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Tom
& Judy's European Trip |
Paris/Picardie
Page Four
| Primal Scream
Judy doesn't like maps. It is not that she can't use them as the
tool that they are. It is just that she is not comfortable in their
presence. She prefers that I do the driving and the navigating at
the same time. And I don't mind 99.9% of the time. But
sometimes she is called upon. Like in the heart of large foreign
cities when we rent a car for some really independent travel. Such
was the case that Monday as we picked up a rental at Gare St. Lazare for
our journey to Amiens in Picardie.
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We doubled back to the hotel to pick up our bags and settled in for an
easy shot north. It was to be a right turn at Trinite and then straight to Port San
Ouen and get on the Peripherique and then north on the A-1. Piece of cake.
Except that the bus driver at Trinite hadn't been told and he pulled out
in front of us and shut down the right turn option and forced us straight
ahead.
The concept of a block - a four sided area surrounded by streets - is
foreign to Europeans. Thus it is not a simple matter of 2 rights to
get yourself back to the street you wanted. No, now it becomes a
journey with a capital J. Judy did well in the right hand seat, no
mistakes, but I got the sense that she would have preferred to apply a vise grip
to her big toe rather than be the navigator. As we entered the
Peripherique she unleashed a primal scream of relief.
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Somewhere in the 9th Arrondisment |
| Within 2 miles I misread a sign and proceeded
to drive through the back roads of the industrial zone between St Denis
and Charles de Gaulle. A thirty minute detour of zero value. |
Brick colored stain
North of Charles de Gaulle, past Parc Asterix, beyond Senlis and
Chantilly lies the Department of Picardie and a countryside most handsome.
Open, heavily cultivated fields dotted with villages and an occasional wood are
very easy on the eye. As is the norm in Germany and France, the farmhouses
and buildings are clustered together in villages and the countryside is barren
of structures between these little communes. Gently rolling, the area is a
plateau cut by the occasional stream and by the large westerly flowing River
Somme. The Somme cuts a deeper passage here and the landscape takes on a
more dramatic tone. Just north of the river we depart the A-1 and proceed
northwesterly on small more leisurely routes. And it is here that one
notices some unusual landscapes - like a brick colored stain on the ground
covering 3 to 5 acres.
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In fact that brick colored stain used to be a village.
Used to be. Prior to 1916. For now you have entered most
hollowed ground. You are now on the Battlefield of the Somme.
And the hundreds of small French, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cemeteries
attest to the intensity of the struggle here. (It has been estimated
that between 10 and 12 million artillery shells were fired here.) |
Stalemate and Slaughter
1916 was the third summer of The War to End All Wars and it was
a year of Stalemate and Slaughter. As the invaded parties, it was incumbent
on the British and French allies to pursue an aggressive policy and drive the
German invaders from French soil. The Germans could simply sit back and
wait for the inevitable assault. They chose not to. In February they
launched a sustained attack against the French at Verdun in eastern France that
consumed nearly 1,000,000 casualties before it ground to a halt 10 months later
in November.
The French hoped for more British aid and it finally arrived in
the form of the Somme offensive of July 1, 1916. Hundreds of thousands of
troops "went over the top" at 6 am and many walked into
eternity. 60,000 casualties that day on the British side. "The
Butchers Bill" as the Brits are wont to call it. Carnage on an
industrial scale: 21,000 dead, 35,000 wounded, 4,000 missing in the mud or as prisoners.
The worst day ever (before or since) for the British military. But since
the French had endured the bottomless pit of Verdun the British wouldn't
consider calling off the attack. On and on it went - until the November
cold - until another 900,000 casualties, from all participants, were added to
the Bill. Madness! At the end of it, the line had been pushed back
an average of 5 miles.
| And the Germans died too. Stood and died
for fatherland and Kaiser. And by happenstance, our first stop, near
Fricourt, was a German military cemetery. (photo right)
Strange, there were dozens of Jewish headstones there.
