Monday, April 27, 2026
End: Camp César de Tirancourt
Kilometers: 25.1
Total: 161.8
We woke up and packed up our stuff, to find that a fisherman was already hard at work watching his rod not far away. They do get up very early to fish around here.
We started our hike, and all the talk was about Amiens. How close was it, what we would see there. We started seeing more and more people the closer we got.
Our hike along the canal led us to the famous Hortillonages, where houses are spread over a network of tiny canals, and small barges can navigate the area. We hiked on past, as the city became visible into her distance.
Soon we were into downtown Amiens, and we made our way to the huge cathedral. Alex and Daniel stayed in the park while Miriam and I did some chores.
We picked up some spray from the pharmacy, then went to the shoe store. Miriam’s feet had been hurting because of her shoes, and Alex has switched shoes with her, but the shoes didn’t fit Alex either. Miriam picked out a pair of shoes that were big enough for her at the store.
After that, I took her over to see the house of Jules Verne. She hadn’t read his books yet, but we had watched the old Kurt Douglas film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, so she knew that story.
From there, we went to pick up lunch at McDonald’s, and we’re back at the park so that the others could eat. I left them there and went to find groceries.
Before that, I had to see the cathedral. The inside was magnificent. Huge spaces up above, filled with intricate art, be it stained glass or sculptures. The building is huge, and it took some time to look at everything.
Then, I went and got groceries, and came back to the park. I sent the others to check out the cathedral, then we resumed our hike.
On our way out of the city, we saw the Saint-Leu neighborhood, which was pretty. It took awhile after that, but we exited thr city and hiked onto a big island to the west. I took Alex’s backpack and carried it for awhile, concerned about her ankle.
The hike on the island was something different, going into the forest along the edge of the water. We even saw a bat.
Hiking on in the heat, we eventually crossed North of the canal. Our feet were hurting, but I was determined that we would push on. I suggested that if we hiked a lot over the next few days, we might actually finish on Wednesday. As I later calculated, this was a but too ambitious for us, but it was good motivation in the moment.
We took a break in Saint-Sauveur, and prepared ourselves to hike on for an hour or more until we would camp. It was hard work keeping everyone motivated, but Daniel did a good job. I carried the two big packs, Alex carried Daniel’s pack, and Daniek carried Miriam’s pack, to give her a break.
When we finally made it to an old entrance to a Roman fortified settlement, called Camp César, we stopped there and set up our tent up on top of the old earthen wall. It was a great reward for a long day, in and out of the biggest city in Picardy, Amiens.
