In 1520, between Guines and Ardres François the I^st met Henry VIII of England. The term of The Field of the Cloth of Gold comes from the fact there were an outrageous luxury for nothing.

In 1804 during the wars of the third coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte did the same thing. Near Boulogne he installed a camp beyond measure, called the Grande Armée. He wanted to invade England but he never did it.