My husband and I have just booked tickets for a 2-week trip this Sept/Oct from the US into Brussels and want to visit small villages in France and Belgium prior to returning home via London.
My %26quot;great great great%26quot; (not sure how many greats!) grandfather is from Amiens and we would like to visit the city. (My maiden name is Dewailly and I understand there is a Dewailly clock in the center of town!).
We want to cover a lot of ground in those 2 weeks, so we are looking for suggestions, good/bad experiences on where to stay, how to best get around, etc. We like to be spontaneous, so we are thinking of renting a car, but am wondering if that would be expensive for the 2 weeks. Would a combination of rail and car would be better?
Our travel agent is just beginning to work on this, but thought I%26#39;d ask in case someone has good tips for us. We like historical sites, love to see the scenery, and, as mentioned above, like some scheduled events in advance, but the flexibility of spontaneity.
We are fairly seasoned travelers and my Louisiana French was understood in Paris and Quebec, so we can around fairly well.
Thoughts??? Thanks in advance!
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We stayed in Amiens four years ago for a few daysand I do remember a clock. We used Amiens as a base to visit WW1 battle fields, cemeteries etc. We did have a car and found the town convenient to get around the area. It was a memorable and haunting trip - We visited Albert, the Somme battle fields and memorials, the trenches near Beaumont. If you decide to visit WW1 sites, take time to read up before you go, there is one book you should read/take: Back to the Front (O%26#39;Shea). The author can be irritating in his writing but it is a book that gives an accurate account of what the war was like
The cathedral in Amiens is spectatular as is the market. One notable restaurant: Les Marissons at 68 rue Marissons - wonderful food, service and ambience (not ultra expensive). Our hotel was in the center of town but so non-descript I can%26#39;t remember the name- LePrieure would be a better choice of hotel- near the cathedral area and with a good restaurant.
We did drive to the ocean one day and do wish we had gone to Lille also (another trip). Hope this helps
jhgrady
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As you arrive into Brussels, I would do a round trip to Gent, Brugges and Lille, before going to Amiens. Beautiful town with flemish architecture, it will make a consistent thread. Brugges is so romantic and offers good accomodation.To start with, Brussels has beautiful beginning of the century architecture and deserves a 2 days stay. Have a look on these beautiful %26quot;art nouveau%26quot; buildings, as for example Maison Horta:
tourismebelgique.com/bruxelles/art-nouveau.h…
If you like bird watching, don%26#39;t miss Somme Bay, a very beautiful nature reserve; you may also browse this website :
somme-tourisme.com/uk/…baie_somme.asp
I think that renting a car will be more convenient.
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Thank you %26quot;only Lyon%26quot; and %26quot;janeharriet%26quot; for your comments. Very helpful! I%26#39;ve also posted the same message on the France and Belgium forums since I%26#39;m looking for suggestions for other things to do.
So many places... so little time!
Merci!
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We are finalizing our trip and wondered if there were organized tours offered daily from Brussels to Ghent, Brugge and Antwerp? We are still debating on whether we rent a car or not.
A prompt response would be most deeply appreciated.
Thanks!
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Hello!
If you visit the local paper website you will find more information about the Dewailly clock in Amiens:
http://w2.amiens.com/jda/jda163/actu6.html
We get quite a few visitors here, lots of people do a tour of the WW1 battlefields then visit the Museum of the Great War in Péronne which is remarkably well documented as well as the smaller In the Somme-1916 museum in Albert.
They all discover the impressive Gothic cathedral in Amiens then also take a boat trip in the %26quot;hortillonnages%26quot; which are floating gardens and of course visit the spectacular Bay de Somme on the Picardy coast.
Hope this helps.
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Apologies if this is a duplicate reply -- the gremlins got into my computer!
Thanks Jina80 for your response. We arrive in Amiens Oct. 6 from Dieppe, spend the day and night in Amiens, then leave the next day for Calais. We%26#39;d heard about the cathedral, but not about the floating gardens, so that will be fun.
Do you know if public libraries are open on Sat? We%26#39;d tried to plan our time in Amiens for a weekday, but it just didn%26#39;t work out. I%26#39;m hoping to look through genealogical archives on the Dewailly family.
Thanks again, and I%26#39;m looking forward to our time in the Picady region!
Gretchen
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Hello!
yes the library is open on Saturdays.
Adresse : 50, rue de la République, 80 000 Amiens
Tél : 03 22 97 10 10 (accueil) 03 22 97 10 24 (service éducatif) Fax 03 22 97 10 70
Ouvert : le lundi de 14h à 19h, le samedi de 9h30 à 18 et tous les autres jours de la semaine de 9h30 à 19h
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A few useful websites to help you prepare your trip:
somme.fr/loisirs_culture/archives_et_genealo…
www.somme.fr/la_somme/la_somme_en_videos
http://www.somme-tourisme.com/fr/
http://www.somme-tourisme.com/uk/
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