Yesterday I find myself in the city of Amiens (aah-mee-yon) in the Picardy region in the north of France. I was here for a day to present Indian Culture to 16 students of a Business School in the city. The School was kind enough to put me up in a hotel called Au Spatial, just 2 minutes away from the railway station. The Hotel is rated two stars, it's 50 euros per person for the night/55 euros for two people, the staff is really friendly and the place was reasonably clean. After wrapping up my presentation I had four hours to discover the city before catching the train back to Rouen. Many people don't speak highly of Amiens but I beg to differ! The city was in fact very beautiful and welcoming. I always thought if I found work in France, it would be in Normandy. But Picardy is pretty nice too and I would love working in this charming city. The Amiens Cathedral/ Cathédrale de Notre Dame d'Amiens is the most important monument in the town. Construction work began on the cathedral in the early 1200s and it was proclaimed a world heritage site by UNESCO in the early 1980s. It is the tallest cathedral in France! (I did not know that and was always under the impression that it was the Notre Dame de Paris!)
There's so many places to buy macarons in Amiens! and I got to see so many new colours of Autumn here as well. Yellow really suits the city! I did notice that there was noticeable amount of graffiti around the place. I took a few pictures but I realized it was quite vulgar to put up (basically the French students are not too happy with the government and many are complaining that France in turning into a police state). I'm personally not a huge fan of graffiti (if not used as an artistic expression) and I think it's cowardly to spray paint on somebody else's property!
The Cathedral has many angels on it's exteriors and interiors. I did not find the famous "weeping angel" :'( But thats what you get for not making a list of things to see before hand.
The ceiling in so high! I guess this architectural style came about when people decided that the taller their church, the closer they are to God!
The façade of the Cathedrale is stunning! just look at the detail! I also found a lot of quaint areas in the city and charming little doors and windows :)
Amiens is quite colourful (which is highly surprising for the North of France!) But yeah, I found, reds, greens ofcourse happy yellows on the trees!
The interiors and the sculptures in the Cathedral have been preserved remarkably well!
In 1206, Crusaders brought back the head of John the Baptist from Constantinople. The Cathedral has ever since been an important pilgrimage site. History says that the relic was destroyed during one fo the numerous fires in Amiens and what confuses us is that Rome and Munich both say that they have the head of John the Baptist!
Voilà memories of a lovely day. I totally recommend visiting Amiens, even it's for a short day trip. The city has so many macaron shops, parks, a huge student population and of course a magnificent gothic cathedral! Many restaurants have fixed menus but I would suggest buying a large ham sandwich and an iced tea and sit in one of those numerous parks and watch Autumn! x
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