We arrived at Air France Terminals 2E & 2F right on time. You leave via stairs to waiting buses which bring you to immigration which is located in 2E. The wait was not too long (20 minutes tops) and then on to luggage and out into France.
We had arranged a rental car so after stopping at the ATM, we went looking for National/Alamo. By the way, if your bank is like our bank, they will waive fees on ATM transactions outside the local area. That is a much better deal then using one of the exchange services at the airport. Since most of Europe is now on a standard currency, you only need one kind of currency.
Most Europeans drive standard transmission cars, so the wait for an automatic was a little longer than normal, even though we had one reserved. One of the counter people actually had to drive us to the garage to pick up our vehicle, but we finally were on our way.
Our first stop was Chantilly, about 25 miles north of Paris. This has become a commuter city for Paris in recent years. It is most famous for the Chateau de Chantilly and the Chantilly Racecourse. There are plenty of narrow streets including a few that are still paved with cobblestone. This is the chateau.
Then on to Amiens. There are records of Gaulist inhabitants here as early as 100 AD when it was known as Ambiani. During World War I, Amiens was the starting point for the final push that ended the war. And it was Nazi occupied during World War II.
Today it is a vibrant university town most well known for it's cathedral and riverfront dining:
We then took a tour of the Somme Valley. This was the site of the "trench warfare" of World War One and stretches over a large area northeast of Amiens. After driving about 15 miles to Albert, you drive both on and off the main roads into little farming villages that were covered with trenches 90 years ago. There are large cemeteries everywhere, each dedicated to a regiment or division that fought and lost men in these battles. At one point, there was marker that showed the location of the front in July. Less than 2 miles away was a marker for September. There were well over one million casualties in four months in this area alone. Made for a sobering afternoon.
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