Day 4: Amiens, the "Little Venise" of the North

Today was a wonderful day! We met early at the train station in Montdidier and caught the 8:24am train to Amiens. Once there, we joined Madame Dangreville, Madame Worster, and Monsieur and Madame Tarter with their students from Southmoore and Moore High. Our mission: Spend the entire day exploring Amiens!

One of the French students who came to Oklahoma for two weeks in October 2011 and who was Caroline's host sister, Colette Duchâteau, joined our group as a birthday surprise for Caroline. Joyeux anniversaire, Caroline!

Our day of discovery began at Les Hortillonnages, beautiful gardens in Amiens that you access by boat because they are really a collection of islets on which people grow flowers, plants, and food crops. There are also some quaint cottages where people who own the gardens can stay when they come to work in their gardens. The boat tours last about 45 minutes and meander all through the gardens. These waterways explain why Amiens is known as the "Venice of the North".

After visiting Les Hortillonnages, we walked over to an older section of Amiens where there are nice shops, cafés, bistros, and interesting older homes:

Madame Worster, Madame Dangreville, Madame Tarter and Monsieur Tarter in the St. Leu Quarter near the Amiens cathedral.

Madame Hamard, Madame Worster, and Madame Dangreville enjoying some graffiti in the St. Leu Quarter.

 

We had lunch at a restaurant called Tante Jeanne near the St. Leu Quarter. 

After lunch, we had a guided tour of the Amiens cathedral.

This is the façade of the cathedral, Notre Dame d'Amiens, with its three porticos (and Austin and Katie hamming it up).

And Carly found the "man of her dreams". (He had her as soon as she saw the socks.)

The exterior of the cathedral has been entirely cleaned and restored. In the summer months, they project lights onto the cathedral so it appears in the bright colors that used to be painted on it in the Middle Ages (they were washed off in the 16th century when artistic tastes changed during the Renaissance). Here's a cool video that shows the cathedral today and what the cathedral looks like during the summer illumination show.

Our visit of the cathedral began with a climb up some 400 steps to the top of the cathedral towers:

Jacob from Westmoore with Tyler from Moore High

 

Once thr group made it to the top, they had spectacular views of Amiens

This is a view of the flying buttresses that made it possible for medieval masons to construct the incredibly high towers and vaulted ceilings of up to 40 meters.

After we came down from the towers, we had a tour guide (who was himself only a sophomore in high school, but quite an expert on all things related to the cathedral) to explain the history and important facts about this cathedral, the largest of all the Gothic cathedrals. Our guide is on the far left in this picture (above).

Here are some beautiful pictures of the interior of the cathedral:

     

Some of the sculptures inside are from the Middle Ages, but most are from the Renaissance or Baroque eras. On the left is the story of the beheading of John the Baptist. The other two statues are in honor of great bishops of the church.

The prize attraction inside the cathedral is the mummified head of John the Baptist brought back to Amiens from Constantinople at the time of the Crusades. It was an object of veneration and it brought many pilgrims to Amiens throughout the centuries, which was good for the local economy. Today these are still very holy relics of the Catholic church.

The floor of the cathedral is in black and white stone. Throughout the cathedral, there are some marking the graves of previous bishops of Amiens who are buried there, such as this one from May 8, 1773:

There is also a massive labyrinth on the floor, about 30 meters wide. If one walks the labyrinth entering from the bottom and following the black stone, it become a mediation walk for praying the liturgy of the hours. At the end, one ends up in the center. These two pictures are of a tile recreation of the labyrinth and of the actual center piece of the labyrinth. It was impossible to get a picture of the labyrinth because chairs were set up in the church for services:

Students with teachers looking up to the highest points inside the cathedral.

For a bit of cultural perspective, just outside the cathedral, here's a poster for the French Union for Students (high school and university students) calling for equal access to quality education: