La Somme

It’s been wet on the Somme. Who’d have expected that?  According to the local paper this has been the rainiest August since 2001. Our policy of not moving in the wet has had to be abandoned for fear we’d be stuck here for weeks- and we only have weeks left. Our return flights to Australia are now only one page flip away on the calendar and we have to be a long way from here by the end of September. Torrential rain and rivers are not a good combination. All that water has to go somewhere and that is downstream at high speed towards the sea. The current has been running at speeds of around 6 or 7km an hour which might not seem fast to those of you speeding in your cars but believe me on a narrow winding river with oncoming boats, weirs, bridges and locks it can be quite exciting. The speed limit on canals is normally around 6kph but as you need to keep up some engine speed in order not to lose all steering you end up going at a faster lick than is comfortable – for me anyway. We have come through unscathed but others haven’t been so lucky. We read in the paper of one large boat being swept sideways and then wedged between a guide rail and the bank whilst waiting for a swing bridge to open. The skipper, presumably in a panic, fell in the river. The fire brigade, police, ambulance and lots of divers were called to the rescue. No-one was hurt and the boat was undamaged but someone’s holiday was spoilt. Today we shared a lock with an English narrowboat whose skipper couldn’t get off the river fast enough (and heading upstream against the current that will take a while). He had spent hours firmly wedged against a weir barrier whilst attempting to enter a lock. At least there was a barrier I suppose. It has long been one of those bad dreams of mine that one day I will be swept to my doom over a weir. Recent experience in tunnels has begun to rival that mind you.

The Somme is a surprisingly pretty navigation. Because the landscape is fairly flat we had expected it to be boring, our main reason for visiting being its proximity to the world war battlefields. The countryside is indeed flat but it has been much excavated for peat which has resulted in large lakes and marshlands. Fishing is hugely popular and as for waterbirds…the ducks here must be the most vocal in France. People keep ducks and geese in their gardens and the lakes have little islands with bird hides on them. I don’t think they are for bird watching. In a small village bar the other night I heard an animated discussion on the subject of duck shooting and problems with avoiding the police. Another interesting feature, and unique I think, are ‘les hortillages’, which are cultivated islands in the marshes mainly around Amiens and dating back to the middle ages. Some are still cultivated as vegetable and fruit gardens – a bit like floating allotments- but others have been turned into holiday getaways. Many have elaborate security gates (with fearsome spikes) over the small canals separating them.

Amiens Cathedral

The 'Weeping Angel' - many soldiers sent home postcards of this sculpture.

Amiens is the capital city of Picardy and we spent 2 nights there. The mooring is in a rather lively and attractive area of town. By lively I mean it is in the student quarter – lots of bars and restaurants and many shouted discussions (no doubt intellectual)  from windows across the narrow alleys. It can be a bit dicey at weekends. We met an American couple on a hire boat who were cast off at 2 in the morning by over refreshed young men from one of the bars – quite a frightening experience on a fast flowing river.

Much of Amiens was destroyed during the wars and has been rebuilt rather uninterestingly but the huge, gothic cathedral remains intact and is beautiful. During the summer there is a lovely sound and light display highlighting the exquisite façade. While we watched there was a silent and effective demonstration by arts workers protesting against funding cuts. 

A bit of name dropping now. We went for dinner at L’Envie, one of the excellent riverside restaurants, fell into conversation with the lone diner at the next table and spent a lovely evening with a most charming, interesting man. He was there to visit the cathedral because ‘I work at Westminster Abbey’. Eventually I asked what he did, thinking he might be a tour guide as he was so knowledgeable. He is the Dean. The man in charge. The man who married Will and Kate.

We followed the Somme all the way to the end where it enters the sea at Saint Valery on the Baie de Somme. It was really nice and different to visit a seaside town as opposed to a canal/river. There is a huge tidal range at the bay – at low tide miles of sand and as the tide comes in it’s apparently faster than a galloping horse. We stayed safely above the sea lock. Saint Valery is famous for its seafood of course and I can definitely vouch for the most delicious moules and frites I have ever tasted.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside- no sand just pebbles at Cayeaux sur mer (Brighton on the sea!)

At 'Long'

Should just add that I have had to get over my phoning in a foreign language phobia on the Somme. The waterway is run by the Somme local authority rather than the usual VNF and you have to phone every day to arrange for a lock keeper to come. Don't know what you do if you don't have a phone.