Great escape: Amiens
Amiens was severely damaged by war, but it’s now a serene and attractive destination for a weekend tour, says Claudia Dowell
Claudia Dowell enjoys a weekend break in the Somme region, where war-ravaged landscapes are now attractive and serene destinations
IHAD JUST come from Compiègne, north-east of Paris, where I visited the railway carriage that was the location for the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918 to mark the end of the Great War. The signing was the culmination of a 100-day offensive that began with the victory of the Allies at the Battle of Amiens, a conflict that marked the beginning of the end of the war. Amiens, the capital of France’s Picardy region, suffered damage in both world wars; but some of the old city survived, including its enormous cathedral, and today it makes an interesting place to visit. With our Bailey Phoenix 640 pitched at Camping Les Puits Tournants, a 40-minute drive and 25km away, I drove the Volvo V90 into Amiens and parked by the River Somme in the Place Parmentier, opposite a row of ancient-looking three-storey buildings
housing inviting-looking restaurants that were packed with people. It was a beautiful day, the sky was a deep, clear blue, the river was mirroring all that stood above it and the weather was warm for late September. Lunch by the river seemed the perfect way to begin my exploration of the city and I made this my first stop. You really are spoilt for choice here: the riverside bars and restaurants offer everything from crêpes to steaks and seafood – it’s just a matter of making your decision and hoping for the best. But even if the food is a bit hit and miss, you can enjoy a cool beer and watch the antics of the swans as they glide past. This is the Quai Bélu in the Quartier Saint Leu, the oldest district in Amiens and reached by a rather attractive, flower-bedecked bridge. Its history lies in the textile industry aided by water mills along the many canals here. The canals and tributaries of the Somme are criss-crossed by small footbridges to access the very narrow timbered and half-timbered houses lining their banks. If you face the river while sipping your beer on the quai, you will also get an eyeful of Amiens’ magnificent Notre Dame cathedral, which towers over the city.
A man of eccentric vision
Amiens was once the home of French author Jules Verne, considered by some to be the father of science fiction. His more famous works include Around the World in 80 Days, Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I came across the eccentric world of Jules Verne on a trip to the city of Nantes, on the Loire. There, a company called Les Machines de l’ile has created an extraordinary steam-punk park of mechanical wonders, including a 48-tonne elephant inspired by Jules Verne story The Steam House. I couldn’t wait to see Verne’s home. A 15-minute walk from the quayside took me through the cathedral gardens to Rue Charles Dubois. At first, I had trouble identifying where the house might be, but a round tower topped with astronomical rings looked promising. I’d found it. An unusual glass and iron canopy over the door and a giant exterior wall painting featuring a water-wheel and
an airship led me to the entrance of the Maison à la Tour. Verne moved to Amiens in 1871 with his wife, Honorine, who was from the city; they rented the house, in the then-new southern suburb of Henriville, in 1882. It signified an upward turn in his social status and he lived here for 18 years. The first room looks like a conservatory, but in the 19th century was called a winter garden and was the height of fashion. The walls are decorated with posters from some of his Voyages Extraordinaires (a sequence of 54 novels). Posters from his plays and stories can be seen inside the house. The salon looks quite ordinary, but interspersed throughout the building are drawings and models of Verne’s literary inventions, such as Captain Nemo’s submarine, the Nautilus, from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In one room, the floor bears a map showing the journey from the perhaps less well-known novel Robur the Conqueror. The tower itself is reached via a circular staircase and at its top is ‘the bridge’, looking out across the rooftops, where models of flying machines hang from the ceiling, and cardboard theatres, magic lanterns and old cinema posters fill the space. Verne also owned boats and went sailing with his wife – adventures that helped to inspire his stories. I loved visiting the house and was glad that I had seen the results of Verne’s fertile imagination in Nantes. On my way back to the cathedral, I passed a carousel, which wasn’t a patch on the three-tier steam-punk version on the Île de Nantes, inspired by Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, but was still very pretty. While visiting Verne’s house, I had a call from our Caravan Genius, Nigel Hutson, who had joined me in Compiègne. I now arranged to meet him at the cathedral. Everything about the 13th-century Notre Dame cathedral is epic: it is the largest Gothic building in France and took 68 years to build. The facade takes your breath away and when you get up close to the entrance, you find that it is intricately carved with figures and heads. In fact, the cathedral’s exterior bears 750 statues, I learned. Inside it is equally breathtaking, with an avenue of tall columns supporting the arched ceiling. At one end is a beautiful late-15th century rose window, known
as the Rose of the Sea. I was so preoccupied with looking up at the astonishingly huge, intensely coloured stained-glass windows, and the ornate, 16th-century organ and beautifully carved putti – including one that looked like it was weeping – that I failed to notice the 234m-long octagonal tiled maze beneath my feet. In my defence, it was most likely obscured by all of the chairs set out for the congregation. I love exploring churches, for their extraordinary architecture and decoration. How did the artisans of the 13th century produce such exquisite work? It was a miracle, too, that this Notre Dame had survived two World Wars; its significance as an exceptional building was recognised in 1981, when it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It seemed the perfect place for me to light a candle in memory of friends lost this year. Nigel and I were both in need of a cuppa by this stage, and we found a quirky little tearoom, with the backs of motor scooters as seats, near the underground market: Les Halles, which is well worth a visit to stock up on groceries. Sadly, I can’t remember the name of the place, but it’s opposite the police station, should you want to sit on a scooter to drink your tea – it will keep the children amused.
