To Saint-Valery-sur-Somme - Three Seasons Around France: Spring - CycleBlaze

June 9, 2022

To Saint-Valery-sur-Somme

To the sea!  After all these years, it still thrills me to bike to the coastline after a long absence from it.  We haven’t seen saltwater since leaving Gruissan over two months ago.

We’ve enjoyed the scale and location of our spacious split level apartment, but we’re happy and relieved to be leaving it after three nights here.  We feel like we’ve done well to avoid breaking our necks tumbling down the steep stairs to the bedroom or falling face first on the hard to see sudden slope in the hallway outside our door.  Stay any longer and we’d be pushing our luck and maybe letting our attention lapse out of familiarity and routine.

And I won’t miss those 64 stairs from street level to the apartment.  I carried both bikes down the stairs this morning because I clearly owe Rachael at least one; but at the end of the day my thighs are tight and sore when we walk around town after dinner.

Leaving Amiens.
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We left our apartment about 10 and started biking northwest to the coast, about 40 miles downriver more or less following the Somme the whole way.   There’s a cycle route that is several miles longer and stays closer by the river but has substantial stretches marked as unpaved, but we’re just not into that idea today.  Instead we stick to the pavement the whole way, taking the most direct route that avoids major highways.  Not the most interesting choice probably but it felt like the right one on a day with significant headwinds and an interesting destination we’d like to have time and energy for at the end.

After about ten miles of an urban ribbon of Amiens and it’s suburbs it finally feels like we’re out in the country again. It’s a quiet ride the rest of the way to Saint-Valery.
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Rocky and a cob house. Also, this is my opportunity to show off that I know what cob is, a building material used in the past in northwest France and Britain. Cob (also known as Cobb, clom, adobe, etc.) is a natural building material made from subsoil, water, fibrous organic material (straw, animal manure), and sometimes clay, sand or lime.
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Con structure and cow.
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Here’s an annoyance. It’s our host in Amiens asking about the keys. After several text exchanges it sounds like we left them in the wrong mailbox by mistake, he’s not too pleased about it, but there’s nothing to be done. C’est dommage.
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Another flax field, which we’re seeing more often near the coast.
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No bathing or fishing in Nonnains Creek.
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In Hangest-sur-Somme, maybe. They were especially careful with their children here, placing the town hall between the boys and girls school. Smart! Also, a selfie.
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Jen RahnI love these self-as-part-of-a-scene selfies!
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2 years ago

We’ve booked ourselves into an apartment in Saint-Valerie-sur-Somme. We arrive about 2:30 and bike to the location I have mapped, but can’t find it.  Rachael pulls up the reservation and we’re surprised to see that even though it names the street (which we’re on correctly) there is no address number.  I look at all the house fronts in this block hoping to find a doorbell with our apartment’s name (L’Anse Noire, in case you find this place enticing), but to no avail.  So Rachael pulls up Booking and finds a photo of it.  We’re standing right by it now, we can see by the symbol on the wall next to the door. 

We found our quarters in Hotel Ami cramped back in Paris, but this apartment, complete with a kitchen and dining area, sets a new stand andand for compactness.  It’s like a tiny house.

Our apartment is the grey structure on the left. It’s even smaller than the garage next to it.
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Have to stand outside on the street to get far enough back to get a photo of the interior. We can see about half of the ground floor here. The small bathroom is just to the right of the door, and the also very small kitchen is just to Rachael’s right. We had to rearrange the furniture and shove the couch against the far wall to make enough space for the bicycles.
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It’s a two level structure, with the bed up in the loft stuck under the slopes ceiling. Rachael has to crawl across the bed to get to her side because the ceiling is so low on her side.
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Saint-Valerie-Sur-Somme is on the south side of Baie du Somme (the Bay of Somme), the large estuary at the mouth of the Somme.  One of the designated Grand Sites of France, it’s the largest estuary in northern France and an important ecological habitat as well as a major tourism destination.  Susan has been bending our ear about this place which she’s stayed at before, and it’s easy to see why.  The na rural environment is captivating, as is the town itself.  It’s a place that would reward a longer stay than we’re giving it, and it feels like a place that would be one you’d enjoy in every season and in different conditions.  We may be back.

One of the quiet back streets in Saint-Valery-sur-Somme.
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In Saint-Valery-sur-Somme.
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The view across the town and bay from a viewpoint.
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The bay, and some of the salt marsh lambs that feed on it. These lambs are certified with an AOP designation and are required to spend the majority of their lives grazing on these marshes. In front is a walking group taking advantage of low tide.
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Susan CarpenterAmazing to see the bay in the spring - so green and filled with grazing lambs. Quite a contrast to when I visited last fall
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2 years ago
Looking across the bay to Le Crotoy on the opposite side. It is possible to walk across the mouth of the bay between these two towns at low tide under the leadership of an experienced guide, something Susan Carpenter did in her stay here..
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An islet in the Somme, one that I imagine disappears at high tide. I’m sure this is a fascinating environment to observe over time as it visibly changes with the tides, the weather and the seasons.
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Song thrush, its bill soiled from grubbing in the dirt.
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The Nevers Gare, the entrance to the Cité Médiévale.
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The Nevers Gate and the south wall of the Saint-Martin church.
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Saint Martin Church, consecrated in 1500 after its predecessor was destroyed by fire.
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The walls of Saint-Martin church are built of shingle and flint in a checkerboard pattern.
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The gargoyles look especially dramatic against the checkerboard background.
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In the Cité Médiévale.
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Walking back to the commercial center to meet Rachael for dinner.
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After dinner the two of us went through a second walk through town, walking up to the vista point and then the medieval city again.
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The view from above the town. Compare it against the photo taken from here earlier this afternoon and notice how much more land is under water now.
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The Somme, at high tide. When I walked along the waterfront a few hours earlier this and other boats were beached on the sand, far from the water
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Walking back to our apartment before sundown. The water is moving upriver audibly and rapidly as the tide comes in.
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Ride stats today: 38 miles, 1,200’; for the tour: 2,534 miles, 120,200’

Today's ride: 38 miles (61 km)
Total: 2,562 miles (4,123 km)

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Carolyn van HoeveHey Scott did you happen to get my email I sent a week or so ago?
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2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Carolyn van HoeveOh! Yes, I’d id remembered to watch for it. Sorry. I’ll get back to you soon.
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2 years ago