The British have an impressive museum and monument at Thiepval.
Paying honor to their own who hammered at the German line here for
months. We left a message in the guest book in honor of all soldiers
everywhere.
The Canadians honor their own at Beaumont-Hamel, especially the
900 man Newfoundland Regiment where 70 men answered the roll at sunset
that day. This site also has the most extensive trench remains in
the area and visitors are encouraged to explore the area.
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The Germans mounted a large scale attack in the same area in
March 1918 that achieved impressive success for a month. Then their
army and the nation simply ran out of gas so to speak. The Allies pushed
them out by Autumn. They sued for peace. It was over. The
French Army War Diary carries only a one word notation for November 11,
1918. "Victoirie"
Weeping Angel
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During the war, tens of thousands of postcards of the
"Weeping Angel" were mailed from here to points around the
world.
The statue resides in the Cathedral at Amiens
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| La Cathedrale d'Amiens
An absolute masterpiece of Gothic architecture and engineering, this
church has the highest ceiling of any complete cathedral (143 feet).
(Beauvais has a taller choir ceiling but the rest of the building
collapsed). It is also noted for its splendid floor designs.
More photos and explanations can be found on this fine website.
http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/Mcahweb/index-frame.html
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La cathedrale en couleurs During the
summer months and Christmas time a special light show illuminates the west
entrance with the original colors of the stone. The statues
and accents were polychromed in the Middle Ages but in most cases the
colors have vanished. Some stones still retain their original color
here and at other churches. And many written descriptions still
survive from that time that describe the vivid colors. Thus the
presentation is deemed to be very accurate. Not shown during our
visit it is a must see for us when we return some summer. For
more info and photos in French click here |
Les
petits et le labyrinthe
Here we see a number of youngsters walking the 234 yard long
labyrinth that is laid out in the center of the nave. Encouraged by their
teachers on this class visit, they are following the black stones in a line that
represents the journey of the pilgrims to either the Holy Land, Rome, or more
likely, to Santiago de Compostella on the northwest coast of Spain. (Patterned
after the labyrinth at Chartres, this one is kept clear so that visitors may
follow the line, while at Chartres it is covered with chairs except for Fridays
because the Bishop was tired of unruly children and bigger visitors creating a
disturbance).
Pilgrimages were big business in the Middle Ages, both
spiritually and economically. Most French churches on the 4 main routes to
Santiago were constructed on a plan that maximized the flow through of the
visitors while minimizing the disruptions. Most historians agree that
about one million pilgrims made the journey to Santiago each year in the
12th century. There are numerous copies of a guide book written at that
time. The four routes started at Paris, Vezelay, Le Puy en Valey and
Arles.
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For The Da Vinci Code
fans:
The principal shrine for Mary Magdalene
in France is the Basilique
at Vezelay. It was NOT mentioned in the Book. |
As with all French churches, the iconographic program is
organized with the Old Testament figures in the dark north side of the building,
the New Testament is showcased on the Sunny southern side and Christ and
ancestors often on the west front. Many churches place a major piece of
sculpture as a tympanum over the main portal: often the Last Judgment or Christ
in Majesty.
One of the best websites
devoted to tympanum sculpture is this one with photos of The Last Judgment at St.
Foy in Conques. Here they even talk about the dastardly deeds
of the Bishop.
| Mauvais Garcon
One teacher asked that her class inquire of the visitors within the
Cathedral why they were here. The young man to the right with the
spit-in-your-eye bravado was a pure treat.
He approached with a determination, and without hesitation he
said, "Pourquoi que-ce que vous ici?" il demande.
"Je suis un touriste." I replied.
At which point his French went far beyond my comprehension, Fortunately
I was saved by Jean-Pierre and his teacher and the question was
answered. But on the side this youngster and I bonded.
Probably reminded me of me so many years ago. |
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This is Paris/Picardie
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