Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker the newly reopened Cité des Électriciens fetes its industrial heritage in typically French style A holiday at the Cité des Électriciens in northern France may not sound like a glamorous getaway, but there are some genuine surprises to be discovered in the unspoiled region by the Belgian border, a short drive from Calais or Boulogne. The Louvre has established a satellite museum in Lens while the lesser-known city of Béthune boasts fabulous art deco architecture artisan breweries and exciting young chefs reinterpreting local recipes The sandy beaches and dunes of the wild Côte d’Opale are never far away but what really takes my breath away is discovering a vineyard halfway up a former slag heap all that is left of the region’s coalmines the vigneron has dubbed his crisp white wine not chardonnay but charbonnay – a pun on the French for coal The Cité today resembles a miniature toy town, the neat rows of houses in red bricks rather than LegoThe Cité des Électriciens is actually all about miners rather than electricians. The village was purpose-built in the 1850s for local pit families – Émile Zola’s novel Germinal would later expose the conditions that miners were forced to endure It was one of several model townships across the French and Belgium coal belt Its name dates from the turn of the century when the local post office asked for streets to be named for easier delivery of mail – hence Rue Edison and Rue Marconi The Cité today resembles a miniature toy town with neat rows of houses in red bricks rather than Lego It was officially reopened in 2019 after a six-year but then the pandemic intervened and only now is it finally fully open to visitors The 43 houses that were once home to mining families have been transformed into an imaginative base for discovering the surrounding countryside A renovated cottage at Cité des Électriciens Photograph: John BrutonA tiny cottage is a comfortable B&B (€60 a night) and a row of houses has been converted into four roomy self-catering gîtes There’s also space for artists working on community projects who organise ateliers and talks for local schools 10 houses are reserved for low-income families Pride of place goes to two permanent exhibition halls purpose-built space illustrating the long history of mining here up to its recognition as a Unesco world heritage site in 2012 The other recreates daily life in the Cité in five original homes through oral history recordings photos and numerous reminders that behind this utopian experiment the mine owners were operating what the French call “controlled liberty” So while there were opportunities for education the workers were also encouraged not to drink so as to provide the next generation of miners The mineworks and shafts once dominated the adjoining town of Bruay-La-Buissière though most have been demolished since their closure in 1979 But the surrounding countryside is still marked by volcano-like slag heaps the terril outside the hamlet of Haillicourt looks strangely different from the rest with neat lines of steep terraces just below the peak which turn out to be one of the world’s strangest vineyards Now numerous other winemakers are looking at planting small vineyards around here“It is now eight years since the first harvest on our historical terril,” says Flavien Desette from Haillicourt’s town hall is getting respected reviews and featuring on the wine lists of restaurants around France so now numerous other winemakers are looking at planting vineyards around here.” production is limited to about 3,000 bottles and tours of the vineyard and the tiny vaulted cellar beneath Haillicourt’s 18th-century priory can be organised through the town hall Visit during the harvest and you will see 50 villagers picking grapes by hand thanks to the combustible but fertile mix of schist and soil The sumptuous ground floor with soaring ceiling and crystal chandeliers is split into a casual bistronomie-style dining room – offering a three-course set lunch for €29 – and a fine dining section where Maxime is determined to earn his first Michelin star Adventurous foodies signing up for the tasting experience are led straight to the kitchen and a marble table opposite the imposing bearded figure of Maxime While his enthusiastic assistants rush around prepping dishes the chef conjures up half a dozen unexpected appetisers that include a delicate macaron of tomato and shrimps a molecular take on the traditional mackerel in mustard sauce a beef carbonnade in a marshmallow and a mini croque-monsieur with pungent local Maroilles cheese topped with pickled herring Noémie and Maxime renovated four rooms above the restaurant into fashionable B&B accommodation (doubles €95) what really surprises the visitor is the contrast I have certainly never seen a museum space like this: in one room you pass from paintings and sculptures dating from 3500BC to ones created in 1850 Benoît Diéval of the local tourism office says: “The museum has really changed Lens profoundly Not just opening a new world of art for the population but having an enormous impact on the local economy That has meant not just jobs in the museum but stimulating a whole series of startup community projects in design The museum celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2022 so a visit this autumn could mean avoiding the inevitable big queues next year Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times around the Channel towns of Calais and Boulogne: a desolate and dreary region of once industrialised flatlands pockmarked by the spoil heaps of a defunct coal-mining industry Emile Zola saw hope of a better future here in his 19th-century masterpiece Germinal – but even he could not have predicted it would come in the shape of a grape Yet French winegrowers now hope to produce a decent vin blanc from chardonnay grapes grown on the steep slopes of a spoil heap overlooking the village of Haillicourt less than an hour's drive to the south-east of Calais is to produce a drink that is not only palatable but of high quality and in so doing to revive the fortunes of this economically depressed region The man behind the trial is Olivier Pucek, an engineer and civil servant, who was born in the Pas-de-Calais "at the foot of a spoil heap". Pucek, who moved away and runs his own vineyard "as a hobby" in the wine-producing Charentes region in western France got together five winemaking friends to plant 3,000 vines halfway up the southern slope of the mining waste tip the plants will benefit from the most sun and avoid the spring frosts The group has put up two thirds of the annual €24,000 (£21,000) cost of the project The remaining third is being financed by the town hall at Haillicourt where more than 23% of the 5,000-strong population are unemployed They are very attached to their spoil heaps which have become part of the countryside and provoke a nostalgia for the mining heritage," Pucek said Life for locals had been "economically hard" since the last mine in Haillicourt closed "This could lead to the regeneration of the whole region and the objective is to produce a wine that is not just drinkable but is of a high quality we can show it can be done elsewhere - even the first bottles of which will be produced in 2013 would probably have a "strong character The only thing we are slightly worried about is how much it will be affected by the smell of coal," he said This article was amended on 6 and 7 April 2011 The original gave 2012 as the expected production date for the first bottles and referred to slag heaps throughout