Amiens built its belfry to say something, and the message was independence. Rising above the town hall in the early fifteenth century, the belfry housed the bell that called citizens to assembly and warned of fire and enemy, and it became the symbol of a town that had won its freedoms from the king and the local lords. UNESCO listed the belfries of northern France and Belgium together in 1999, and the Amiens tower is one of the finest, topped later by a baroque lantern. A short walk away stands the cathedral of Notre-Dame, the largest Gothic cathedral in France by volume, which was listed in 1981.
The city sits on the Somme, a river that gave its name to a very different history. Between 1914 and 1918 the battlefields lay to the north and east, and Amiens was a vital railhead and a base for British and Commonwealth troops. The Battle of Amiens in August 1918 turned the tide of the war. Today the Somme valley is quiet and green, with reedbeds, ponds and market gardens. In the old quarter of Saint-Leu, canals run between the houses, and the hortillonnages, a patchwork of floating gardens, can be explored by flat-bottomed boat.
A short ride in any direction brings you to chalk plateaus, big skies and straight roads lined with poplars. The riding is flat and fast, and it is not complicated, but it has a calm rhythm, and the Somme memorials, with their rows of white headstones, are moving. The wind sweeps across the open land, and weather rolls in from the sea, so check the sky. Spring brings green fields and poppies, and autumn brings mist on the river.
Amiens has well over a hundred thousand people, so fuel, food and accommodation are no trouble. It was also the home of Jules Verne, who lived here for decades and served on the town council, and his house is a museum. For something sweet, try the macarons d'Amiens, a soft almond biscuit that has been made here for centuries. Park near the town hall, climb the belfry if it is open, and look out across the roofs to the cathedral's great spire.