Day trip to Amiens, France

Wanting to see more of France than only Paris, I joined a day trip to Amiens. Before coming to Paris, it was also an option for me to go there for my Erasmus and now I wanted to know how it was there. Amiens is located north of Paris in the region of Hauts-de-France and is also called Petite Venice, which means little Venice, because of the many canals in one quarter of the city. It is especially known for its big Christmas market, which is said to be two kilometres long.

We went there by our own chartered bus. The trip started at nine o’clock and it took us two hours to get there. I immediately liked the city. It is a small but beautiful city with coloured houses, a lot of canals and many small streets with a lot of charm. I fell in love with the city on first sight.

What to do in Amiens

First, we visited the Marché sur l’Eau, which means the market on the water. It is not really on water, but it is called like that as it is directly at the canals. It was a small market, where you can buy all kind of food and beverages from the region.

Next attraction was the cathedral Notre Dame d’Amiens, which has the double volume of the Notre Dame de Paris. It is really impressive! Apart from that, she is pretty similar to the one from Paris, from the outside and the inside. In the middle of the cathedral is a space, where no chairs are. There you can see a labyrinth on the floor, which leads to the centre. You have to go through the labyrinth and follow the black line to get to the centre, which stands for the paradise. So, of course, every person stands in line to do it and you can see all of them balancing on the lines.

After that, we went for lunch. I separated from the others and went on search for something to eat with my friend and my little sister, who is vegan, which makes finding food in France a bit complicated. We ended up, in an Italian restaurant, where she could at least eat French Fries and a salad. Then, we continued to discover the small city. It has really nice places and small streets and many statues about important people that we didn’t know. We even found the Galéries Lafayette and had to enter to compare it with Paris. The topic for the decoration and the decorations were the same as in Paris, but it was a lot smaller and a lot less grandiose. Only the controlling at the doors was as strict as in Paris! “Please, take off your jacket and open your bags…”

We met back with our group and started the stroll over the Christmas market. You could find all kind of regional products there, but also a lot if international things. A lot of Christmas decorations, jewellery, art stuff, toys for children and adults, clothes, but mostly sweets and hot drinks. We bought some Croustillons, which are sweets with chocolate, and hot cider, which I love. It was so delicious and it warmed from the inside. That was really necessary, because it was freezing cold.

Lastly, we went to the house of Jules Verne. I hope everyone knows Jules Verne, who is the author of “Around the world in 80 days”, “Journey to the centre of the earth”, "Twenty thousand leagues under the sea” and many more. If you don’t know him, you didn’t have a good childhood. After his many travels and long life in Paris, he bought a house in Amiens. After his death, the name of the street was changed to his honour and his house is now a museum. Some parts represent his life with his wife and children and some parts are dedicated to his work. The attic for example, is constructed as cabin in a ship and in another room, you can see all his inventions from his books. You will be handed a book with explanations and can read more about the things that you are interested in. It was really interesting and well done. I loved the house, it was really authentic with the tower and the furniture, it was my highlight on this day. It was absolutely worth it. I bought some beautifully designed books as a souvenir.

To close up the journey we walked around the city, completely lighted up with its Christmas decorations and bought some more souvenirs. On the way back home, we all slept in the bus. We were so tired, after walking all day long.

My conclusion about the city is: it is a very nice city, worth of being visited. But, I am happy that I decided to do my Erasmus in Paris, because Amiens is very small and I imagine being bored after some weeks, when you know already every corner of the city. In Paris, I always find places that I didn’t know before and that not even on purpose, but by chance.

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