Where is Picardy?
WHERE IS PICARDY? Like a plume of cigar smoke being blown into the north-eastern coast of France, Picardy has a narrow neck at the English Channel and bulges out inland. This sack of land is surrounded by the Pas-de-Calais to the north, Champagne to the east, Ile-de-France and Paris to the south, and Normandy to the west. It comprises the départements of Somme, Oise and Aisne, and its largest city is Amiens. But otherwise Picardy offers a largely agricultural aspect. OH, YOU MEAN THAT EMPTY AND FEATURELESS PART OF FRANCE YOU PASS ON THE DRIVE SOUTH… That is the traditional British perception of the region between the Channel ports and Paris, certainly. And to some extent this dismissive vision of sugar beet mounds and hedgeless cereal prairie holds true, especially if you’re burning down the A26 motorway towards Reims and Paris. However, get off the autoroute and take time to explore the landscape. A more intimate Picardy offers itself up – one of wooded river valleys, jauntily paint
