Day 15: Amiens to Peronne

September 10, 2023

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Our hotel provided the first example of how French breakfast is so different from the German. Not only was their offering a joke by German standards, but they proposed to count out the meagre supplies. So for 8 euros you get two mini croissants, one drink, one yogurt, and so forth. And that's the complete version. On the "Express" you get bread with butter and jam. I bet that's one piece of bread. We were not impressed.

Out in the street it was really pleasing to have the morning light, the morning cool, no tourists awake yet, and the regular population sleeping in for the Sunday. This allowed some more shots of the street and the cathedral.

Sitting high on the cathedral walls are figures that one might not notice at first. This interesting one is playing an instrument.

The walls are adorned by many lined up figures. At first they seem unimaginatively standardized.

But look, they do have different expressions.

We next took a spin through town, despite having read online that the cathedral is the only thing worth looking at. Well now, there was also a belfry, and what must still be the controversial Perret tower.

The Perret tower was somewhat modelled on American examples, in 1948. It is 25 stories tall and was long the highest skyscraper in Europe.

Our travel plan has involved bouncing from city to city, only loosely trending toward Spain. So today we partially backtracked, following the Somme to Peronne. This meant we passed south of Thiepval and Albert, and remained all day in the thick of the Somme battle area.

On this map you can clearly see the river, from Amiens to Peronne. The black vertical line is merely some proposed order of touring the towns, but the yellow line shows where the trenches were. Peronne is clearly behind the German line, and it was held by the Germans until 1918. At that time it was liberated by the Australians.

Amiens sits by a marshy area of the Somme that has become famous for market gardens. They call this "Les Hortillonages", and it really is a watery thing, especially when you look at the map:

Cycling along the Somme in this area you do not see all the channels, but it still is a beautiful ride.

From the path by the main river there are many little bridges (passerelles) into plots of gardens. The Passerelles themselves have evidently become famous, based on the poster:

The poster, with photos of various designs

This heron was grooming itself, and I waited for it to look up. Clearly it had not finished the job!

There were mainly runners on the trail today, but these guys were out having fun as well.

In the old days, horses hauled "peniches" along the river. These watering troughs are a last remnant of those days.

Looking back through a foggy "time machine", you can see the horses.

We rolled up to a couple from Belgium who had just started out on their ride back to Brussels from Amiens, and had picked up a thorn. They had what they needed to make the repair, but still had to answer a pile of questions from us. For example, we learned that their bikes have licenses because they are capable of 48 kph. However they do not have throttles. The couple had never heard of a "throttle".

At Froissy (just before Cappy) we encountered a string of renovated rail cars, sitting on narrow gauge track. We were puzzling over them, when a narrow gauge locomotive came barreling toward us.

We soon encountered another one, this time powered by steam, and soon saw some "stations" and a sign for a museum. We were none the wiser until we checked on line. This rail line was from 1916, and was used to ferry soldiers and supplies to the front. In later years it serviced a sugar factory, and now offers a 12 km return tourist ride.

At Suzanne, we came upon a small chateau. This is not really chateau country, like along the Loire. Maybe we can snap this one up for a B&B?

We made it to Peronne, again really hot. But the Auberge Les Remparts was able to put us and the bikes away quickly. The only thing, as on each of the past days our room faces the blazing sun, so it's drawn curtains and little ventilation until evening.

Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 688 km (427 miles)

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Gregory GarceauIt looks like German breakfasts can spoil you. I will say the French breakfast is pretty fine compared to the "Blueberry Danish" served in a cellophane bag I tried recently. It was typical of U.S. small town motel breakfasts--if they even serve a breakfast. Chain motels generally serve an inedible breakfast of lukewarm yellow eggs and ultra-thin microwaved bacon. Is it any wonder that I settle for coffee and handfuls of Lucky Charms for breakfast?
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1 year ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Gregory GarceauIndeed, the saying in Germany is eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a merchant, eat supper like a pauper. Or for a cyclist one can truly say that a good breakfast sets you up for the whole day. We hate North American breakfasts!
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1 year ago