New Photobook: Le Nord

We've been visiting the French north for more than ten years, to work on my Dutch-language guidebook, the Dominicusgids Noord-Frankrijk ( More info ). From the start I've been in love with the northernmost part of it, close to the Belgian border. Lille is a magnificent town, blending the best of north and south. The countryside has a pure, nostalgic charm: golden grain fields, windmills, hills, grand vistas and big skies with towering clouds. The charms of it can't always be shared in the relatively small pictures in a standard guidebook. That's why I've created a photobook (my second) wich can be ordered from Blurb.com, 80 pages of it in full colour. You can find more information and a preview of the book  here op Blurb.com. More of my Blurb books here en my "regular" books published by the Dutch publishing house Gottmer are on my website, www.ericstrijbos.nl 

 

Le Nord by Eric Strijbos | Make Your Own Book

 

Panorama in Cassel (French Flanders)

(Panorama from Mont Cassel, Dpt. Nord (59), France. 5x1 photos, original 10036 x 2446 pixel; no HDR. © Eric Strijbos 2012 All rights reserved.)

French writer Marguérite Yourcenar about French Flanders, the country where she grew up:

"Here, just like in Holland and Belgian Flanders... there are these vast flat landscapes and their big skies, where clouds constantly change those immense skies; humility and modesty, the solid countryside buildings, the beauty of rows of trees which line the horizon, the beauty of an atmosphere that constantly changes, like in some 17th century paintings, paintings that sensed the North's beauty miraculously well."

We're back. Thankfully, most of the time the weather was fine...

(View on Mont Cassel, Dept. Nord, France. © Eric Strijbos 2012 All rights reserved. )