Amiens FR 13-18 May 2022 After the drama of our trip to Amiens we still manged to go out on our bikes on Friday afternoon to retrace our steps along the river to see the Hortillonages. This is a low lying area, criss crossed with canals and lakes, with many market gardens. We hope to go on a boat trip into the Hortillonages when we return back up the river. On the way home we went through town. This year is the 70th Anniversary of the Amiens Zoo so there is some street art about that. On Saturday morning we went to one of the markets which is in the shadow of the belfry. Afterwards we went to the Tourist Information near the Cathedral for information and had lunch at one of the delightful bistros nearby. In the afternoon we decided to visit the Citadel. This wasn't listed as a notable tourist site, but we could see it on the map not far from our mooring. We were glad we did as they had built the Université Picardie Jules Verne inside the walls of the citadel, mixing old and new. Quite impressive. Sunday and Monday morning were set aside for working on the boat. Although Howard did manage a bit of fishing as well. On Monday afternoon we decided to visit the Jules Verne House. He married a lady from here, and moved here and lived here many years in the later part of his life, writing most of his books from here and even sitting on the city council. The house he lived in has been made into a museum and was quite interesting. We also saw many sites in Amiens from our bikes before stopping for a drink at a bar. Tuesday morning Howard fished for a while and I completed some jobs. Then Howard did some jobs and I headed out to visit some nearby parks and gardens. First was le Jardin des Plants. This is one of the oldest gardens in France, and was used to study botanicals. It had to be restored after the world wars. We had also seen a wedding here on the Saturday. Next was Parc Saint-Pierre, a much larger and more modern park. I came across a path which went under a bridge and I was in the Hortillonages again which was very pretty. After lunch and Howard's zoom meeting, we took the bikes down to the Cimitère de la Madeleine where Jules Verne is buried. A lovely ride along the tow path, as well as an interesting cemetery with many areas and graves quite overgrown. The Saga of the Paint First a little background. When we first had the boat refitted we had the outside of the boat completely repainted in a new colour scheme. This was finished in 2017 and they used a good brand of paint from the Netherlands. Unfortunately the paint is only available wholesale. This year at the start of the journey Howard did an inventory of our paint and thought we had enough. However it soon became clear that we didn't have enough paint (we ran out of white after only painting the roof, and nearly all of the outside needs repainting). Howard decided that the best thing to do would be to order more paint of that brand through the carpenter who worked on our boat for the refit. I thought we should be able to buy some good paint locally surely. Howard however went ahead and ordered the paint through Eric, and organised to have it delivered to the Port in Cappy. Unfortunately due to various reasons the order was delayed, but we still expected it to arrive in Cappy well before we left 2 and a half weeks later. We put a sign on the window of the port office asking them to call us when it was delivered, thinking we could just pop there to pick it up. In the mean time we got stuck into preparation work on the boat as there is a lot to do. At the end of our time at Cappy we had had no word and no indication when the paint was to be delivered. I said if we knew that the paint would be delivered the next day we would stay another night. But we ended up leaving Cappy, still with no sign of the paint. Of course we got a phone call from the delivery driver (in french) the day we left. We asked her to deliver it the next day as that was the date the port office was expected to open. But nothing was delivered, although the port captain didn't arrive until 11am, so perhaps it was delivered earlier. We spoke with the port captain the next day and asked her to follow up with the delivery driver (we had her phone number). She did, and it was arranged to be delivered on the Saturday and they gave the delivery driver the code for the office so she could leave it even if no-one was there. Yay. Saturday it was confirmed that it arrived. Double Yay. So we arranged to pick up a hire car on Tuesday afternoon so that we could drive to Cappy and pick up the paint. We took advantage of the car and visited a hardware store and a sports shop before heading off to Cappy, where we finally picked up three boxes of our precious paint using the code to enter the port office. But when we got home, Howard unpacked the paint and found that we were missing a box, so the Paint Saga continues. At least we have enough to be getting on with. And hopefully the last box will turn up at Cappy and we can pick it up on our way back. So we had a car on Wednesday as well, which we used for a massive shop at the Carrefour Hypermaché. It is gigantic - selling everything from BBQ, outdoor furniture and clothes to food and wine. It was so large I sat on the outdoor furniture while Howard did the shopping for 1 and a half hours. After delivering the shopping home, we drove up to Naours where there is a Cité souterrain. An underground city. It was originally dug out as a mine but was extended in the middle ages for the towns folk and their animals to hide in when the town was attacked. It had an interesting history, including being rediscovered at the end of the 19th century and WWI solders leaving graffiti behind. Tomorrow we leave Amiens and head further downstream on the Somme. We named this house near our mooring the cat house
7 Comments
Hazel
21/5/2022 10:22:10 pm
Stunning photos Deb!
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Ian McCauley
22/5/2022 01:25:02 am
A really fascinating city and it's wonderful that with a long Somme cruise, you get to see it twice. I regret that we were time-pressed and couldn't stay longer when we passed through. Still, I recognise a fair few of the places you photographed. When we were there, the black and white pictures on the buildings were all WW1 related.
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Johanna Hersey
22/5/2022 03:13:39 am
Thank you for sharing. Your photos are great.
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Pam Kershaw
22/5/2022 04:57:43 am
Looks wonderful Deb. You must be eating a lot of fresh fish! Well done Howard!
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Deborah Keir
23/5/2022 08:12:21 am
Only fish we buy, as Howard throws his back.
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Hilary
22/5/2022 05:25:13 am
Holy cow! and you call this retirement. I feel tired just reading about all of your adventures and discoveries. And deeply envious of the easy access to provincial French lifestyle, What a sage for the paint. They need to drone drop it onto the boat!
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Karen Melchior
23/5/2022 07:25:20 am
Deb and Howard, I enjoy your tales and photos so very much! I am vicariously traveling with you, enjoying the art, flowers, architecture, landscaping -- and even the paint saga! Thank you so much for taking us along with you. Pure joy.
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