Amiens: Cathedral
Amiens is the largest Gothic building in France. The cathedral was begun in 1220 and the speed with which it was built explains the remarkable unity of style. It miraculously escaped damage in 1940. You can't leave Amiens without seeing the "hortillonnages" (from the Latin : hortus=garden) These small vegetable gardens have been worked since the Middles Ages by market gardeners who supplied the local population with fruits and vegetables. They are surrounded by a network of canals. At present, fruit trees and flowers are tending to replace vegetables and the gardeners' huts are becoming weekend holiday homes. You could appreciate the tranquillity of their surroundings by visiting on a long black punt which was used before to transport the produce to the "market-on-the-water".