I found great photo montages of French Flemish architecture and landscapes, so I thought I would post them here. The photo montages come from this pdf: http://www.agur-dunkerque.org/Portrait_region_flandre_dunkerque.pdf

Note that what's shown here is the historically Germanic (Flemish)-speaking part of French Flanders, the so-called "Maritime Flanders", corresponding to the current arrondissement (subprefecture) of Dunkirk on the North Sea coast of France. The other part of French Flanders, the historically Romance (Picard)-speaking French Flanders (Lille, Douai, Roubaix, Tourcoing), is not shown here.

A map of the "Maritime Flanders" (now the arrondissement of Dunkirk) where the pictures in this thread were taken:
http://i48.tinypic.com/25f0cgw.jpg

From left to right, the flags of the EU, France, the City of Dunkirk, French Flanders, and Greater Dunkirk:
http://i46.tinypic.com/2a6s1ut.jpg

French Flanders and the city of Dunkirk have a bad reputation in France. They are seen as a cold, grey, rainy, dull place, which is rather unfair as you'll see in the pictures below. There's almost no French person in their right mind who would think of spending their holidays in French Flanders, particularly around Dunkirk. It must be because this region is the northernmost of France, and people don't like the north. If French Flanders was part of the UK instead of France, it would be the southernmost British region, and I bet its reputation would be strikingly different. How maps can influence us!

Anyway, here are the photo montages.

1. First thing first, since we are on a skyscraper forum: Flemish verticalities. (that could make a great banner, now that I'm thinking of it)
http://i50.tinypic.com/wk5jy1.jpg

2. Flemish colors.
http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/910/48614788.jpg

3.
http://i48.tinypic.com/oawvb9.jpg

4.
http://i48.tinypic.com/o0djdw.jpg

5.
http://i46.tinypic.com/2qapnk9.jpg

6.
http://i46.tinypic.com/140yi53.jpg

7.
http://i50.tinypic.com/5vruon.jpg

8. Textures.
http://i49.tinypic.com/2qdqw01.jpg

9.
http://i49.tinypic.com/rmmumb.jpg

10. :cheers:
http://i46.tinypic.com/2pr7olc.jpg

11. Flanders is known for being a flat land ("le plat pays" in French):
http://i46.tinypic.com/1zfomdc.jpg

12. Only the windmills and the belfries of the churches and town halls emerge over the flat lands of Flanders.
http://i50.tinypic.com/dbry51.jpg

13.
http://i47.tinypic.com/ippkqa.jpg

14.
http://i46.tinypic.com/2akmj9i.jpg

15.
http://i50.tinypic.com/e6esf5.jpg

16. Dunes protect the flat lands of Flanders from the fury of the North Sea.
http://i50.tinypic.com/2niva0m.jpg

17. In French Flanders, as in the Belgian Flanders and in the Netherlands, men have transformed the landscape over the centuries, more than anywhere else in Europe.
http://i46.tinypic.com/2wlsq49.jpg

18.
http://i47.tinypic.com/54x2iq.jpg

19. Dunkirk is a major French port and industrial city. It is a testimony to the endurance of men who fought for centuries against the sands of the North Sea and the floods brought by the storms to turn Dunkirk into the great port that it is today.
http://i46.tinypic.com/14mtedc.jpg

20.
http://i50.tinypic.com/x42opf.jpg

21. Busy Dunkirk again, probably the most unloved city in France, yet I find there's something beautiful in this industrial landscape.
http://i45.tinypic.com/15rb781.jpg

22.
http://i49.tinypic.com/2llg7dw.jpg

23.
http://i50.tinypic.com/2eutu9e.jpg

24. Outside of industrial Dunkirk, it's rural Flanders with lovely old farms. What a contrast!
http://i46.tinypic.com/2qmqmiw.jpg

25.
http://i47.tinypic.com/9gehht.jpg

26. "I love the Dunkirk region"!
http://i50.tinypic.com/2luxaw.jpg

Wow, I had know idea that they spoke some Dutch in part of northern France. Thanks for sharing!

Wow, I had know idea that they spoke some Dutch in part of northern France.
Well they spoke West Flemish dialects there, which are quite different from standard Dutch. Also, it's only something historical. Nowadays, only about 5% of the local population still speak the West Flemish dialects at home, and they are mostly old people in the countryside. The rest of the population speak French at home.