Amiens 2015 (by kerouac2)

[Deleted]

My last tourist visit to Amiens in Picardy was in 2010 and was fully documented here, but this time I had the specific mission of seeing the cathedral during the summer night show which I have documented on the Post Cards thread here. But obviously, there are quite a few things to do in Amiens when one has the rest of the night and all of the following morning to explore. After the cathedral show, I walked over to the Saint Leu district where all of the student bars can be found along the waterways. I would have liked to stop for a drink, but since I had an empty stomach, I felt it would be unwise, so I just observed a tiny bit.

The statue in the water always sends chills through me, especially when it has been dressed up.





The moon was not quite full but very bright.





It was a balmy night, so some of the bars were still doing good business relatively late (late for Amiens, not for Paris!).









The cathedral lurked in the background.





Then I was back at the hotel after following the small canal from Saint Leu.



The corridors were twisted and uneven. Best not to be drunk!



I was particularly pleased with the wallpaper in my room.

[Deleted]

After breakfast the next morning, I began to explore a bit even though I had a couple of hours before checking out.



An old church was about a block away. I have no idea which one it was.





I would not have been sure what this is, but there was a crêperie across from it call Le Vieux Beffroi, so I will assume that it is the old belfry.









The covered market has been (re)built next to the belfry. I do not know if support for the design was unanimous.



I peeked in through the door, but it wasn't quite open yet.



The size of the post office makes one realise that it was the ancestor of the internet, google and all the rest. Post offices were huge and extremely important! This filled the entire city block.





The Hôtel de Ville (town hall) was next door.

[bixaorellana]

Why did you sneak out of town so early?

Love the sheep in the hotel room.

Good point about the post offices. Weren't they also usually combined with the telegraph office in big cities?

[Deleted]

Yes, post offices were "PTT" - Post - Telegraph - Telephone.

The pedestrianised central business district had not yet started its day.



The espaliered trees are still developing.





Here is how they looked in my report 5 years ago.

i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/Amiens/AmiensBerckCalais2010067.jpg



The strange Tour Perret beckoned in the distance - tallest building in Western Europe from 1952 to 1972.







Vegetalised walls and roofs turn up in the most unexpected places.





I didn't have time to follow this path, but it serves as a buffer zone between the city and the train tracks crossing it.



There was a big wind storm all across northern France the day before. I saw exactly the same scene in Paris before I left.





the favourite personality of Amiens -- Jules Verne



Just about all cinema multiplexes are in the suburbs, but they found some land to fit one right next to the train station for once.



I still haven't made up my mind about the roofing structure in front of the train station, but as it had begun to rain, I understood the idea behind it.

[Deleted]

The cathedral was open by now. I don't think that I had been inside since 1971.

[bixaorellana]

When I was scrolling through the old Amiens report, I saw those naked espaliered branches right after reading about the WWI damage. At first glance I thought they were some kind of weird, barbed wire looking commemorative sculpture.

The town is really quite pretty, with lovely public spaces. I suspect those new buildings with vegetated sides were designed for that. It really has a nice softening effect.

[Deleted]

These religious scenes are always so incredibly busy.









I counted the number of people attending mass. There were 29.



















The cathedral has a labyrinth in the middle.



There was a photo from WW1 showing how the front of the edifice was sandbagged.

[bixaorellana]

The sculptures! The story-telling and the expressions are just wonderful. Any idea what the story on the head presentations might be? That pulpit is rather nice as well. You did a great job of capturing and conveying the soaring interior of the cathedral.

Again, beautiful town and beautiful shots of it.

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2015 5:22:53 GMT bixaorellana said:

Any idea what the story on the head presentations might be?

I confess that I never bother to read the inscriptions about such things. Most of the biblical stories are just too ridiculous.

I returned to the hotel to get my little bag and, more importantly, my umbrella, because it was really coming down now.







I needed to see the creepy river statue again by daylight.





One can only imagine what these canals were like before sewers were installed.











Finally, it was 10 a.m. so I could go to my final attraction of the morning. Wouldn't we all like to have this on our roof?

Sorry to disappoint you, but photography is forbidden inside, which is a shame but probably also a wise decision. Even though there were not many people there, I was able to imagine how annoying I could have been snapping away at everything in sight while being annoyed at other people doing the same thing. The house was really delightful with a plant filled conservatory and rooms of furniture that actually looked comfortable, unlike most old furniture. I'm sure that most of us have seen the illustrations in a lot of the novels by Jules Verne, and this was definitely exactly the same universe. The first floor upstairs is where the bedrooms were located, but they had the very clever idea to transform this floor into a recreation of his publisher Jules Hetzel's office in Paris with magnificent displays of the manuscripts and bookcases overflowing with all of those magnificently illustrated editions with red covers and gold lettering and the magic words for the collection: Les Voyages Extraordinaires.

