La Baie de Somme and frogs

I've visited La Baie de Somme motorway aire on a number of occasions to drink a coffee and relax for half an hour and buy a newspaper, etc. although in the summer it fills rapidly with English tourists and is a less than pleasant place to stop off at. However, we visited today on the way to Honfleur and, although English tourists were still there, they were far outnumbered by the French people there. I took advantage of the moment to photograph the porcelain frogs in the outside children's area. Unfortunately the belvedere with the commanding view was closed until 1 April.

Albertine Sarrazin in Doullens, Somme (80)

In 1957 Albertine Sarrazin  – who would later briefly become a bestselling author – famously (or should that be infamously?) jumped  from a wall  to escape from La Citadelle, Doullens, where she was a prisoner. I've written about her biography below, and also her first novel L'Astragale (Astragal in English), which begins with her talking about her broken astragal, a bone in the ankle. She was relatively lucky: another inmate later leapt over the wall and broke both her arms and legs.

My Albertine Sarrazin posts:
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Albertine Sarrazin: La Cavale | Runaway
Jacques Layani: Albertine Sarrazin : une vie
Albertine Sarrazin: L'Astragale | Astragal
Albertine Sarrazin in Doullens, Somme

Saint-Leu, Amiens, Somme (80)

There are many beautiful houses in Amiens, particularly in and around the Saint-Leu area. Here, they are slender, tall, Dutch-style houses, many of them family dwellings, a few rented out as holiday homes, and a some like this splendid ancient house in need of vital attention. This is a lovely town.

Marcel Sueur in Amiens, Somme (80)

 

Built in 1901, this house of monumental mason Marcel Sueur is on Rue Saint Maurice, opposite the Cimetière de la Madeleine. This was also Sueur's workshop. The sculpture in the centre is by Valentin Molliens (1868–1937) from Longpré-les-Amiens, and is a representation of Sueur's wife Andrée (née Largemain).

René Goblet in Amiens, Somme (80)

René Goblet (1828–1905) was a journalist and politician. In 1869, with Frédéric Petit and Jules Lardière, he founded the radical republican journal Le Progrès de la Somme. For a short time, between 1888 and 1889, he was minister for foreign affairs in Charles Floquet's government. This monument is dedicated to Goblet, is called La Conscience, and is sculpted by Jacques Perrin.

René Goblet's grave in the Cimetière de la Madeleine, Amiens.

Charles Dallery in Amiens, Somme (80)

Le square Montplaisir, Amiens. Charles Dallery (1754–1835), born in Amiens, was essentially an inventor of things mechanical. The son of an organ maker, he followed in his father's footsteps by making organs himself and repaired the organs for Amien's Notre-Dame cathedral. He also made high precision clocks and improved the functioning of the harp, although he wasn't recognised for it.

In 1780 he invented a steam machine with a tubular boiler. In 1803 he took out a patent as the first person to use a propellor on a steam ship.

However, his attempts to introduce a windmill with horizontally turning sails, according to his Wikipédia entry, resulted in him being nicknamed 'moulin de la folie', and the 'mad' and obviously severely wounded Dallery leaving Amiens for good. Dallery died in Jouy-en-Josas, where he is buried.

Jules Verne in Amiens (80) (continued)

The Boulevard Jules Verne about a kilometre south of the centre of Amiens was once called the Boulevard Longueville. At number 44 was Verne's other house, and as the plaque below states, this is where he died. It also says he lived here for fourteen years.

'JULES VERNE

VÉCUT 14 ANS

DANS CETTE MAISON

IL Y MOURUT

LE 24 MARS 1905'

Not far from Jules Verne's museum is this monument: a bust of Verne with children at the base reading his Voyages extraordinaires. It was sculpted in 1908 by Albert Roze a year after he enhanced Verne's tomb so extravagantly.

A number of Verne's works are engraved on the other side of the statue, plus a globe.

La Maison de Jules Verne in Amiens (80), Somme (80)

One of the relatively few Maisons des Illustres, of which Jules Verne's house in rue Charles-Dubois, Amiens, is one. It is a wonderful experience, and 'experience' is the word I prefer to use rather than 'visit', as this is a little beyond the normal author's house visit – as you might expect from such a character as Verne. My purpose is to give an impression through images, as opposed to showing an image and commenting on it, although I shall certainly do so where necessary. Amiens is very much Jules Verne, but this is purely my impression of his house.

François Schuiten added the sphère armillaire (or armillary sphere) to the tower in 2005, and the re-opening of the house was in the following year. The tromphe-l'oeil fresco is also his work:

On the ground floor, a bust by J. Szarwak made in about 1900.

The dining room.

The salon, with portraits of Verne and his wife Honorine.

The first floor is largely devoted to Verne's publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel.

Verne was a great lover of sailing, and this part of the second floor highlights this.

Verne's library and place of work.

Nellie Bly (whose grave I visited in NYC) is also included in the loft here.

A representation of Jules Verne on his deathbed.

A death mask of Verne.

From the top to the bottom of the staircase. A wonderful place.