"Northern France" Picardie by hquittner

The region of Picardie stretches from the Ile-de-France north toward the Belgian border, excluding the Region Nord-Pas-de-Calais with its two named departments, west to the English Channel and east to the Champagne-Ardennes region (Reims). We have never visited the 2 northen departments since out travels have been directed toward "cathedral-hopping" causing us to visit Laon, Amiens, Beauvais, Noyon and Soissons. In the early days we were attracted to Barbara Tuchman's "In A Distant Mirror"and found a way to stay at Coucy-le-Chateau as well. Our experiences were some of the best we have ever had in France. The cities and towns are not overspoiled by tourism and have all sorts of mixtures of old and new. The people enjoy their way of life and eat well. Eventually we hope to recount our experiences. (The difficulty, as you can sometimes already see, is in transferring our older Kodachrome material to digital images of passable quality.) Some of it is over 20 years ago.

Facade of St. Jean (detail)

Between Wars and Revolutions not every church and abbey is intact. It appears that many are neever torn down or give way for other venues. Some are partly restored due to affection for them. They are in many places but you have to seek them out. There are books (and great poetry) written about the Pleasure of Ruins and some very nice ones are in Picardie. We have visited the Abbaye de Chaalis (near the Asterix Park) and the Abbaye de St.-Jean des Veines in Soissons as two examples.

• Pros:Delightful memories and experiences
• Cons:Too easy to get to
• In a nutshell:Would like to go again