Amiens Cathedral is huge. Built mostly in the thirteenth century, Notre-Dame d'Amiens is the largest Gothic cathedral in France by interior volume, with a nave rising over forty metres, and its west front is covered with hundreds of carved figures, saints, prophets and kings, which were once brightly painted. In summer, a light show projects the original colours onto the facade at night, bringing back the medieval look. The cathedral is a World Heritage Site, and its interior, with its soaring columns and stained glass, is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture.
Amiens is the capital of Picardy, on the Somme river, and the city has a pleasant old quarter, Saint-Leu, with canals, restaurants and cafés. The hortillonnages, floating gardens on a network of canals, are a unique sight, explored by flat boats. The writer Jules Verne lived in Amiens for many years, and his house is a museum. The Somme valley, east of the city, is the site of the First World War battles, with cemeteries and memorials scattered across the countryside.
Riding in and out of Amiens is mostly flat, with straight roads through open farmland, and the city itself has ring roads and traffic. The Somme valley offers pleasant riding along the river, with villages and views, and the coast, at the Bay of Somme, is about an hour away. Wind can be strong on the open plains.
Inside, look down as well as up. The nave floor holds a great octagonal labyrinth laid in black and white stone, which pilgrims once followed on their knees, and the choir stalls are carved with thousands of tiny wooden figures from the early sixteenth century, a whole medieval world of craftsmen, peasants and saints. The cathedral came through both world wars largely intact, protected by sandbags around the most precious parts, while much of the surrounding city was destroyed. Tradition holds that it also keeps a relic said to be the head of Saint John the Baptist, brought back from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade, which made the building a magnet for pilgrims in the Middle Ages.
Fuel and services are plentiful in the city. Local specialities include macarons d'Amiens, an almond biscuit, and ficelle picarde, a crepe filled with ham and mushrooms. The city is busy, but parking a bike near the cathedral is usually possible.