Today’s ride was 80 km with 675 vertical metres of climbing between Forges and Amiens. We used the “voice verte” trails dedicated to cyclists, but the surfaces did vary considerably. There was quite a bit of early climbing before our coffee at Feuquieres. This was our last day in Normandy, as we crossed through voice and into department De La Soul, where the terrain became considerably flatter. However, it was stunningly beautiful with very fertile rural landscapes.
The weather was also very inclement with heavy showers after our coffee stop making the ride, both challenging and heaps of fun on the quiet country lanes.
We stopped at Conty for a picnic lunch before following the Selle River towards Amiens famous for Jules Verne and its overwhelming cathedral, which dominates the vibrant student city.
Along the way, bullet holes in local church walls were noticed. Kenny believes these were from executions of local resistance fighters during the Second World War, a stark reminder of what France faced through two wars during the 20th century.
Amiens with a current population of over 110,000 people is built along the Somme River. It was a vital supply and organisation city during World War I and one of the main targets of the Germans March Offensive in 1918. If they could have captured it, the Germans would have separated the French and the British armies and may have been able to win the war. Australia played a major role in protecting Amiens by halting the Germans at Villers Bretonneux, 20 km to the east and keeping it out of range of German artillery. The importance of this to the French is clear when you walk into the cathedral and see the following tableau.
Amiens contains one of Frances’s mightiest Gothic cathedrals. In fact, it is the largest church in France at 145 m long and 70 m wide. The roof is 65 m high and the spire is over 112 m. The sculpted decoration of the portals is in a remarkable state of preservation, and its furnishings are the product of eight centuries of decorative art, for instance, the 16th-century set of woodcarvings that constitute the choir stools are unique in the world, is also reported to contain a relic of the head of St John the Baptist which arrived in 1206 A.D.
The current cathedral has been on this site for eight centuries, but Christians have prayed on this site for more than 1700 years.
Famous French author Jules Verne lived in Amiens for the last 34 years of his life and his former home is now a museum. The Universite de Picardie Jules Verne was also named after him with around 30,000 enrolled students.
Our evening was completed by our Scottish historian Kenny Nairn’s lecture on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission interspersed with whisky tasting and some very dodgy dinner table karaoke.
