Visits, monuments... in the Somme Bay

Abbeville

Located in a very scenic district, Abbeville is the capital of Ponthieu and is a major location for fishing, game hunting and sporting activities.  It offers a choice of many hotels and restaurants, and its tourist attractions include the Boucher de Perthes Museum, the Collegiate Church of St. Vulfran, the churches of St. Sepulchre and St. Sulfran, the Bagatelle Folly and the Parc d’Emonville.

Worth seeing

The Collegiate Church of St. Sulfran
Even though incomplete, this is one of the most remarkable monuments to the Flamboyant Gothic style and fits very harmoniously with its central Renaissance portal.

The Boucher de Perthes Museum
This former belfry was built in 1209 by the burghers of Abbeville, with the authorisation of the Comte de Ponthieu. The adjoining treasury dates from the 15th Century. The belfry was partially destroyed in 1940 and received a new frame in 1985.  Classed as a Historic Monument, it has housed the new Boucher de Perthes Museum since 1954.

The château and gardens of Bagatelle
Behind a wall just outside Abbeville lies the beautiful Château of Bagatelle, built of a combination of brick and stone. The Château of Bagatelle – a ‘folly’ of the 18th Century – was built by Abraham Van Robais.

The 16th Century house
A multi-storey corbelled house in the corner of Place du Pilori. On one corner of the house is a sculpture representing a pilgrim of Santiago de Compostela. 

Saint Valery sur Somme

Built on the crest of a hill overlooking the magnificent estuary of the ‘Somme Bay’, a member of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World club, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme has a thousand picturesque locations all its own. The masters of Romanticism and numerous authors have praised the beauties of Saint-Valery –  a mediaeval city, a city of sailors, and a city with a peaceful charm.

Worth seeing

The Curiosities 
The town, which has retained some of its fortifications to this day, keeps a record of certain historical facts in The Curiosities, which are located at the two gates of the town.

Le Courtgain, the sailors’ quarter
The houses in the sailors’ quarter are very picturesque, small and tightly grouped together. Formerly, when conditions were hard, one family lived in every household. Nowadays owners purchase several houses together to serve as their home. A narrow track leads to the Sailors’ Calvary, which offers a beautiful view across the Bay.

Chapel of St. Pierre 
The Chapel of St. Pierre was built in 1723.  The sailors of La Ferté wanted more autonomy from the upper town. For a century, they sought to have their own church built.  They even petitioned the Pope, who granted their request. Today, the Chapel of St. Pierre has been converted to a venue for art exhibitions from April to September: paintings, sculptures, watercolours etc.

Saint Riquier

Located a few kilometres from Abbeville and close to the tourist sites of the Somme Bay and the Opale Coast, Saint-Riquier is one of the most prestigious and interesting sites in the department of the Somme, where history and architecture blend seamlessly together.
With only 1200 inhabitants, Saint-Riquier is an attractive village marked by the imposing presence of its Flamboyant Gothic Abbey-Church from the 13th-16th Centuries, its restored 19th Century Abbey, its 16th Century Belfry, its Hospice containing an elegant 18th Century chapel and sculptures by Pfaffenhoffen, the house of Napoleon and the Joan of Arc prison.
http://perso.orange.fr/off.tourisme.saint.riquier/

But also...

The Gardens of Valloires
Located at the base of a majestic Cistercian abbey and at the heart of the Val d’Authie, the Gardens of Valloires are unrivalled in their beauty.
Created by internationally renowned landscape designer Gilles Clément, they contain over 5,000 species of chiefly Asian plants and shrubs. Unique in France, this collection is classified according to decorative criteria.
80120 Argoules
Tel.: +33 3 22 23 53 55
Fax: 03 22 23 91 32
jardins.valloires@baiedesomme.fr
www.baiedesomme.fr

The Abbey of Valloires
Surrounded by woods, orchards and gardens, nestled in an isolated spot in the Val d’Authie like a white dove, the Abbey of Valloires is a rare and beautiful example of 18th Century architecture, one of the region’s most stunning and at the very least curious buildings, and the most perfect example of this architecture in the whole of France.
http://www.abbaye-valloires.com/
Tel.: 03 22 29 62 33
Fax: +33 3 22 29 62 24
contact@abbaye-valloires.com

Click here to discover the other events in Picardie and Baie de Somme