Picardy/ Picardie

To the south of Baie lies Pointe du Hourdel with its lighthouse and pebbles. On the opposite shore, the Marquenterre Ornithological Park forms the centre of the Baie de Somme Nature Reserve.

From Thiérache to the Baie de Somme, via Beauvaisis and the Marne Valley, the countryside is never the same! Paddling in Thiérache or on the river Oise is the occasion to discover green forests, ideal for daydreaming and walks.

In 1993, Françoise Radet-Mannerkorpi, a painter, having lived in Finland for 20 years, created this garden, situated at the foot of a 13^th Century church in a small village in the Marne Valley, and turned it into a romantic garden with a remarkable, flower bedecked kitchen garden.

The Saint-Leu district, whose origins date back to the Middle Ages, is crossed by the Somme. At the time, water and mills could supply the necessary energy to weavers, stainers, tanners and millers. Nowadays, St Leu is the ideal place for saunters.

Picardy’s valleys and general landscape makes it a golfing hot spot. It has 23 golf courses to choose from, some are surrounded by forestry, others by lakes. Golfing with a castle in the background is very common and other natural beauty is to be found surrounding a golf course in a nature park.

In Picardy, there is a deep attachment to the land, to sure and certain values dictated by a common sense of joy and sharing. The people of Picardy have a taste for the “good” and the “fine” things in life, always with this notion of a pleasure shared – swapping recipe tips for a special dish or a culinary knack, or good places to eat nearby.

What could be more enjoyable than discovering Picardy through the eyes of a guide who is a cycling enthusiast and who will take you out to discover the region? There are various associations that organise cycling excursions.

Leaving the towns, there are 343,000 hectares of forests! Through the forests of Chantilly, Compiègne, Retz, Saint-Gobain, Halatte, Crécy or Ermenonville, with a walkers' map, the official hiking trails are obvious, leading to royal boundary markers, a mysterious cross, menhir or a spinning stone are just some of the legends that please children.

Picardy is the cradle of France and a land of simple and genuine pleasures; of rural common sense rooted in a solid country ancestry. The “Picard spirit” could be summed up in the paradox between its tremendous history and self-effacement.

The park of Valgenceuse chateau, in Senlis, a few kilometres from Paris, is a haven of peace and tranquillity where it is a pleasure to stroll around in the footsteps of the greats.

It is within the calling of The Historial de la Grande Guerre to situate the specific nature of the bloodiest battle of the First World War in the overall context of the conflict. By way of comparison, the Battle of Verdun caused the lost (dead, wounded, missing) of 337,000 Germans and 362,000 Frenchmen. The losses at the Battle of the Somme totalled 400,000 for the British, 335,000 for the Germans and 200,000 for the French. The idea of creating a museum devoted to the 1914-1918 war originated with the Somme County Council in 1986. The project was envisioned in the context of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, which involved combatants from more than twenty nations of the world at that time.

Each time you visit you will see a different Picardy depending on the time, light and season. Each place is different and extraordinary, just like each encounter. Picardy’s theme parks will thrill you with shows and rides for the whole family.

The Great Stables of Chantilly, viewed as the world’s finest, are home to the Living Museum of the Horse. Far removed from dusty, immobile museums, this Museum is perpetually developing in order to offer ever more original shows, put on by the thirty employees of the Living Museum of the Horse.