St.Omer was a famous trade city in the Middle Age.
Not a lot remains of this glorious past, unhappily, but you can still see its old market and the ruins of an abbey where died the last Merovingian king, at the end of the VIIth century.
Located at the border between Flanders and Artois, Saint Omer is also famous
in the region for its swamp, the "marais audomarois": there, people cultivate vegetables and sell them on small boats.
I recommend you the inhabitants, among the friendliest French.
it's worth a stopover just for that! P.S.:
There is no train station at Saint Omer; one must go down at Hazebrouck, 20 Km away... This last is incorrect - it is served by trains between Calais and Lille.
