Beyond Paris: Through the Eyes of Lens and Pas-de-Calais

You don’t have to go to Paris to see the Louvre’s greatest works. I wandered through centuries marveling the masterpieces of Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Delacroix, Raphael, and 18th century Islamic artists.

Looking out toward the chalky cliffs of Dover across the English Channel from La Sirene Restaurant at Cap Gris Nez. Beverly Mann

You don’t have to go to Paris to see the Louvre’s greatest works. I wandered through centuries marveling the masterpieces of Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Delacroix, Raphael, and 18th century Islamic artists, all while viewing a country landscape revealed through a massive glass interior. I was encased in the new Louvre-Lens Musée in the former coal-mining town of Lens, situated just a little over an hour by high-speed train from Paris at the crossroads of Europe—bordering Belgium and Great Britain via the English Channel.

Lens has been scarred by two world wars but has now added a new life and cultural spirit to France’s Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. This new regional museum, which opened free to the public mid-December 2012, showcases 205 Louvre masterpieces for a permanent exhibition running five years, along with temporary exhibits from neighboring museums. Works range from antiquity to Middle Ages and modern art.