Floating gardens
We had one more area, the hortillonnages or floating gardens, to explore before we called it a day. There are 300 hectares of water gardens, covering 400 islets, which have earned Amiens the soubriquet ‘Venice of the North’. These were once market gardens growing vegetables, which were sold from boats at a water market. Today, market gardeners (hortillons) still sell their produce from boats in the Saint Leu district. On the third Sunday of the month, they dress in traditional costume and sell from their boats on the Place Parmentier. The best way to explore the 65km of water channels is by boat, but we were short of time and could only visit a small area on foot, accessed by a short, steep bridge. Our chosen patch was clearly occupied by artists with a sense of humour. The ‘garden’ had all manner of quirky artifacts, including an upside-down pair of trousers, with shoes atop, giving the impression that the gardener had fallen head first into a deep hole; another was two wooden workers pulling a cart. Some of the gardens were lovely, though, and they would make a peaceful, tranquil spot for a picnic. From the gardens, we found our way across a park and a bridge, then walked through the back streets of the tall, narrow houses of Saint Leu and back to the quayside, where we stopped for an early-evening beer. Back at the campsite, I arranged to meet Nigel in the morning, when we would visit
the town of Albert before returning to pick up our respective caravans for the final leg of the journey towards Calais. In the early-evening sun, I took a walk around the campsite – it really was very attractive, set around a lake. While dinner cooked, I readied the Phoenix 640 for departure the following afternoon. Actually, I couldn’t wait to dive into its comfortable island bed: I was rather tired. We were very lucky weather-wise for this brief tour. A brilliant blue sky next morning gave the impression that all was well with the world, and after a breakfast of rolls and honey and a chat with a local duck, I was joined by Nigel and we set off for Albert.
On the battlefields
Albert is about 30km north-east of Amiens, and only a 20-minute drive northeast from Camping Les Puits Tournants. In 1916, this was the main town behind the front line of the Somme battlefields for the Allies – it was almost completely destroyed during the Great War. The basilica was the focal point of the town and gave a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. The Golden Virgin, holding her child aloft on top of the basilica, could be seen from miles around and became a target for enemy artillery. The statue was hit and leaned from the basilica; it was secured, still leaning, by the French and became a symbol for the Allies. If it fell, the war would end. It eventually did fall, when the Germans captured and briefly occupied the town during the Spring Offensive. Albert was retaken by the British and, three months later, the war ended. This story is depicted in a mural on the side of a house on the Rue Dubas. If you stand at the entrance to the Jardin Public Arboretum, you can see the restored Golden Virgin on the basilica in the distance, above the mural. We parked outside the imposing town hall and made a cup of coffee at the Hygge café our first stop. From the café, we had a good view of the basilica and we clearly needed to have a look inside. Apparently, not only did the Golden Virgin lean from her precarious position during the Great War, the basilica was destroyed in the last German offensive. It was reconstructed between 1927 and 1931, and “you must see the mosaic inside”, said the woman in the tourist office. It was built in the late 19th century in the neo-byzantine style – much in evidence inside. Mosaic is everywhere and the floor, walls and furniture are covered in tiny pieces of gloriously colourful tile. Dotted around the town are statues representing soldiers who took part in the war. Outside the basilica was a Devil in a Skirt (a Scottish soldier); in the gardens was an Indian soldier and across from the basilica, an Australian; we also saw a Tommy and a German. These statues are known as Witnesses and there are 10 in all. You can get a leaflet from the tourist office showing their location. We missed the Somme 1916 Museum in tunnels under the basilica, but on such a beautiful day, I couldn’t face going underground. We also had to get back to the site and be on our way. Amiens and Albert suffered during WWI and there’s plenty to remind you of the part they played. Today, Amiens is worth a weekend tour for its cathedral alone, while Albert’s basilica is a mosaic wonder.