By the Numbers
13,935 steps
10.38 kms
3 trains
I got up early enough that I needed to be on my first train
by 8am so that I could catch two other trains that would take me into Amiens. I
had some sandwiches from the supermarket that I had bought the night before as
I wanted to basically eat and run. I could have caught the earlier train, but
then I would have been waiting an hour. The onlyt thing I was worried about was
the train being late. On the way down stairs with my bags, I nearly came a
cropper and fell down the last step of all things. Luckily I had the support of
the rail or else it would have hurt. I was feeling sore from the ride the day
before too. I had three goes at unlocking the front door as it was one of those
keys you keep twisting all the way round to unlock. The first two times I
thought it was unlocked and went back up the stairs to put my key in the door.
In the end I left the key on the breakfast table.
The first stop after Ypres was the train from Kortrijk
around 40 mins up the road. Here I would catch the train to Lille, where I would
hop onto the train to Amiens. Easy as that and it was. Pulled into the station
and a train turned up onto the platform as it had one train going from platform
B and another from A. I was actually wondering what happens when the trains
arrive at the same time. Turns out they separate and I watched it happen in
awe. The steps do seem to be a bit high
from the platform so making sure you don’t tumble out of the carriage was
something that I had to do carefully. The conductor seen me and I told him how
cool that was. That train would take me all the way into Lille, where I had to
then go find my next train that would take me the rest of the way into Amiens.
Turns out that was the terminus of the line so I shouldn’t have to worry about
when to get off even though with my phone I had the time table up so I knew
when each stop was. The train to Amiens didn’t always let you know the stop.
Once I arrived in Amiens, I went hunting for the hotel as I
was staying nearby and check in would be at 12 which at the time was less than
an half an hour. By the time I got there, I was able to take my bags to the
room and I decided then, to have a nap for half hour or so. I think I needed
the rest or just an easy afternoon. I looked out the window and wasn’t sure if
it was going to rain or there would be just dark clouds hanging in the
distance. Deciding I wanted or I had to move and do something, I looked at the
train timetable online and that made me want to visit the station as I did not
think the timetable was correct. I wanted to be at the villers-Bretonneux station
earlier. Turns out there are no trains earlier than 9am and I kinda booked my
tour for 930am. I will see if there would be a problem turning up half hour
late. Not that it worries me, but I kept the ticket one way as the return I
could have for 2pm or the next one would be 6pm that night. I would say it
might be the later one. I had to choose the town with a limited train service
and the bus doesn’t seem to go there.
From the station, I took a walk towards the home of Jules
Verne an author who write Robinson Crusoe, 20,000 leagues under the sea and a
few others. I didn’t know the museum was partially the actual house he wrote
stories in. Turns out he did live in Amiens and was even councillor on the council
for a little while. The fun part was paying for the ticket and getting lost
when they start speaking French. Turns out they were asking which folder I was
after. They had an English guidebook to the house. That was really a folder
showing you where to visit certain parts of the house on each floor. It just wasn’t
that big, but I would say if you were a huge fan of what Jules actually did
then it would be well worth going to visit. Just down the road there was a
Jules Verne statue. It did seem he was involved with creating plays too as he
did seem to be involved with quite a few groups or organisations throughout his
life and he basically only lived in Amiens because his wife’s family lived
nearby. I thought that was pretty cool and there was a desk in one of the rooms
with letters from around the world. Once I left the house it had started
raining.
The last stop of the day was at the Amiens Cathedral. I was
happy that I had not gone for a long walk when it had started raining. The Cathedral
was built around the 1200 and is listed on the heritage register with UNESCO. I
had walked around the back of the church in the rain and decided that I wanted
to go inside as I was planning that anyway. There does seem to be a surmon
going on with bells and singing. I did find two monuments to Australian
soldiers and New Zealand as well, which were part of the people who helped
defend the area during the First World War. I stayed looking at the glass
stained windows and when the service finished, I was rewarded with hearing the
organ playing. I don’t think I had heard of playing in person before let alone
one in a cathedral of this side. The organ had been damaged during WW1 and was
reinstated in the cathedral around the 1930s, I think it was, so that was
something good that happened. There was plenty to see and be in awqe of the
space inside the cathedral
By this time it was getting late and I went to find a public
loo. One of the toilets listed took me for a hike, but it was 24 hour one that
never closed. I found it and it was closed as it was out of order. I turned
away to take a walk and around the other side of the building was another one.
This one was working. You wouldn’t think there would be issues around using the
toilet, but there was as I wondered why it was not working. I did walk back to
the hostel, but I did see a river on the map and I went to have a look. I had
forgotten that Amiens had canals and I got to see a canal boat from a distance.
There was a little swamp or part with ‘water’ features nearby and I thought
that meant time I returned to my room and try to understand Downton Abbey in
French. They were dubbed voices as it really did not sound like Maggie Smith I
did watch an old episode of Zorro in French.
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