Picardie

Ryanair is introducing new flights to France next summer (2010)  from Leeds/Bradford to Limoges, Montpellier, Nantes and Carcassonne! There are already flights from Yorkshire Avignon, Bergerac,Chambery, La Rochelle, Nice, Paris and Toulouse.

This comes at the same time as Ryanair has also announced the cancelling of many flights from Stansted over this winter.

So, much will depend on when you want to fly and how much you are willing to pay – and as always with Ryanair make sure that you take into account the additional costs that will be added to the headline price – i.e for online booking, baggage, priority boarding etc. However, the new Ryanair destination airports are local to the named city – but some airports can be some distance from the named city- e.g. Paris Beauvais is 50 miles (80km) north of Paris and takes about an hour and 15 minutes by bus.

For more info on Ryanair flights and destinations see www.ryanair.com
Air routes to France

I have in the past been somewhat dismissive of the city of Amiens (80 Somme, Picardie) largely because an enforced winter stay in the city when my car broke down, and also because I have a loathing of the concrete monstrosity that is the Tour Perret - because it is ugly and also because it overshadows the City’s main gem which is the imposing gothic cathedral of Notre Dame – both visible from the A16 autoroute which skirts the city between Paris and the Channel ports of Dover and Boulogne.

Trogneux Chocolate

However a recent visit (in summer) there were 2 other discoveries – firstly a superb Chocolatier at Jean Trogneux where delicious chocolate and biscuit creations are made, including the famous Macaroons of Amiens and wafer-thin biscuits called “Tuiles”.
Trogneux, 1 rue Delambre – Zone piétonne – BP 20823 – 80008 AMIENS

Amiens Tourist Office Website

The Somme is of course closely associated with the First World War and is littered with many war cemeteries and memorials. On this ocassion we headed for the Australianand New Zealand War Memorial at Villers-Brettoneux a few kilometres due east of Amiens. Visiting war cemeteries is inevitably a little sombre, but this one was striking. Although the memorial looked a but stumpy and monolithic from a distance, closer to, and within the context of the rest of the cemetery it was much more graceful. The place had a sense of peace and tranquility about it – and as an added bonus a climb to the top of the tower offers some stunning views over the landscape – and that too looks beautiful.

Strangely enough, more Australians and New Zealanders (ANZACs) were killed in France in WWI, but Gallipolli is more keenly remembered and commemorated with Anzac Day.

11,000 Australians and New Zealanders with no known grave are commemorated at Villers-Bretonneux – and the village is proud of its connection with Australia.

There is another memorial to British and Australian victims of WWI at Fromelles (59 Nord, Nord-Pas de Calais) just west of Lille.

See more on Villers-Bretonneux
Find the best rates for Hotels in Amiens

LD Lines has dropped its Dover-Dieppe ferry service from the end of June 2009.
Reportedly due to insufficient traffic, the ship used , the “Cote D’Albatre” will continue to run on the newer Dover-Boulogne service. But it is a shame that there is again less choice for crossing the channel – the Dieppe route at 4+ hours was probably doomed because it was neither a short-sea crossing like Dover-Calais, nor a longer western Channel “cruise”. Importantly it did not offer UK travellers an option for avoiding the dreaded M25 motorway, and competed against faster and shorter crossings from the same ferry port.

However, Dieppe was (and is) a pleasant and less-crowded destination and did provide a useful start point for western France – or for exploring Picardie and the Seine Valley. You can still get a ferry to Dieppe from Newhaven on Transmanche ferries (also part of LD  Lines) – the crossing takes about 4 hours, but Newhaven is not so well connected to the motorway network.

Find the best rates for Hotels in Dieppe
There is a webcam overlooking Dieppe harbour and a motorhome parking area at www.dieppe.fr/webcams

Amiens (80 Somme, Picardie) holds an annual “Marche sur l’eau” as part of its annual Festival – on 21 June 2009.
There are nearly 300 hectares of gardens right in the centre of the Amiens agglomeration criss-crossed by over 65 kilometres of waterways: Hortillonnages (canals in the local Picard language). This complex network of canals, ponds and parcels of land makes up a unique landscape which, when seen from the air looks like an irregular patchwork.
Once a year, in June, the market takes place like in the old days : market gardeners bring their fresh fruit and vegetables in their boats and sell from the quayside.

The Somme evokes images of World War I and battlefields, but it has much mroe to offer. The magnificent Gothic cathedral is well-worth seeing, although to my mind the Tour Perret is any ugly concrete monstrosity which detracts from the splendour of the nearby Cathedral.

Capital of the Picardy region, Amiens will surprise you with its mix of audacity, art and history! Notre-Dame d’Amiens, the Gothic Cathedral, is listed in UNESCO’s World Heritage and will amaze the visitors with its polychronic portals. Other treasures to discover are the first French Museum built to house the exhibition of Fine Arts, the first European skycraper designed by Perret and one of the first French belfries. Visitors can also enjoy a stroll down Amiens’s canal and waterborne markets before indulging in macaroons, ficelle picarde (savoury pancake) and gateau battu (sugared brioche).Do not wait any longer to discover the relaxing, medieval and pioneering Amiens!

“Amiens Cathedral in colour” takes place from 15 June to 19 September 2009:

The magical effect of coloured lighting on the façade of the cathedral provides visitors with an original view of medieval architecture.

For more info see www.visit-amiens.com/

Featured at the France Show was a fascinating display of images sponsored by the London College of Communication – University of the Arts London and Maison de la France representing the 22 French cities – which encouraged young photographers from the UK to take photos of French cities from a different perspective.

In April 2008, 22 students from the Photographic department were welcomed each in one of the 22 participating cities. The participants ranged in age between 20 and 35 years old, as well as originating from 15 different countries. Each student was given an “emotional passport” to express their own talent and sense and to capture the daily life of France. Their only requirement: let the dreams and emotions of the people and places be the guide!

The venues include Aix-en-Provence, Amiens, Angers, Avignon, Bordeaux, Dijon, Grenoble, Le Havre, Lille, Marseille, Metz, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Nimes, Reims. Rennes, Rouen, Toulouse and Versailles.

For more info see www.franceemotion.com/