Douai: The Belfry That Delighted Victor Hugo

Required Activities

• Stand back from the belfry and work up it the way Hugo did in 1837 — count the tiers of little conical dormers under the slate roof, find the weather vane on each one and the turret at each of the four corners, and finish at the lion on the point that turns with a flag between its paws

• Wait out a quarter-hour chime under the tower, then hear the carillon played by hand at the Saturday concert, and pick out the two oldest bells among the 62 — Joyeuse, cast in 1471 and weighing 5,500 kg, sounding an A, and La disnée, 2,400 kg, sounding a C

• In the Musée de la Chartreuse, find the Polyptyque d'Anchin by Jehan Bellegambe, who was born in Douai, and then the bronzes and terracottas of Jean Bologne in the side chapels of the Carthusian church — he was born in Douai too, and left for Florence as Giambologna

• Looking at the town hall beside the belfry, work out which half is the 15th-century building and which is the 19th-century copy of it, added to make the front symmetrical — then find the join in the belfry's own stonework where the spire burnt out by lightning was entirely rebuilt in 1475

• Before leaving the museum, find what the wars took: 217 works were counted missing at the end of the First World War and the bombing of 11 August 1944 destroyed more than 30,000 pieces, some of which have since come back