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Just outside the – also heavily fenced off port area – numerous tents or tent like “buildings” come in sight. The infamous “Jungle”, camp of several thousand hopeful deprived of hope. They fled their devastated home countries in hope of a better life and now eke out a miserable existence here in the faint and desperate hope to make it over to the paradise that for them is Great Britain. The border between The Continent and England has been moved over to the Calais port thanks to European cooperation. This way the ex-Empire was able to outsource some of the consequences of centuries of colonialism, recent wars and liberal markets dogmas to the already pitiable suspended regions of northern France.
The Great War
I don´t know how many times I have driven the D929 between Albert and Bapaume. The Picardie (now part of new region Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie) is one of the French regions that lies along the road from Germany to destinations in Normandy or Brittany. Means: you drive though this area as quick as possible. The before mentioned route D929 is one that shortcuts the “go west” mission. Instead of driving the extra 50 kilometres following the zigzag trajectory of the motorways from Lille to Amiens I usually leave the motorway at Bapoume and take the country road via Albert to Amiens. This road runs mostly ruler edged straight through a rural region. Trucks know this shortcut too and slow you down but the spared 50 kilometres on the motorway and especially the spared motorway tolls make it worth driving a bit slower for a while.
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