| Once a port, MONTREUIL-SUR-MER is now stranded 13km inland from the mer, owing to the silting up of the River Canche. Perched on a sharp little hilltop above the river and surrounded by its ancient walls, it's an immediately appealing place. Laurence Sterne spent a night here on his Sentimental Journey, and it was the scene of much of the action in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, perhaps best evoked by the steep cobbled street of pavée St-Firmin, first left after the Porte de Boulogne, a short climb from the gare SNCF. Two heavily damaged Gothic churches grace the main square: the church of St-Saulve and a tiny wood-panelled chapelle tucked into the side of the red-brick Hôtel-Dieu. To the south there are numerous cobbled lanes to wander down, all lined with half-timbered artisan houses. In the northwestern corner of the walls lies Vauban's Citadelle (Feb–Nov daily 10am–noon & 2–6pm; €2.30) – ruined, overgrown and, after dark, pretty atmospheric, with subterranean gun emplacements and a fourteenth-century tower that records the coats of arms of the French noblemen killed at Agincourt. A path following the top of the walls provides views out across the Canche estuary. The tourist office is by the Citadel at 21 rue Carnot (April–Sept Mon–Sat 9.30am–12.30pm & 2–6pm, Sun 10am–12.30pm & 2.30–5pm; Oct–March Mon–Sat 9.30am–12.30pm & 2–5.30pm, Sun 10am–12.30pm; tel 03.21.06.04.27). For accommodation, there's the classy and expensive Château de Montreuil (tel 03.21.81.53.04; over €150; closed mid-Dec to Jan), which overlooks the Citadel and is popular with the English. It contains a top-class restaurant (closed Thurs lunch & Mon out of season), whose lunchtime menu is good value at €42 with wine. For delightful food and accommodation at more manageable prices, there's no beating Le Darnétal, in place Darnétal (tel 03.21.06.04.87, fax 03.21.86.64.67; €30–40; closed Mon eve, Tues & first two weeks in July; restaurant from €16). Another good bet is the Clos des Capucins on the wide place de Gaulle, the shopping centre of the town (tel 03.21.06.08.65, fax 03.21.81.20.45; €40–55; menu from €15). There's also an HI hostel (tel 03.21.06.10.83; closed Nov–Feb; €6), housed in one of the citadel's outbuildings and giving access to the place long after the gates have been closed to the public; make sure you arrive before 6pm to get in though. The municipal campsite (tel 03.21.06.07.28; open all year) is below the walls, by the Canche. In the second half of August, Montreuil puts on a surprisingly lively mini-arts festival of opera, theatre and dance, Les Malins Plaisirs.
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