Abbeville, at the gateway to the Bay of the Somme

It was in Abbeville that Godefroy de Bouillon, preparing for the 1st Crusade, gathered his troops in the 11th century: the little town was then on the eve of considerable economic development, based in particular on the cloth craft and salt trade. Its port on the Somme was active, as was that of Rue, not far away on the banks of the Bay of the Somme (today, the village of Rue is inland due to silting!).

Abbeville reached its apogee in the 13th century, before suffering the incessant pillaging of the Hundred Years' War. It changed hands again and again: French, English, Burgundian... It wasn't until the 15th century that the town recovered its health. It even acquired its finest monument: the collegiate church of Saint-Vulfran, whose construction began in 1488 and continued in stages until the 17th century.

It was then that a new period of prosperity began for Abbeville, thanks to the establishment in the town of the Manufacture Royale des Rames, a fine drapery workshop set up in 1665 by Colbert and King Louis XIV himself. Subsequently, with the conflicts that shook north-eastern France, Abbeville never regained this level of splendour.

It occupied a strategic position at the rear of the front line during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, notably housing a military hospital. Years later, the Second World War was to prove fatal for Abbeville: the Germans bombarded it relentlessly, and the old medieval town was almost entirely destroyed...

That's why Abbeville has such a modern face today, with its many well-ordered 60s red brick buildings and its town hall flanked by a belfry with regular lines. Only a few vestiges of Abbeville's glorious past have escaped destruction, and they now form part of the town's architectural heritage.

With its 25,000 inhabitants, Abbeville has all the makings of a quiet provincial town. As friendly and welcoming as its inhabitants are, it's an ideal stop-off point for anyone looking for good food from Picardy and the Bay of the Somme: the latter is just a 30-minute drive away!

In the town centre, you'll find stalls selling fresh fish, AOC salt-meadow lamb, potatoes from the Baie de Somme, ficelles picardes, Maroilles cheese and, for those with a sweet tooth, local honey, Saint Vulfran cobblestones and gâteau battu, the great speciality of the Abbevillois region. It's enough to bring home some great culinary memories.

Everything can be done on foot in the small centre of Abbeville. It usually starts on the square in front of the collegiate church of Saint-Vulfran, which miraculously escaped the bombardments unscathed! Its flamboyant Gothic façade is one of the most beautiful of its kind in Picardy.

In response to the modern belfry of the town hall, the belfry-museum Boucher-de-Perthes (named after this Abbevillian who is reputed to have been the father of prehistory), a UNESCO-listed building, houses some interesting collections. Not far away, another religious building catches the eye, with its magnificent contemporary stained-glass windows: the 15th-century Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The walk continues in the pleasant garden of Emonville, or in the Parc de la Bouvaque and its ponds, the town's green lung. It's like an introduction to the Abbeville area, which is anything but an urban monster - on the contrary, it's easy to get out of!

All you have to do is cycle to the banks of the Somme and catch up on the Véloroute cycle route linking Saint-Valery and the Bay of the Somme in just 1 hour! In the other direction, via the château of Picquigny and the pretty village of Long, Amiens is 3? hours away by two-wheeler.

By bike or car, it's always tempting to make a detour to the Grand-Laviers bird sanctuary, just outside Abbeville. In the ponds of an old disused sugar refinery, 40 protected hectares have become a refuge for almost 200 species of birds, including stilts, avocets, wigeons and teal, which migrate throughout the year!