The Hundred Years War was waged between England and France in the14th Century.  In September of 1346, Edward III of England led a victorious battle near Abbeville, France and subsequently laid siege to the town of Calais, a small coastal town on the English Channel.

The English siege of Calais endured 11 months before Edward offered to end the siege only if a party of the wealthiest citizens of Calais, wearing their own death-nooses, brought to him keys to the city.

In response, six wealthy burghers (bourgeois) volunteered to sacrifice themselves for their fellow citizens.  These men were Jean d'Aire, Andrieus d'Andres, Jean de Fiennes, Eustache de Saint-Pierre, and Jacques and Pierre de Wissant.

When these men presented themselves to the English king, they were hungry and dressed in rags.  This display evoked great pity in Queen Philippine, who convinced Edward to spare these noble men and lift the siege.

The town of Calais commemorated this historic act by commissioning a sculpture from Auguste Rodin in 1895.  This bronze sculpture, The Burghers of Calais, was a highlight of our visit to Calais in 2002.

We had just shuffled out of Belgium in the trusty rent-a-Renault and planned to steer along France's northern coast for a few days.  Calais was actually very quiet while we were there.  We stayed for about three hours in the middle of the day, and I think that was all that was necessary to take in the highlights.

Calais feels like a coastal town.  The streets are open and the shops are quaint.  Occasionally, tourist kiosks compete for a traveler's attention.  Our choice of visitor info, however, turned out to be an old petrol station on the outskirts of town.  Here we purchased a super map of northern France, and that map became our tour guide for the next several days.

Well, we were especially delighted to visit these sculptured figures as we had seen some of their twins in Philadelphia and Paris earlier.

Somehow, I don't think my outfit at the time conveyed the extent of the bravery I was willing to contribute for the sake of that small town.  Or maybe it did.

Anyway, this town serves as a terrific gateway to visit the beautiful French countryside.  As a matter of fact, there is a ferry service from Dover, England that regularly shuttles folks over the channel and into Calais.