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The Somme, rising near the source of the Escaut, north of
Saint-Quentin in the Aisne, flows nonchalantly for 245 kilometres
before running into the sea. It has cut a valley so wide that
it loses itself in the marshes and ponds, offering the walker
a variety of landscapes whose beauty he can only fully appreciate
from the edge of the plateau.
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The landscapes are endlessly changing:
reedbeds follow meadows, willows follow poplar groves,
marshes and ponds follow fields. In autumn, when the
light mists lift, there is an extravaganza of colour:
the greens, ochres, browns and russets of the foliage
and land create a magical setting for the vast stretches
of water, perfect mirrors of the sky.
On summer evenings, the valley breathes
its wild perfumes of mint and water. The silence is
broken only by the croaking of frogs and the occasional
birdsong.
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valley is a paradise for anglers and walkers. The natural
or man-made ponds provide shade on the hottest of summer
days. Those in the Upper Somme abound in fish, perch,
pike and eels. The sunken lanes follow the maze of the
branches of the river and the marshes. At various points,
the small winding roads climb onto the edges of the plateau,
from where you can see the filigree of waterways and the
patchwork of meadows, marshes and copses. |
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| Villages
stretch out along the valley or cling onto the chalk slope.
Péronne,
Amiens
and Abbeville
are "bridge towns", whose history is inextricably
linked to the river. On the hills, like at Picquigny,
the towers of the fortified castles remind us of the times
when the Somme was the frontier of the kingdom of France.
Much more peaceful are the Flamboyant Gothic church steeples,
or the XVIIIth century brick and stone castles, which
can be seen at every bend in the path. At Samara,
the valley reveals its 600,000 years of history. |
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The
Somme Bay
The Somme Bay, the largest estuary in Northern
France, is delightful: for centuries its light and landscapes
have inspired painters and poets and have earned it the right
to be classified as one of the most beautiful bays in the
world.
Itineraries
and walks in the valley
The
Hortillonnages (Marshes used for market gardening)
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