April 08 – A Day in Amiens, The Little Venice of the North

The day started with a short walk up the hill to the Cathédrale Notre Dame d’Amiens, the world’s largest Gothic cathedral.  It is huge.  Per Google, the interior is 200,000 cubic meters, double the size of the famous Notre Dame de Paris.  The first stones were laid in 1220. 

The interior is beautiful...

and there are some gorgeous stained-glass windows. 

We had a nice walk around the old part of town with narrow, picturesque streets...

and quiet canals.  

We were out in the morning and it was completely dead.  Almost no one around.

During our walk we saw the Perret Tower.  This is a 29 story, 360-foot-tall residential skyscraper.  It is the first skyscraper in France.  Sort of sticks out.  And not in a good way.

We walked to Hortillonnages area.  The Hortillonnages are unique floating gardens that date to the Roman times.  The name comes from the Latin word “hortus”, meaning garden, and they were originally used to grow vegetables.  At the peak there were 10,000 hectares but now there are only 300 remaining. 

And the best way to see them is by a boat tour through a network of canals, which we very much enjoyed.  It was fully narrated.  In French.  So, Mary understood only tiny bits and Paul understood nothing.  But it was peaceful, picturesque and a lovely change from our typical type of sightseeing. 

There are about a thousand landowners who grow produce for market.  However, in recent years the area is used more for leisure and an escape from city life and we did see a few small homes or cottages.

 

A few birds along the canal.

In the afternoon we went with something totally different.  The Theatre Chés Cabotane show.  A marionette show.  Amiens had a history of puppetry, known as cabotans and this group is continuing the tradition.  A subsequent Google search about the theater revealed that all performances are in Picard, the local dialect.  No wonder May didn’t understand much.  But we knew the story so it was rather easy to follow. 

The performance showing today was Little Red Riding Hood staring Lafleur, a character that has been around since 1811.  And it was obviously geared to children as witnessed by the 30 or so children and their parents who attended the performance. 

By then we had walked a lot and it was time to head back to the hotel.  But we took a detour back up to the cathedral for a few photos (the light was much better) and a hot chocolate at a nearby Salon de Thé.  The hot chocolate was better than most but still not Angelina’s.

Later in the evening we decided we didn’t really need a full dinner so we went to the hotel’s restaurant for something light.  Everything considered it was a very good day.