Beffroi d’Amiens and Fosse Delloye

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Beffroi d’Amiens

   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.

   Read the complete Beffroi d’Amiens write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Beffroi d’Amiens is where the day begins. Next is La citadella d’Arras.

2. 2. La citadella d’Arras

   The people of Arras call their citadel la belle inutile, the beautiful useless one, and they say it with affection. Vauban built it in the late seventeenth century, after Louis XIV took Artois from Spain, as part of the chain of fortresses meant to lock France's northern border. Its star-shaped ramparts, bastions and moats are textbook Vauban, but the border moved north before the fortress ever saw a serious siege, hence the nickname. It is one of the twelve sites grouped as the Fortifications of Vauban on the UNESCO list since 2008. Its later history is darker: during the Second World War, the Germans executed resistance fighters in the moat, and a memorial there lists their names.

   Read the complete La citadella d’Arras write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   La citadella d’Arras comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fosse Delloye.

3. 3. Fosse Delloye

   The name on the label belongs to the most famous pit in the whole northern coalfield. Fosse Delloye, at Lewarde a short ride west of here, closed in 1971 and became the Centre Historique Minier, France's largest mining museum, where former miners once guided visitors through reconstructed galleries and the old lamp rooms, showers and machine halls still stand as they were left. The point itself, though, sits beside Denain on the Escaut, and Denain deserves a story of its own.

   Read the complete Fosse Delloye write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 123 km into the recorded legs you reach Fosse Delloye. Next is back through La citadella d’Arras.

4. 4. back through La citadella d’Arras

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete La citadella d’Arras write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through La citadella d’Arras, late in the day. Next is Beffroi d’Amiens.

5. 5. Beffroi d’Amiens

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Beffroi d’Amiens write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Beffroi d’Amiens. That is the ride.