There is more Amiens than a Cathedral

Whilst it has a very big impact on the city, there is more to Amiens than the cathedral. The impact of the ever threatening WW1 battlefields on its doorstep is not forgotten, but life goes on.

This is France so it obviously Amiens has many wonderful bread and pastries outlets. Some were getting used to my pitiful attempts to speak French. The conversations quickly deteriorate when they reply in French.

In this fairly flat region, the River Somme meanders along. Much of this would have once been swamp land but has been drained by a network of small canals. There are les hortillonnages d'Amiens - the floating gardens of Amiens. The once swampy land has been converted to market gardens and flower gardens separated by a web of canals.

A little further downstream there is residential and business area striped with canals to help the river through.Read more