Though The Somme is synonymous with memories of the Great War, Sharron Livingston goes west to find nature at its best.
The Somme, in Picardy, is traditionally, the spiritual haunt for
World War I tourism; a place where descendants of fallen soldiers go to
find the graves of their father and grandfathers.
So entrenched
is the Somme in its Great War provenance, that the region would be an
unlikely destination for holiday-makers in search of fun and frolics.
Anyone driving through the Somme and in particular the towns of Péronne and Albert will see that the region is true to that perception and won't fail to notice, with an awkward gulp and a sinking feeling, the abundant roadside war graves that spring up around every bend, each lovingly tended by the War Graves Commission with obvious reverence.
The
area's superb museums on Le Circuit du Souvenir 1914-1918 are
eye-watering educationals on different aspects of the Great War.
The Somme Museum 1916
in Albert is set in a 250 metre long tunnel converted from an
underground air-raid shelter in 1938. In 1916 it housed 1500 people and
today its stories focus on trench warfare and the unbelievable loss of
life amounting to over 1 million allied soldiers in just five months for
a sorry advancement of just 10 miles.
The circuit continues to Péronne to The Historial Museum located on the actual site of the Battle of the Somme. Five rooms explain why the conflict happened, the consequences to the countries whose soldiers fought on the Western Front together with eye-opening displays of what they may have experienced, their kit, arms and communication equipment - everything from machine guns right down to minutiae such as message tubes for carrier pigeons that proved vital when telephone and cable systems were disrupted.
The most evocative monument on the circuit is the Lutyens designed Thiepval Memorial, the largest British memorial in the world. A huge arched piller has over 73,000 names engraved on its walls, of Commonwealth soldiers with no known graves. Like many I found my own family name on its expansive walls and was piqued with a mix of sorrow for the dead and gratitude for the peace time life I now live.
But all this deathly activity
took place inland in the east of the Somme. Go west, however, towards
the coast and the ambience of the region is by contrast, literally
teeming with life. The wide expanse of soft sand coast stretches from
the Baie de L'Authie to the magnificent Baie-de-Somme where visitors
gallop on horses, cyclists hire sand bikes and enthusiasts fly their
kites.
As the tide recedes the landscape looks raw and unkempt as
the fauna and flora is revealed. Areas of sands and grass are uncovered
and cooks head here to pick a crop or two of Astor Maritime (pigs ears)
to jazz up their salads or a handful of Salicorne to pickle at home -
when done they taste a little like pickled cucumber.
The nearby
bayside resort of Le Crotoy is where Jules Verne was inspired to pen
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, where fishermen lay their nets
for the night and when the tide is in on the south of the Bay at
Hourdel, you get the magnificent vision of seals tantalisingly bobbing
in and out of the water
The highlight of the region though is the bird sanctuary, Parc Ornithologique du Marquenterre. Nestling on the fringes of the Bay on land reclaimed from the sea in 1973, are the 260 hectares of marshes, sand dunes, pine forests and meres of the Parc Ornithologique du Marquenterre. The landscape is so diverse it offers habitats for 360 species of birds and 24 different species of wildlife. Its location on the crossroads of the migrationary path makes it the perfect stop-off for thousands of birds including lapwings, little egrets and barnacle geese, oyster catchers and shell ducks.
The reserve is open all year round and each season attracts
different species. We visited in April and saw white storks who return
every year to the same nest to breed and warblers who flew in from South
Africa to sing their hearts out in territorial brinkmanship and
hopefully to attract a mate.
There are 14 viewing points and each
with views of different birds in their habitats but they are placed at a
distance to remain unobtrusive so a pair of binoculars is useful,
though your guide will come equipped with a telescope. Otherwise you can
rent them.
Viewing point number 1 has a view over the mating
parades of a colony of black-tailed godwits and the Avocets (the emblem
of the RSBP) whose long legs and long curved beaks give them the stature
and tool to catch worms.
At number 13 you can see herons nest
among 200 pairs of wading birds such as egrets hailing from Mauritania
and Senegal. The sight of these elegant winged creatures fluttering over
the great black pine tree tops is awesome. Spoonbills are there in the
mix too looking funky with spiked hair and spoon shaped beaks.
You
don't have to be an avid bird watcher to enjoy the at-one-with-nature
experience the park invokes and the almost meditative calm of watching
wildlife wend its way unhindered, through the inevitable cycle of
nesting and breeding until the wave of new migrants flies in.
The
nearby town of Amiens is not particularly lovable but it does have an
incredibly beautiful gothic cathedral and a series of ancient waterways
called The Hortillonnages.
Originally marshland, this has been progressively cultivated through
the ages. There are nearly 300 hectares of gardens, some still ongoing
business that annually sell their wares by the quayside.
But most
interesting are the animals and plants that call this peaceful haven
their home. Catch a ride on the oar-propelled boat (barques à cornet)
and enjoy a meditatively serene hour eyeing up colourful and sometimes
bizarrely ornate gardens.
Your guide will steer slowly, pointing
out the fauna and flora as you drift past small herons, blue-throats (if
this looks familiar it's because you are looking at the cousin of the
robin), crested gebes, mute swans, mallards, coots and moorhens as they
in turn swim as float amid water lilies or try to hide amid the alders,
water irises and cat's tail reeds that line the banks. With so much life and beauty to enjoy, the Somme does not seem so sombre after all.
by Sharron Livingston: May 2010
