Page 144 - Off the Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 1 of 2)

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ARCHITECTURAL MARVELS

Notre-Dame

d’Amiens ABOVE The facade of Notre-Dame de Paris

FORGET NOTREDAME
vs Notre-Dame de Paris DE PARIS?

THE BUILD-UP England’s Henry IV was
crowned, Napoléon declared himself Emperor,
The queen of Gothic religious architecture is not the Parisian cathedral that Hugo’s and Joan of Arc was canonized in Notre-Dame
hunchback called home, but another grande dame in unassuming little Picardy de Paris. It has an impeccable architectural as
well as historical pedigree, wonderfully creepy
gargoyles, a near-perfect setting on an island in
the Seine, and an iconic supporting role in
marble road to God, is laid into the floor of the movie and literary history.
NEED TO KNOW
cathedral. The idea of it is that, as in life, believers
LOCATION Amiens is in 6/*5&% -JMMF
,*/(%0. negotiate their way, straying from and returning to THE LETDOWN The expectation, gleaned from
the Picardy region, 80 miles
".*&/4 photos, films, books, and your imagination, set
(130 km) north of Paris the true path, until they reach the righteous center.
1BSJT 4USBTCPVSH against the hordes of camera-wielding tourists,
VISITORS PER YEAR While the interior of Amiens is strikingly simple,
800,000 buskers, and street vendors, can be hard to
'3"/$& the exterior is embellishment gone into overdrive,
48*5;&3-"/%
WEATHER Summer is with three portals celebrating biblical figures – reconcile. And – there’s no Quasimodo!
usually warm, and spring #BZ PG -ZPO *5"-:
#JTDBZ
and fall mild with chilly #PSEFBVY saints, apostles, magi, and angels. Christ (le Beau GOING ANYWAY? Notre-Dame de Paris is
nights. Winters are cold and .BSTFJMMF Dieu) reigns in the center, while St Firmin, the first
damp, but rainfall may occur open every day of the year, and it’s free. Get
any time of year .FEJUFSSBOFBO bishop of Amiens, occupies the left portal, and the there early to avoid the crowds. For spectacular
41"*/ 4FB
Virgin Mary (la Vierge Dorée) is in residence in the Paris views and an up-close gargoyle encounter,
right. Above them are 22 stony, life-size kings, you can ascend one of the towers. Entrance is
The iconic cathedral of Notre-Dame in central Paris stretching across the entire facade beneath the outside the cathedral on the left. There are visits
has welcomed pilgrims and visitors through its 16th-century rose window. Every element of the from 10am daily, for which there’s an entry fee.
ornate portals for hundreds of years, drawn here by carving is of the highest craftsmanship.
its dazzling rose windows, elegant flying buttresses A laser cleaning of the facade in the 1990s
and menacing gargoyles, as well as by its deep revealed traces of the polychromatic paint that had
religious sigificance. But, not far to the north of the once enlivened its 13th-century statues, helping
capital, towering over a city at the heart of the them act as a visual bible to illiterate pilgrims.
Somme in Picardy, lies another strong contender Today, in the summer and at Christmas, laser
for the title of most outstanding Gothic church: the illuminations replicate the breathtaking effect on
cathedral of Notre-Dame d’Amiens. France’s Gothic cathedral par excellence.
France’s largest and tallest cathedral, Notre-
Dame d’Amiens dominates the skyline of the city, PRACTICAL INFORMATION
and has been hailed as a Gothic masterpiece by
UNESCO, who awarded it World Heritage status Getting There and Around Where to Stay
in 1981. It was built between 1220 and 1270, to The cathedral is in the heart of The Mercure Amiens Cathédrale
Amiens, which is just over an (www.mercure.com) has stylish
house the alleged skull of St John the Baptist,
hour by car from Paris via the modern rooms, reserved parking,
brought back from Constantinople after the A16, A29 and A1. Regular trains and is very close to the cathedral
Fourth Crusade by Wallon de Sarton, Canon of run from Paris (1 hr 30 mins), and the Quartier St-Leu.
nearby Picquigny. or the TGV Haute-Picardie station When to Go
Boasting a 138-ft- (42-m-) high ceiling, an is 45 mins by bus from Amiens. The illuminations are after dark,
Use buses or the self-service bike
enormous nave, four aisles, and many radiating mid-Jun–Sep and in Dec, when
network, Vélam, to get around.
chapels, the cathedral is intensely luminous inside, there is also a superb Christmas
Where to Eat market. Gregorian chanting takes
making its counterpart in Paris look rather sombre. Le Quai (www.restaurant-le- place each Sun at 10:15am.
As a result, the array of statuary contained within quai.com) on the waterside in
Budget per Day for Two
its walls, such as the Stone Encyclopedia of the Bible the historic Quartier St-Leu, Around US$150 including meals
and the much-loved Angel of Sorrow, as well as the serves seafood fresh from the
Picardy coast and vegetables and accommodations.
16th-century carved choir stalls and Flamboyant
grown in the Hortillonnages, the Website
Gothic screen, are bathed in light. A sacred labyrinth nearby “floating” market gardens. www.visit-amiens.com
of 1288, in effect, an intricate black-and-white

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