Following the Somme River

On Friday we decided to walk into Amiens without the dogs. It took us 45mins to walk down the river to the town and then 15mins to get to Notre-Dame Cathedral (an UNESCO World Heritage site). It is huge! Apparently it could hold two cathedrals the size of Notre Dame de Paris. It is France's largest gothic cathedral and has some amazing gothic stonework and art. During the WW1 steps were taken to protect the choir stalls and various other parts of the cathedral but luckily it was never bombed. In the cathedral there is a statue of a weeping angel which was used on postcards used in the war.

From here we had a quick walk to look at The Hortillonnages, the floating gardens which cover 300 hectares of small islands criss-crossed with canals. To appreciate this area you really need to do a boat tour - next time!

We then walked back via the Saint-Leu area. A 'picturesque quarter' of pretty colourful houses next to the canals.

The dogs were still ok after being left for three hours, luckily it had not been very hot, and we then spent the afternoon enjoying some sunshine, catching up on life-admin before taking them for a walk along the Somme - the other way!

On Saturday we drove to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme which is situated at the Baie de la Somme where the Somme river meets the sea. It is a huge arc of salt marsh, dunes and sea flats. Saint-Valery is an ancient walled town with a bayside promenade. We had a good explore with the dogs. You can see across the bay to Le Crotoy. Sometimes it is possible to walk across the bay - but not today!

In the morning we walked back into town to go to the Saturday market. We were there at 9 as we thought it started at 8am but people were still setting up. It did mean it was nice and quiet. We admired the waffle and tomato stall but only bought a selection of mis-shaped tomatoes! We left the aire, which we both hated as bright lights were on all night. It was the biggest aire we had stayed in - I suppose you have to experience all types!

We then drove towards Calais with the aim of staying at a site just north of Boulogne-sur-Mer. We realised that all the camping sites were mainly for static mobile homes and the site we did find was incredibly windy. We stopped and watched the surfers in the rough seas at Le Gris Nez and then drove inland to a site just outside Tardinghen. So we are on a farm that can take 70 campers - there was nobody else here when we arrived but now there are 4 other vans. We went for an explore and walked down to the sea and along the beach. Luckily we did not get very wet but it was incredibly windy on the beach. Mitzy is now snoring after her 2 1/2 walk!

This is our last night in France until we return, hopefully in 2-3 weeks!