. Discover the trenches, and connect to your past (genealogical lookup available).

• Meet a brewer and tour his charming brewery. Taste his latest creations.

Available options :

• Bicycle outing along the battlefront lines.

• Attend a ceremony to honor war heroes in Ypres.

• Visit a cheese-maturing cellar, where the famous “Mimolette” cheese is aged.

DAY 3: Pierrefonds Castle – WWI Memorial - Compiègne

• Enter a local market and meet local producers at the Pierrefonds market (vegetable growers, cheesemakers, butchers, fishmongers…)

• Visit the medieval-style Pierrefonds castle renovated by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the architect who saved Notre Dame in Paris from oblivion.

• Enter the clearing in Rethondes, where, on November 11th, 1918, the armistice was signed, officially ending World War I.

• Visit the Compiègne Castle, a palace renovated during the XVIIIth century. In this castle, Marie-Antoinette and Louis the XVIth were regular guests.

Available options :

• With the local produce from the market, join in on a cooking workshop with Alix, a woman Chef who will welcome you in her Compiègne forest home for lunch.

• Get to taste the fresh goat cheese production of a local producer on his farm.

• Meet a mushroom grower and visit the stone quarry where he grows them.

Fly away to North of France and start your journey !

Our top journeys in France

We have much more than North of France to offer you… Please have a look at our other itineraries below.
Our goal: to make you live an unforgettable experience in our beloved France.