When the English lost Calais in 1558, the French rejoiced in the streets and celebrated an end to decades of foreign occupation. Now, more than 450 years later, authorities across the Channel are volunteering to become part of England again – but only so they can make the most of the Olympic Games in London.
Councillors in Pas-de-Calais, the coastal region in northeastern France which is, at points, just 21 miles from Dover, are insisting their home can play a crucial role in the facilities for 2012 by providing sporting and leisure facilities for participants and tourists.
Dominique Dupilet, head of the local council, said he believed that, although Paris lost out to the British capital in the battle to host the Games, his region had more to gain from a UK Olympics. "The second the Olympic games were announced for London we hoisted the British flag at the council," he said on a video on his website.
"Visible from our coast, accessible from our stations, our airports, our ports, England is our immediate neighbour … We are aiming to make Pas-de Calais one of the training bases for the Olympic teams," he added in a written statement.
Mission 2012, a project which will outline the plans, will see some €100m (£87m) of local investment in tourist, sporting and leisure infrastructure designed to attract some of the millions of people expected to descend on London for the Games.
Dupilet's vision has already secured a series of contracts with international teams. Chad's stars of judo, boxing, wrestling and athletics, as well as the canoe and kayak teams of Uzbekistan and Senegal, are committed to training across the Channel.
But he does not want to stop at sports: Dupilet said he also planned on trying to create hundreds of bed and breakfast rooms – he uses the English name – for tourists wanting to visit the Games but not able to afford London accommodation.
"I think that [2012] is a chance to show that the Pas de Calais is … a border country of England and that you need no more time to get to London than to Paris," the council chief said on his video.
In a sideways jibe at the French capital, home to an elite which traditionally has mocked inhabitants of the Nord-Pas de Calais region, he added: "We would undoubtedly have been far less [involved] in the Paris Olympic games."
