In souvenir shops and concept stores
The Côte d'Opale is a popular vacation destination for enjoying the sea and nature in fine weather. Wimereux, Wissant, Le Touquet Paris-Plage, Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer... these are just a few of the many towns that are ideal seaside resorts for enjoying the sea spray. Far from being original, and sometimes criticized for being too touristy, there are many gift stores along the coast. They are particularly popular for their accessibility: you know you're bound to find a little souvenir for the whole family, whatever your budget (especially when it's small), whether it's a pretty tray with marine decorations, a seagull or seal plush, a postcard, a beautiful magnet to add to your collection... There are also numerous art galleries and small artisan boutiques if you're looking for that special nugget.
The Côte d'Opale is also home to a large number of concept stores, attracting locals and Parisians alike for a weekend of fresh air. These include L'Hippocampe and Le Voilier bleu in Wimereux, La Folle adresse in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Paulette Concept Store in Le Touquet and Maison Cayeux in Cayeux-sur-Mer. There are as many concepts as there are great ideas, from which to choose.
Of course, there are also some fine souvenir stores in the larger towns of the Hauts-de-France region: Amiens, Lille, Saint-Quentin... Here again, it's not so much a question of originality as finding a little something to give or to treat yourself. The most popular items are often those that are easy to carry and accessible to all budgets. Here again, the magnet is the star of the show, as there are numerous variations available at affordable prices.
Grocery stores and chocolate shops for a gourmet souvenir
Of course, gourmet souvenirs are a great opportunity to discover local products while enjoying yourself. What better way to prolong the pleasure of your trip than to bring back a gourmet product after you've enjoyed a few restaurants? From waffles to beers, jars of samphire or sea buckthorn jam, each département has its own specialties (which are, of course, the best in Hauts-de-France, according to the locals!). Don't hesitate to ask the locals, the tourist office or even Instagram to find the most famous. If you'd like to discover regional products, think about the local product ranges: Cœur de Picardie for Picardy or Saveurs En'Or (which includes products from Nord-Pas-de-Calais). Canneries, grocery stores and specialty stores will be your friends when it comes to finding delicious treats.
In Lille, for example, Meert is the emblematic store for bringing home a sweet gourmet souvenir like its famous waffle (and it's also a prestigious tearoom). In Amiens, Jean Trogneux sells the famous (and delicious) macarons d'Amiens, as well as mouth-watering chocolate bites (a good deal for students: you can get a bite for €1 by presenting your student card, compared with around €3.50 a bite). The shop also sells chocolates bearing the effigy of the famous Saint-Quentin painter Quentin de La Tour.
Don't forget to visit one of the many breweries in the region to take home a brewing souvenir. There are over fifty of them! Some are well worth a visit, such as the Cambier brewery in Croix near Lille, the Au cœur du malt brewery in Verneuil-en-Halatte near Chantilly, the Choulette brewery in Hordain, or the brewery in Pays Flamand where the famous Anosteké is produced, which won top honors at the World Beer Awards 2023! There are plenty of others to choose from.
Don't neglect the tourist office shops
More and more modern, tourist offices and other promotional organizations are sometimes at the origin of beautiful collections of products.
The tourist office of Abbeville sells raku seal statues alongside the classic thimbles or decorative plates. The one in Amiens, for example, offers a whole collection of "Chroma" products evoking its cathedral light show, including beautiful skin jewelry. In Saint-Quentin, the merchandising often plays with the Art Deco style for our greatest pleasure. Some brands open their own online store, like the Visitor's Center of the Chemin des Dames and the Aisne Departmental Archives.
If you travel around Lens-Liévin and the mining area, the Autour du Louvre-Lens store offers beautiful objects that pay tribute to the region's past. The originality, the design and the essence of the collection of objects seduce us, as well as many tourists, every year. Its biggest success is a snow globe with a slag heap inside, which is adorned with golden glitter for a limited edition for the Christmas season. You can also get among other things the miners' soap of black color enriched with essential oils of eucalyptus, coal and poppy seeds, silk-screen prints representing the slag heaps or former cities of miners, the "dark stones" in a small coal box that perfume the atmosphere with notes of hops and birch trees of the slag heaps of 11/19 in Loos-en-Gohelle...
And why not a nice poster?
If you like beautiful posters, those of the creator Wim'Affiches based in Wimereux are particularly popular. Ambleteuse, Audresselles, the Bay of the Somme, Berck-sur-Mer, Lille... he sublimates the most beautiful towns and emblematic places in the Hauts-de-France region in artistic, colorful design creations that delight the eye. The quality-price ratio is ideal to make a gift that will mark or decorate your home with a trendy "northern" touch. The success of these posters is such that a store has been opened in 2021 in the center of Lille, the "capital of Flanders".
Also original, the TER store has launched its collection of retro posters of destinations served in the region by train: Montreuil-sur-Mer, the Bay of the Somme, Lille ... are thus on the program in a collection of original and colorful illustrations.