The publisher was specialised in science fiction (even though the term had not yet been invented) for young readers, so there was also a display of books by other writers, many of which intrigued me very much, such as "De New-York à Brest en 7 heures" by André Laurie. Since that is the flying time in 2015 from New York to France, I would love to know how they thought it would be done 130 years ago. I saw that I can buy a copy on the internet for a mere 274 euros with an additional 22 euros for shipping... from Los Angeles.

Original decorated cloth binding is most unusual: looks like lizard skin, with red cloth spine and corners. Book title and author name added on top of lizard skin in a gilted adornment. Has 3 gilt edges. Good hinges. Impressive cover has some spots of discoloration. 4 lbs.

It's interesting how "young readers" have never changed over the years, as evidenced by the success with all ages of the Harry Potter books in the 21st century. You can be a young reader up to age 100 or more.

Well, anyway, I did sneak one or two pictures. This is the next level up, decorated to look like the interior of a yacht. The spiral staircase is used through to go between the floors.



And then above that was the attic, filled with all of the most marvellous things.





The exit was through the staircase located inside the tower.







Then it was time to go back to the train station.



One last look at the city before I left...

[htmb]

Perhaps you've mentioned it before in another thread, but do you know the significance of the river statue, other than as an underwear model?

Kerouac, do you know if the Arras to Amien, stage 5, of the 2015 Tour de France ended in any of the areas you've photographed? Did they ride directly into the city?

[Deleted]

The Tour passed in front of the train station and the Tour Perret, but the arrival area was in front of the circus building, which I have not yet visited.

[bixaorellana]

I looked up the head thing. Supposedly the head of John the Baptist was brought back from the crusades & is kept in Amiens cathedral. The carvings are truly wonderful.

You are right about that statue being creepy -- almost creepier in the daylit rain.

I am so glad that you got to go to the Jules Verne house and that you managed some snaps. It really looks atmospheric & the museum electing to recreate the publisher's office was a stroke of genius.

Some great photos here, the river boy with the flowers in the foreground, the statue and the merry-go-round horse, and the last shot of the station in the rain, just to name a few.

[htmb]

I agree about the photos. It certainly looks like a town worth further exploration.

[Deleted]

There are basically only two headless people in French religious statuary -- St. Jean Baptiste and St. Denis.

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2015 17:17:52 GMT htmb said:

It certainly looks like a town worth further exploration.

It can easily be done as a day trip from Paris. The trains run about every 2 hours.

[htmb]

I actually had Amien on my list for 2015, but decided to postpone plans until after our Tour de France trip to the area. I'll get back someday. From what I was able to see through the rain, there are also some very pretty and interesting places scattered about the surrounding countryside.

[Deleted]

The statue in the river is by a German artist and is called L'homme sur la bouée (the man on the buoy). It was placed there in 1993 and is part of a group of three -- one of the others being the woman on the wall, that you can see in one of the other photos.

The river statue is the absolute favourite of the students of Amiens and is the object of countless pranks, which is why it is nearly always wearing something. It is also used in hazing rituals (but of course we all know that hazing is illegal).

www.courrier-picard.fr/sites/default/files/imagecache/vdn_photo_principale_article/articles/ophotos/20140926/1419364821_B973663429Z.1_20140926171912_000_GAA36NIT7.2-0.jpg

[cheerypeabrain]

What a fascinating place.It looks well worth a visit...imposing architecture and stunning stonework.

Your photographs are enchanting Kerouac, the night time ones are particularly atmospheric. Respect

[patricklondon]

The size of the post office makes one realise that it was the ancestor of the internet, google and all the rest. Post offices were huge and extremely important!

Indeed. The old central post office in Amsterdam (imagine the Rijksmuseum's younger brother) was big enough to be converted into a substantial shopping centre, and the one in Madrid is so imposing I seem to remember it's sometimes called Nuestra Señora de los Correos.

Interesting thread. I've whizzed through Amiens on the Eurostar often enough. I should visit!


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[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2015 21:24:38 GMT patricklondon said:

Interesting thread. I've whizzed through Amiens on the Eurostar often enough. I should visit!

Patrick, you need to change glasses if you think that the Eurostar goes anywhere near Amiens!

The main Paris post office on rue du Louvre is currently being converted into a hotel, apartments and shopping mall. Rendezvous around 2018.

[patricklondon]

The train was going too fast to be sure of anywhere, but I must have confused it with Arras. Anyhoo, worth a visit.

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[nycgirl]

This place looks like a nice, pedestrian-friendly place to go exploring. I'd love to have a drink or take a nighttime stroll by the water. (That statue is pretty creepy, though.)